Sharpening a #15

Very small & (hopefully) thinly-ground blades can still cut very well with a slightly wider edge angle chosen to allow some clearance.

I wondered about the same issue when sharpening pen blades on some of my small folders (Case '44 stockman, as pictured below, or a Vic SAK's pen, for example). Those blades were barely more than 1/4" wide from spine to edge. I'd usually preferred the 17° setting on my Lansky for everything. But for these narrow blades, 17° was too low and I instead used the 20° setting so the hone would clear the clamp. As it turned out, the clean-beveled and fully-apexed edge produced by the guided sharpener at 20° per side was nothing to fret about and cut nicely. The thin geometry behind the edge makes most of the difference there, with very small & thin blades.

In the pics below, I was using the Lansky clamp in conjunction with a DMT Magna-Guide rod (normally used with a DMT Aligner clamp) and a DMT Dia-Fold hone. As viewed below, it shows just enough clearance at the 20° setting on the Lansky clamp, which handles very small blades better than the DMT Aligner clamp would do.
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i got lansky crocksticks and im always missing a bit near the choil. but tbh, i dont sharpen terribly much, so this is always new learning for me
 
I have the same Work Sharp & love it. There is a point where the really small pen blades will need to be sharpened by hand in my opinion for the angle I want. Most of the time I can place the clamp as far out as possible and tighten really well. I can sharpen the pen blade on my #39 Bunny which is smaller then the blade shown on your #15. Your photo looks like the Ancient 2 blade. Sharpen that all the time with the clamp out as much as possible. The pen blade on a Peanut for example is too small. The great thing I have noticed is the the clamp never seems to leave any marks. Great sharpener for the price. Very consistent.
 
I haven't tried that system yet but a buddy of mine just got one, so hopefully soon. Currently, I use a Chinese-made guided sharpening system that I modified to be able to produce the low angles I'm after but, having no established settings, I have to use a digital protractor to find the angle I want. Trade-offs.

Something I've thought about, but not crunched the numbers on, is that depending on the width of the blade and where the user clamps it, the actual angle of incidence can vary from the angle stated at any pre-established setting. Most of the time, and especially with traditional knives, it probably hardly matters as long as you can get to 20⁰ or lower - but I still wonder what width blade the sharpener manufacturer based their settings on?
 
I have a KME system and they offer a different clamp to use on smaller knives. I have been able to sharpen some rather small blades down to 18 degrees or so.

The new Pro worksharp has a special piece for sharpening small knives but it isn’t a clamp
 
I've never used a clamp system, which makes me wonder how you guys line it back up perfectly after you've set your bevel the first time out... do you just look and see if the stone is connecting perfectly and adjust from there?
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
I've never used a clamp system, which makes me wonder how you guys line it back up perfectly after you've set your bevel the first time out... do you just look and see if the stone is connecting perfectly and adjust from there?
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To maintain an existing bevel, I use a sharpie on said bevel and a loupe to verify that my stone is fully engaging it. If I feel like knowing what that angle is, then it's time to whip out the digital protractor.
 
birdsbeaks said:
To maintain an existing bevel, I use a sharpie on said bevel and a loupe to verify that my stone is fully engaging it. If I feel like knowing what that angle is, then it's time to whip out the digital protractor.
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Sounds a bit of a headache honestly. I somehow always imagined these types of systems would be dead easy to use. Never considered the clamp placement problem and actually maintaining the existing angle.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
Sounds a bit of a headache honestly. I somehow always imagined these types of systems would be dead easy to use. Never considered the clamp placement problem and actually maintaining the existing angle.
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It can be a chore and lacks the simple joy found in absent-mindedly running the edge across an Arkansas stone -- thankfully, I do it very infrequently. Once the edge is established, I try to do as much as I can to keep it sharp through stropping and/or steeling. Also, for 1095 and similar steels, I feel like precision doesn't matter as much as it does on more modern steels, but for the modern steels, I feel like I'm not getting my money's worth if I'm not running the edge close to what it can support.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
Sounds a bit of a headache honestly. I somehow always imagined these types of systems would be dead easy to use. Never considered the clamp placement problem and actually maintaining the existing angle.
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When I was using a guided system, I only used it to set good geometry once on each knife I sharpened for the first time. For me, that meant anything at or below 15° per side. Never cared what the exact angle was, per se. Only that it was within that limit and symmetrical from side-to-side. Once the new edge was set up with good geometry, I did all the touching up freehand. It's a lot easier doing it that way, if the foundation for the edge is set up well with the first reprofile and leaves some good, flat bevels that are easier to feel as the reference for holding the angle.

I was aware from early on, repositioning the clamp exactly right for each knife, with each resharpening, would be a headache. So, that's why I limited its use only to the first sharpening on each one, making sure I set the edge geometry acute enough that I'd not have to do it again with the clamped setup.
 
I had a clamp-type system once upon a time. I retired it to where it belonged (the landfill) after figuring out that there was no way to establish a consistent angle over the entire length of the blade.
 
yablanowitz said:
I had a clamp-type system once upon a time. I retired it to where it belonged (the landfill) after figuring out that there was no way to establish a consistent angle over the entire length of the blade.
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Sooo... what do you use now?
 
Âchillepattada said:
My problem is that with an angle of 20 the sharpening bar touch the clamp and not the blade 😥

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I have had the same sharpener for about a year and used it on some of my knives . With even wider blades than you are showing I have found that using the sharpeners angle indicator , 17degrees is about as low as I can go and still have a Secure Clamp on the blade . The biggest problem that I have found is the overhung weight of the knife handle . When I have time , I will try to remedy that situation because the basics of a decent sharpener is certainly there to save . It is just another tool that you have to use within the limits of the tool . With my knives that don't really fit this sharpener , I will just sharpen them free hand with diamond sticks . They are very quick and do the job .

Harry
 
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