Hinderer XM18 3.5 best angle to sharpen?

E

Elderguy

Joined
Apr 27, 2025
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Brand new here and while I've owned various and sundry knives for close to 70 years I never studied them much or worried about my sharpening techniques. I've got a Hinderer X18 3.5" folder and would like to know the best sharpening angle for general camping and hunting use.

Thanks for any advice.
 
Take a sharpie marker and color your edge so when you sharpen it you can see if you are hitting the complete edge. I bet your blade is 17 to 20 degrees per side. You might aslo check out the maintenance and tinkering section for more sharpening information.

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I read somewhere that Hinderer xm-18 factory edge angle is between 22 and 25 degree per side. Based on my sharpening experience it is definitely larger than 20. As suggested above, use a sharpie If you want to get as close to the factory angle as possible. If you simply go for 17 degree per side, you'll end up with a wide edge.
 
HO the best angle is around 25 dps
Hinderer is generally in between 25-27 dps in my experience
RHK are not fantastic slicers and IMHO if you want something slick you better have to look at other options
That being said i like RHK but i prefer to keep their « toolish » approach and to keep a broader angle. 23-25 dps has worked very well for me so far
 
All of my Hinderers were about 25 dps and I sharpened all of them to 22 degrees. These are hard use knives and not meant to be super slicers but I've found that about 22 dps helps their cutting performance without giving them a big, wide cutting bevel. My new Jurassic with the hollow ground Magnacut blade is actually fairly slicey.
 
Older post from the Paper Wheel sticky thread:

Hinderer XM-18 Slicer grind in S35VN steel.
According to my Tormek angle gauge the factory edge angle measured between 45 and 50 degrees inclusive, while the thickness of the steel just behind that edge went from 0.7 mm at the heel to 0.6 mm at the tip.
The knife is going to be used as a hunting folder, and the owner had 2 wishes: if possible no visually wide bevels, plus he wanted to be able to maintain the new edge on a Spyderco Sharpmaker.

Before sharpening:








Edge reprofiled to an almost exact 35 degrees inclusive with a Paper Wheel coated with 220 grit SiC, after which the burr was removed with a second Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
The new edge is what i would call sticky sharp.

After sharpening:






 
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