How sharp do dedicated choppers need to be?

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DangerZone98

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Dec 7, 2019
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Definitely a noob question, but I’d love to read your insights. My basic knowledge is that a more robust edge and thicker blade stock are needed for chopping tasks lest the blade chips upon impact. Also, as long as it chops well, I don’t really think about it too much.

So how sharp do they need to be?
 
The edge needs a proper apex, but a really acute bevel angle isn't necessary. Both sides of the edge bevel should meet at a distinct point; rounding of the apex means you've got a dull edge. Higher angle (25 degree-per-side) edges on a big chopper or machete aren't a problem. The main thing is that the edge be able to bite into material.
 
IMHO, step #1 is learning to freehand sharpen.

Once you become proficient, (and assuming you have the “sharp gene”) sharpening becomes a true pleasure and you’ll find it difficult NOT to sharpen your knives/tomahawks, etc. every time you use them.

After you’re past step 1, the correct answer is nice and sharp, just perhaps with more metal behind the edge than with light duty knives as suggested above.

**edit to add: just because freehand sharpening is step 1 doesn’t mean it’s a small step. It took me many years of mistakes and practice to get there...
 
not very, choppers should be coarse sharp, burs on the blade are fine, especially for axes, what burs exist on the edge will be knocked off or smoothened out with repeated chopping, sharpening a chopper into a razor like edge is a waste of time because it will loose that acute sharpness after a couple of hits, so to summarize ---
use the coarse grit of a stone, and apex the edge, and if you like brush it with the fine grit side a couple of times, otherwise you are probably good with a coarse apex job - IMHO
 
A chopper doesn't need to be overly thick. I've got a few at 3/16 (0.188)" that are great choppers. As always, geometry is important - some blades (esp thicker ones) just bounce off, despite seemingly being sharp.
 
The simple answer is enough to chop to your desired degree of ease.

That said, it doesn’t take much. Some insist on an edge that will push cut atoms from plunge line to tip, but on a chopper that’s a waste. I have many that have chips, rolls, dings, etc in the edge that I don’t sharpen out in one sitting.

Doing so will take years worth of use off the edge of the knife and it isn’t worth it. As long as the knife is sharp enough to function for what it’s intended it’s good enough for me. The dings, chips, rolls, etc will eventually work their way out through gradual sharpenings. Grinding off steel to get them out all at once is a waste of your chopper’s life span.

Plus, dinged up choppers look cool. :D:thumbsup:
 
My various choppers from Cold Steel/Lasher, Condor, as well as a few older Solingen made ones all have a convex edge or even a full convex grind terminating at ~30 degrees inclusive, and they can all handle that angle very well.
It's also much safer when chopping, as i've found that larger edge angles than that tend to result in glancing blows much more often, which can be very dangerous to yourself and bystanders.
For this reason i want my edges to have a strong tendency to bite at the first chop.
When sharpening i take each edge to arm hair shaving sharp, and although that sharpness level unavoidably wears off, it's both the edge geometry as well as the blade geometry that count.

Some reading material how i do things:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finetuning-a-couple-of-condors.1662592/#post-19189406

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/optimizing-3-cold-steel-kukri-machetes.1561064/#post-17968792

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/modding-a-heavy-duty-machete.1564991/#post-19222738
 
kwackster said:
My various choppers from Cold Steel/Lasher, Condor, as well as a few older Solingen made ones all have a convex edge or even a full convex grind terminating at ~30 degrees inclusive, and they can all handle that angle very well.
It's also much safer when chopping, as i've found that larger edge angles than that tend to result in glancing blows much more often, which can be very dangerous to yourself and bystanders.
For this reason i want my edges to have a strong tendency to bite at the first chop.
When sharpening i take each edge to arm hair shaving sharp, and although that sharpness level unavoidably wears off, it's both the edge geometry as well as the blade geometry that count.

Some reading material how i do things:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finetuning-a-couple-of-condors.1662592/#post-19189406

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/optimizing-3-cold-steel-kukri-machetes.1561064/#post-17968792

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/modding-a-heavy-duty-machete.1564991/#post-19222738
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That glancing issue is a good point. In addition to having the proper edge, proper edge alignment while swinging should also reduce the chances of glancing blows.
 
A lot depends on you and the knife and the material you are cutting. There was an old 1990’s article in one of the knife magazine that was comparing chopper performance, that joked that a certain Blade Sports competitor could get the same performance from a round steel bar. The guy was so massive and swinging so hard that it didn’t matter. The heavier the knife and the harder the swing, the better to have a thicker edge. At some point the edge will begin to fold and chip, and you want to stay just shy of that point.

n2s
 
As a wee lad a long, long time ago, before the Da of many on BF was a gleam in their grand mummy's eye, I was taught to sharpen my choppers (axes, hatchets, froe, or Tommy Hawk) to 15 DPS/30° inclusive.
(Cleavers were a compromise at roughly 25° inclusive.)
 
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For my uses it depends on what I chop:
If I chop off branches from a young tree i want the blade to be really sharp - so it goes through the fresh wood without any effort.
If I want to chop / baton hardened, old, knotty beech, I'll take a good working edge that shrugs off the harder blows without rolling or chipping.
 
I think it kinda depends on how you use it. I once picked up a fantastic idea on where a youtuber sharpen his machete coarsely towards the front, and with a much acute angle for the last couple of inches towards the handle, especially turning a the machete into a multi-grind chopper. I thought that was a brilliant idea and did the same thing to some of my choppers.
 
AntDog said:
dings, chips, rolls, etc will eventually work their way out through gradual sharpenings.
Click to expand...
+1 to the above.
No need to remove much material to keep the undamaged parts of the edge sharp however.
After learning freehand sharpening, I highly recommend experimenting with natural stones. You can get a wide range of grits very inexpensively, and using the proper grit(s) for the level of dulling will help reduce unnecessary stock removal. I rarely sharpen my choppers to the point of raising a burr. Usually after use my choppers get an alcohol cleaning, a little edge scrubbing on a couple fine stones, a quick strop and some oil.
Here’s an assortment of stones and a strop I’ve made, along with a pile of rocks that are waiting to become sharpening stones:

1F942511-B439-40CA-9121-D053914F53C2.jpeg
43C3B754-325F-401C-B575-23829617F231.jpeg
27A0D314-3196-408E-89BD-1B3BD3BC8CE8.jpeg
 
Probably not sharp enough to slice a tomato. Like many said, it depends on the material you're chopping. But who has more than one chopper with them unless you are playing at your camp site (car camping) or back yard? So, I personally would go for about a 15 degree angle on each side. Depends on the steel too. Some chip more easily than others.
 
I prefer the edge my Spyderco Sharpmaker medium rods provide for my choppers. I also have an EZ Lap diamond rod at approximately 220 grit that makes a dandy fast edge for chopping through the woods.
 
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