Sharpening Angle GEC #77?

[EyeDog]

Started buying some slip joints and discovered the thinner blades have thinner/smaller cutting edges. What angle should I use to sharpen this type of knife. I use both free hand wet stones and once in a while a belt sander.

Thanks ... Mike

 

[WillieD]

GEC doesn't do a great job on the sharpening IMHO. They are small blades so you can go pretty steep to make them good slicers. Since u freehand, I would prob just match the angle to make it easy. I am not gifted with freehand skill, so I reprofile using a DMT Aligner diamond kit to an angle that I can then use the 40deg side of my Sharpmaker. Just keep in mind that it's 1095 too.

 

[bonzodog]

The GEC’s I have had were not very sharp. DMT Aligner set at 20deg soon sorted that out.

 

[EyeDog]

GEC doesn't do a great job on the sharpening IMHO. They are small blades so you can go pretty steep to make them good slicers. Since u freehand, I would prob just match the angle to make it easy. I am not gifted with freehand skill, so I reprofile using a DMT Aligner diamond kit to an angle that I can then use the 40deg side of my Sharpmaker. Just keep in mind that it's 1095 too.

Thanks Willie...I only have a couple of 1095 knives and have not sharpened them. Is this a softer steel? Maybe I'll use my wood block and sandpaper set up.

 

[EyeDog]

The GEC’s I have had were not very sharp. DMT Aligner set at 20deg soon sorted that out.

Thanks...I'll work on one this weekend and see how it goes.

 

[snippy]

1095 is pretty easy to sharpen so just go slow - and the blades on traditionals are quite thin behind the edge compared to most modern knives. I use magic marker and just freehand - can't get my DMT Aligner to work on smaller blades -

Eric

 

[EyeDog]

1095 is pretty easy to sharpen so just go slow - and the blades on traditionals are quite thin behind the edge compared to most modern knives. I use magic marker and just freehand - can't get my DMT Aligner to work on smaller blades -

Eric

Thanks Eric...very helpful.

Mike

 

[Jason B.]

I like to start traditional's on a diamond plate to get the edge nice and flat, most come with awful edges that are very distorted by the factory sharpening. I use my DMT Coarse or more recently an Ultra Sharp 400 then switch to waterstones, usually a 1k followed by a 2k finishing stone.

The common recommended angle is 10-15 degrees per side.

 

[EyeDog]

I like to start traditional's on a diamond plate to get the edge nice and flat, most come with awful edges that are very distorted by the factory sharpening. I use my DMT Coarse or more recently an Ultra Sharp 400 then switch to waterstones, usually a 1k followed by a 2k finishing stone.

The common recommended angle is 10-15 degrees per side.

Thanks Jason...I'll put all of this together tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[WillieD]

1095 is pretty easy to sharpen so just go slow - and the blades on traditionals are quite thin behind the edge compared to most modern knives. I use magic marker and just freehand - can't get my DMT Aligner to work on smaller blades -

Eric

I slide a piece of ziptie in first behind the blade on my aligner to give it some added width overall. That way you can sharpen at a lesser angle without the stone hitting the aligner itself. I've noticed also that the tip area on GECs can get really distorted. Take extra care of that area. 1095 is a bit soft, so after I thin the edge out on the aligner and its razof sharp, I run it over the Sharpmaker a few times on the fine stones to put a wider micro bevel on it. After that it just gets touched up on a strop or the 40deg side of the Sharpmaker to keep more steel at the edge.

 

[EyeDog]

Thanks everyone, I did two knives today. A Case Trapper on stones and a GEC Northfield #43 on my Ken Onion Worksharp w/the belt grinder attachment. I wanted to do these before I do my #77.

The Trapper on the stones came out great. Can shave hair on my arm.

I did the Northfield on the belt as I want to reshape the edge. Very happy with the results.

Stopped both with finishing compound on leather.