The answer is simple geometry. The Old Hickory is sharpened by hand and the curve and especially the tip portion are sharpened to a higher angle. This keeps the bevel width constant, which *looks* nice. But it's not necessarily good for cutting performance. If you actually sharpen the Old Hickory at a constant angle, you end up with a wide tip. But a very sharp tip! Why is it wide? Because the tip is near the spine. The spine is thicker than the stock that is near the edge. Therefore, the edge bevel is wider. It's just triangle math. Make one side of the triangle longer (the spine or thickness of the blade) and the other side gets longer too (the edge bevel).
