how thick to leave the edge?

K

knifeaholic2010

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Feb 14, 2011
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as a general rule how thick should the edge be ground to before heat treating and then sharpening i know you dont want to make it to thin cause itcould crack during heat treating so as a basic rule of thumb how thick should it be left?
 
Id leave it at least .030 though I like .035-.040 before heat treat..Before hsarpening depends on what the knife is gonna be used for..A kitchen knife may be .007-.010 before sharpening while a chopper may be .015-.020 before sharpening..
 
so if i take it down to .030 then after heat treating is done i can go ahead an sharpen it with the edge at .030 or will i needto take it down further before sharpening?
 
knifeaholic2010 said:
so if i take it down to .030 then after heat treating is done i can go ahead an sharpen it with the edge at .030 or will i needto take it down further before sharpening?
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You can, but it will either be a fat edge, or have a taller edge bevel. I would recommend going lower than .030" It seems like it's pretty thin at .030" but as far as knife edges go it really isn't. Take a bit of time and bring it down a little more before sharpening.
 
If you leave it at .030" your shoulder could end up at .050" by the time you put your final bevel on. I like to get my thickness down to at least .010", even for heavier use blades. You would be surprised how thin you can go. The best thing you can do is make a knife and test the edge at incrementally thinner shoulders until it begins to fail.

I usually heat treat at about .040".
 
Thickness before HT depends on the steel and actual HT process. Edge thickness after HT depends on what the knife is meant to cut.

Rick Marchand said:
You would be surprised how thin you can go.
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I completely agree! Thin is in, and light is right. We are blessed with a wide variety of excellent steels that can support a lovely thin edge. In my mind, that's the number one selling point of a great handmade knife, compared to factory mediocrity... better steel and/or HT, ground keener, that cuts better and stays sharp longer.
 
I take 01 edges to .010/.015 before HT. Never a problem. I would think it may depend on the steel and the HT method used as to what will work best.
 
For W2 into Parks #50, I will usually stop in the .030" range, depending a little on the size and shape of the blade having gone down into the .020's" on occasion.

For W2 into water, I am trying to push it a little but generally stop around .050-.060".
 
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