POLL: What's your favorite sharpening angle?

[DeadboxHero]

I wasn’t complaining at all. I have no problems cutting what I need to cut for a long time and I do know what my angle is. 15° per side is my target set. Sometimes 17°. It may not be exactly 15° but it’s within a degree. I do have a simple tool for checking angles but I don’t need it every time I sharpen. I mostly use it on a new knife to know what angle it was sharpened at.

Some people have problems with basic math and have to use a digital calculator. I don’t.
It’s a learning process, muscle memory and building skills.

No one needs an exact angle to get sharp, they just have to hold an angle constantly enough for it to blend the variance in angles together in a nice shallow convex.

If we are trying to quantify differences in the inverse Properties of durability and cutting edge retention the geometry of that edge from bevel to apex is a significant factor since there can be hidden convexing near the apex.

It's a fact that when we are trying to make universal assertions about specific angles having specific behaviors or scaling the inverse properties properly for a larger scale, we need to have proper measurements to translate what we want for a given result.

I ain't telling you that you need a goniometer to get your knife to work.

A goinometer is for sharing information with others and ruling out variables so we together can see what the steel and heat treatment is doing since geometry is the most powerful variable and quite sneaky and unaccounted for in a lot of testing.

 

[stonemedusa6264]

You must be talking about hand sharpened? I've only used the one system but I paid extra to convex an edge with the one I have. With a good guided system I don't see how convexing is possible. Unless you let your stones get completely dished out?

 

[Blade Lab]

You must be talking about hand sharpened? I've only used the one system but I paid extra to convex an edge with the one I have. With a good guided system I don't see how convexing is possible. Unless you let your stones get completely dished out?

There are several ways to convex with a "fixed angle" system. One is to use a curved stone holder rod, which is available for some systems. Another is to mount the stone at a slight angle. And of course you can change the angle manually as you sharpen.

 

[stonemedusa6264]

I think you missed the point I was trying to make. Deadbox said a couple times people were convexing the edge by the apex. I don't think this is possible on a guided sharpener without wanting it to happen.

 

[115Italian]

If I use my Lansky guided sharpener, it’s at the 20 marker. Could be more or less in actual measurement.

Free, really couldn’t tell you. I aim for what maybe 20 or follow the factory edge.

 

[DeadboxHero]

I think you missed the point I was trying to make. Deadbox said a couple times people were convexing the edge by the apex. I don't think this is possible on a guided sharpener without wanting it to happen.

Apex=tip of edge

Not the "Edge Pro Apex"

 

[DeadboxHero]

D2 steel
300x Magnification

This is a mass production knife made overseas in China and sold on Amazon.
Advertised as "15° per side"

Well, its not 15° per side, we also see it has some substantial convexing near the apex and some burr left.

The large white "globs" are the giant chromium carbides in the non PM D2 steel.

My point is we could have folks all thinking they have the same angle but if we look closely they are not, the problem with this is this knife in the picture will be extremely "durable" for 15° per side but its cause its not actually 15° per side there is hidden convexing towards the apex.

 

[old4570]

Usually I start at 22 deg per side ..
I then might push that if I feel inclined ..
Usually push to 18 , but I have one knife that accidentally went 14 . And from the factory was even tighter than that !

If a knife cant hold 22 degrees , there is something FUBAR with the steel !

 

[Lesknife]

I’ve seen more edges con-vexed and rounded over at the apex by a poor stropping technique than by stones or plates. Using a guided system can help stay consistent but still need to be careful and steady.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I’ve seen more edges con-vexed and rounded over at the apex by a poor stropping technique than by stones or plates. Using a guided system can help stay consistent but still need to be careful and steady.

That's a big part of why I've tried to minimize the use of loaded strops of any kind, when I'm cleaning up my edges. I use a bare leather belt as a hanging strop at times in just a few passes, or otherwise a few passes on my jeans. But I'm not very fond of loaded strops anymore - both because they polish more than I want, and also because any rounding effects from a soft substrate will be greatly accelerated if any abrasive compound is used. I like the toothy bite in my edges as they get it straight from the stone - and I do all I can to preserve it by minimizing stropping. And of course, the additional benefit is less rounding of the apex.

 

[Another Shepherd]

I do not have a favorite sharpening angle. I am experimenting, slowly.

A few months ago, I had the box from a 50-gallon water with 3 layers of heavy-duty corrugated cardboard. I tried about 20 knives on it. The knife that cut it most easily was a Cold Steel Finn Wolf, with a Scandi grind at 10 degrees per side. This was the only plain-edge blade that did well. Second place went to a Bugout with a combo blade at 20 degrees per side along the smooth part of the edge. The serrations helped a lot. Third place went to a Civivi Cogent, combo blade, 25 degrees per side.

I do not have any good way of measuring thickness behind the edge.

BESS scores ranged from about 130 grams for a Bradford Guardian 3, which was in the middle of the rankings, up to about 180 for the Cogent.

I lost the full set of data because the solid-state drive in the Lenovo laptop crashed recently, and Microsoft OneDrive had neglected to copy a lot of my files to the cloud as was supposed to. I don't recall many other details.

P.S.: I have a laser goniometer, the cheap one from Gritomatic.