Grind angle on your average slippie?

J

jpr9954

Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
162
I am trying to find out the grind angle on your average slipjoint. I am using a Gatco Edgemate system and would like to get the sharpening angle correct.

I have some Bokers, Cases, a couple of Queen Cutlery, etc.

Thanks for the help.

John
 
The Case instructions say 10°-15° per side, so I use the 30° (inclusive) setting on the Sharpmaker for the edge bevel on most slippies.
 
To L. Richard and Moose:

Thanks for the information on the angles to use for sharpening. I appreciate it.

john
 
I don't think that they even have an 'official' bevel....check around on youtube for the video showing Case knives being made. One of the final steps shows a guy adding the secondary bevel by hand. There's just no way he can know for certain that it's at the right angle. Even with years of experience doing such a task, there's just no way. This is the reason I don't use those sharpeners with 15,17,20 degree presets....because you never know what angle was used. If the guy was having a bad day and sharpened it at 16 degrees, then the 15 would undercut the bevel and the the 17 would be effectively be reprofiling... but....YMMV.
 
I sharpen 95% of my knives to 12 degrees/side, it's generally a nice improvement in performance over most factory edges (and many customs) and adding a little secondary bevel, or microbevel, for the final edge makes it hold up usually just as well as if it weren't so acute. But, I have to admit, it's hard to tell the difference most the time between a blade sharpened at 12 deg. vs. one at 15 deg.
 
red96ta said:
I don't think that they even have an 'official' bevel....check around on youtube for the video showing Case knives being made. One of the final steps shows a guy adding the secondary bevel by hand. There's just no way he can know for certain that it's at the right angle. Even with years of experience doing such a task, there's just no way. This is the reason I don't use those sharpeners with 15,17,20 degree presets....because you never know what angle was used. If the guy was having a bad day and sharpened it at 16 degrees, then the 15 would undercut the bevel and the the 17 would be effectively be reprofiling... but....YMMV.
Click to expand...

I just went to YouTube and watched the "official" video of how Case knives are made. I see what you are saying about the sharpening and honing. Definitely something to keep in mind.

John
 
It doesn't really matter what the 'number' is. Use the sharpie trick and sharpen it at whatever the bevel is already cut to. Unless you just want to re-profile it...
 
Numbers like 10° to 15° per side are just ballpark figures to give an idea of how much to tilt the spine of the blade off the stone. They are not intended to be mathematically exact and are just suggestions anyhow. My Dad taught me to sharpen freehand at about 5° to 10°. When I got the Sharpmaker, I started using 20°. Now I'm using 15° to get a slightly sharper edge. If I'm in a hurry, I can always put on a 20° microbevel in just a few seconds.
 
with Case, i lay the blade flat on the stone and raise the spin about 5 degrees, more or less. i like a nice thin edge on my pocket scalpels.

actually, i sharpen convex style with paper on soft backing, so i usually sharpen at a tad less than 5 degrees, but with the built in convex microbevel i haven't had any issues with durability cutting wood and food.
 
siguy said:
with Case, i lay the blade flat on the stone and raise the spin about 5 degrees, more or less. i like a nice thin edge on my pocket scalpels.

actually, i sharpen convex style with paper on soft backing, so i usually sharpen at a tad less than 5 degrees, but with the built in convex microbevel i haven't had any issues with durability cutting wood and food.
Click to expand...

When you say "convex style with paper", do you mean sandpaper or something else?

I've put some different grades of sandpaper on flat ceramic tiles and think I'll be going back to that for my pocketknives. The GATCO Edgemate just doesn't do well with small knives. The clamp prevents me from using the sharper angles like 15 deg.

john
 
jpr9954 said:
The GATCO Edgemate just doesn't do well with small knives. The clamp prevents me from using the sharper angles like 15 deg.

john
Click to expand...

John,

I use the Edgemate with the 15 degree setting for small slipjoints. However, I think I had to grind a bevel into the jaws of the clamp with my diamond hones in order to facilitate it. I don't seem to have much issue with it now on those reprofile jobs.

I use the Gatco clamp (and base) with DMT Diafolds. I don't use the Gatco stones.
 
Blues,

I may have to do what you did and grind a bevel on the jaws of the Edgemate clamp. Did you use the diamond hones so that the metal wouldn't heat up or because that is what you had? I have a grinding wheel plus a Dremel tool but I don't want to ruin the jaws by doing something stupid.

John
 
John,

I just happened to notice in the course of using the clamp that when I used the shallowest angles I was hitting the clamp (depending on the width of the blade being sharpened). Rather than try to prevent it, I just let the hones take down the clamp's jaws until they were beveled to a point where they rarely interfere.

I don't have a grinder or belt sander and didn't bother with a dremel. The metal is soft enough that it grinds pretty rapidly as I recall.

On the small blades, try to position the clamp as close to the spine as practical and then you can estimate how much you may have to remove in order to have unimpeded access.
 
jpr, yes, sorry i wasn't clearer. i use sandpaper and finer sharpening film laid over a mousepad, edge trailing.

i understand that alot of woodworkers like to use sandpaper on a hard backing to get a good edge on different chisels and plane blades, but haven't tried it myself yet. i'm interested in giving it a whirl.
 
Blues said:
John,

I just happened to notice in the course of using the clamp that when I used the shallowest angles I was hitting the clamp (depending on the width of the blade being sharpened). Rather than try to prevent it, I just let the hones take down the clamp's jaws until they were beveled to a point where they rarely interfere.

I don't have a grinder or belt sander and didn't bother with a dremel. The metal is soft enough that it grinds pretty rapidly as I recall.

On the small blades, try to position the clamp as close to the spine as practical and then you can estimate how much you may have to remove in order to have unimpeded access.
Click to expand...


That makes a lot of sense about how it got honed down. I think I may try that first.

I like the idea of sharpening with a constant angle but don't want to be restricted to only using the GATCO on large blades.

John
 
This doesn't exactly answer your question, but one of the things I like the most about multibladed slipjoints is that you have some options of how you want to grind the different blades.

My favorite pattern is the stockman and I usually put a good generic angle on the main blade (maybe 30 inclusive). For the sheepsfoot blade I like to go very thin (20 maybe) to make it a good slicer for cutting things out of the newspaper or slicing things that need sliced. I've always seen the spey blade as the strongest, though shortest, blade and put a fairly obtuse angle on it so it'll cut through coarser materials (rope, wood, etc.).

It takes a little more effort, but why have three blades that all cut the same way?
 
Psychopomp said:
This doesn't exactly answer your question, but one of the things I like the most about multibladed slipjoints is that you have some options of how you want to grind the different blades.

My favorite pattern is the stockman and I usually put a good generic angle on the main blade (maybe 30 inclusive). For the sheepsfoot blade I like to go very thin (20 maybe) to make it a good slicer for cutting things out of the newspaper or slicing things that need sliced. I've always seen the spey blade as the strongest, though shortest, blade and put a fairly obtuse angle on it so it'll cut through coarser materials (rope, wood, etc.).

It takes a little more effort, but why have three blades that all cut the same way?
Click to expand...

I never thought of doing that way. This makes a lot of sense and is something that I think I'll try on my Case Moose.

John
 
jpr9954 said:
I never thought of doing that way. This makes a lot of sense and is something that I think I'll try on my Case Moose.

John
Click to expand...

Congress patterns are fun for this reason too. Then you have several identical blades with different grinds for different uses.

I do the same with multibladed SAKs too, and usually put the more obtuse angle on the shorter blade... not sure why, but I've always done it that way. But on single bladed SAKs (like my EDC Soldier) I go with a fairly thin angle.

Another thing of note, aside from touch ups done on my Sharpmaker, I usually free hand all my slipjoints and smaller knives.
 
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