Edge angle

[u.p.man52]

I am just starting knife making. At what angle should the edge be ground/sharpened to give optimum performance/ edge retention? Most of my knives will be used for skinning and butchering game.

 

[DAMNENG]

Not an easy question to answer. Commercial knives are sharpened at an angle to the stone varying from 12.5° to 22.5°. This means the combined angle at the cutting edge is between 25° and 45°.
I sharpen my knives at 13° (total 26°) this works well for most purposes. I tend to go from the point of view that "if you want to cut, get a knife, if you want to chop get a hatchet or ax, and if you want to pry get a pry bar. That being said I increase the angle only a few degrees for a camp knife/tactical knives. I usually sharpen everything to 13° then test cut/chop under the conditions the customer specifies. If I get chipping or any other edge damage, I resharpen at a slightly higher angle and retest.

So what I suggest is you pick an angle, sharpen the blade to this angle, then test. Adjust the angle based on the test results.
Jim A.

 

[Ian Fifelski]

Many times I see new makers with knives that have a ton of meat behind the edge. This is only really needed with large choppers. Many makers bring the edge to 0 and then bring it back a bit and put the edge on. I normally bring small knives to .010" or less before sharpening and .015-.025 before sharpening for big bowies and choppers.

 

[Justin Schmidt]

Becauae your wanting to mainly use for slicing i would go with something thin. I just did a hunter that was .01 behind the edge and it cuts like butter. But i could still go thinner.
Steel selection is also going to determine how thin you can go without running into carbide tear out.
But in short for your application i would go AEBL and .01 behind the edge and call it a day

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I agree with AEB-L and suggest the edge be at .005 before sharpening at 12.5° per side ( 25° inclusive). A skinner can be really sharp, and AEB-L is a champ at sharp.