Sharpening with Wicked Edge

J

Jack88

Joined
Jun 16, 2017
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203
What angles do you guys use for the battle mistress and TGLB?

Anyone with experience have a sort of general rule in length of sharpening before moving the knife forward or back?

I generally start with the knife held only about 2” from the tip. Seems to be best for even distribution of angle of sharpening and to hit the tip properly. Anyone have any input on their practice?

I love the edges I get from this thing, razor sharp easily. Far better than any factory edge.
 
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If it helps, I use an EdgePro with similar results. Not sure of the thickness of your Mistress, but if you're chopping/splitting, then somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees would be great. You'll get a little less bight but more edge strength as you move towards 40 degrees. For the Gemini, theyre pretty thick for their blade height and grind, so probably 32 to 36? One man's opinion. Wait for more responses. :)
 
Wow that’s thicker than I supposed! I was thinking 30 or so, I have my other Bowie knife at 25 (fallkniven tor). I just want to take off the minimal amount of steel but give it the extra sharpness and mirror edge!

TheGrownUpKid said:
If it helps, I use an EdgePro with similar results. Not sure of the thickness of your Mistress, but if you're chopping/splitting, then somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees would be great IMHO. You'll get a little less bight but more edge strength as you move towards 40 degrees. For the Gemini, theyre pretty thick for their blade height and grind, so probably 32 to 36? One man's opinion. Wait for more responses. :)
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Jack88 said:
Hmm maybe but I don’t think so, the BM is a pretty damn thick knife, 35-40 is about what I put on an axe
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Yea I was talking total angle. This is INFI, so you can go a little thinner than you can with lesser steels. Not sure what steel your bowie is, but INFI is as tough as it gets for steel at 58-60 rockwell hardness. Not sure of your Mistress' thickness though. Which model is it? Also, Im no expert, so take this as one opinion, and get more! :)
 
TheGrownUpKid said:
Yea I was talking total angle. This is INFI, so you can go a little thinner than you can with lesser steels. Not sure what steel your bowie is, but INFI is as tough as it gets for steel at 58-60 rockwell hardness. Not sure of your Mistress' thickness though. Which model is it? Also, Im no expert, so take this as one opinion, and get more! :)
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Oh interesting. The fallkniven is triple laminated VG10, sturdy for sure but prone to chipping as stainless is.

I have the 20th anniversary BM, don’t have a measure on the thickness ready. It’s used and while still hair shaving sharp I can certainly make it sharper.
 
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It really depends on what youre using it for. Chopping on the side of a log is cutting across grain. Generally a finer angle would help you cut the grain for deeper cuts per stroke. But, you are still chopping so you dont want to thin it out too much. If youre only batonning on the ends of logs with it, the actual sharpness doesnt matter as much as the overall profile and thickness of the blade. Its much easier to split the grains away from eachother, than it is too cut across them. When you baton on the end of a log, the edge just gets you into the wood. Once in, the edge does almost no work. At that point, and for its the spine thickness that does the work, pushing the two halves away from eachother. So, how will you use it?
 
TheGrownUpKid said:
It really depends on what youre using it for. Chopping on the side of a log is cutting across grain. Generally a finer angle would help you cut the grain for deeper cuts per stroke. But, you are still chopping so you dont want to thin it out too much. If youre only batonning on the ends of logs with it, the actual sharpness doesnt matter as much as the overall profile and thickness of the blade. Its much easier to split the grains away from eachother, than it is too cut across them. When you baton on the end of a log, the edge just gets you into the wood. Once in, the edge does almost no work. At that point, and for its the spine thickness that does the work, pushing the two halves away from eachother. So, how will you use it?
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I do both in the woods, really dependent on the wood I scavenge. I don’t think I’d take it any thinner than 20 deg per side.
 
Ah, yea I'd agree with that. For an all-rounder, super reliable edge, maybe 40-45ish overall?

Would love to see some other opinions here too.
 
My FFBM ( .31 thick) is at about 23 per side. My NMFBM (.23") is at about 20 per side. Naturally the FF is better at splitting, and the NM is better at chopping (plus, its prettier, which goes a long way towards cutting ability, as every Hog knows...).
 
I just recently put a 19 degree per side job on my DS8, similar to TG, it basically wipes hairs and I have not choped with it yet. I got the idea from one regular Hog on hear, forget his name, who swears by 19 degrees per side. I have been convexing smaller (non choopers due to size) knives to approx 17 degrees per side.

I am going to get some 2*6's soon to test some of these new edges I have been putting on using the grinder attachment for the Work Sharp Ken Onion. I am having great sucess. Have done an original TG, NMSFNO, DS8, and an old school mean streets plus a SOS so far, been trying to find the right angle on a high hardness AEB-L recurve bowie - getting really close with that one.

Edges come out clean and even with some practice, I stop before mirror and just strop.
 
COPIUOS said:
I just recently put a 19 degree per side job on my DS8, similar to TG, it basically wipes hairs and I have not choped with it yet. I got the idea from one regular Hog on hear, forget his name, who swears by 19 degrees per side. I have been convexing smaller (non choopers due to size) knives to approx 17 degrees per side.

I am going to get some 2*6's soon to test some of these new edges I have been putting on using the grinder attachment for the Work Sharp Ken Onion. I am having great sucess. Have done an original TG, NMSFNO, DS8, and an old school mean streets plus a SOS so far, been trying to find the right angle on a high hardness AEB-L recurve bowie - getting really close with that one.

Edges come out clean and even with some practice, I stop before mirror and just strop.
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Thanks for the comment!

Where do you put the blade on? Closer to the tip? I’ve had a difficult time in finding the exact sweet spot.
 
This is "free hand" on a mini-grinder with a set of belts from course to fine to polish. I just set at flat on the plate and follow from choil/ricasso to the tip on the belts. Different type of set up...I am practicing on this rig before going to full 1*30 belt sander...kind of the same thing on a smaller scale and it allows you to dial in angles...
 
I just put a 19 degree (38 degrees inclusive) on a HOGB8 and it is a beautiful mirrored edge. Finished it up with 0.25 micron diamond spray on a strop, it will cut! Probably a bit thin for cutting a car in half, but it will do everything short of that very well.
 
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