Stock removal:How thin do you work your cutting edge down before putting on edge?

[godogs57]

I am seeing some pretty "thick" cutting edges on some finished knives recently and it got me thinking. Those thick edges force a steep sharpening angle to keep the edge from looking absurd if you know what I mean...leading to a less than razor sharp edge. What thickness do you try to hold your cutting edges to before you put that final edge on the blade? Seems to me .020" would be about right....interested in your opinions. To me, nothing says "amateur" like those thick ol edges...I should know, as I used to do it too....

 

[SBuzek]

Folders .005-.007,Fixed blade around 4" .007-.010,longer blades for heavy use .010-.015.
Stan

 

[Don Hanson III]

.020" is too thick.

I do mine just about like Stan described above.

 

[peter r]

i do the same as well. .005 is a good target.

 

[Mudbug007]

I'm finding that my edges are getting thinner and thinner as I make knives strictly to do what they're designed to do. Cut stuff! Having said that, the larger camp style blades I may leave .025 to .030 on, but on my smaller blades, I stop around .005 to .015.

 

[jdm61]

Also depends on the steel.

 

[Don Nguyen]

For kitchen knives I'm having mine around 0.005 or less.

 

[xmtgx]

Anywhere from .005-.012 depending on what it is intended for.

 

[Robert Carter]

.005 to .010 on folders .010 for a user .005 for a gents folder. On fixed blades .010 to .015 anything more than that and you will have to lay that edge back a good bit to get a substantial edge. Pretty much what all the above have said.

 

[butcher_block]

kitchen knives .005 or less and razors more like .002 most others around .010

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

On kitchen knives, I like to take it to a near-zero edge ( almost sharp), and then add the edge bevel. This leaves probably about .005" behind the edge.
On a heavy chopper style, it might be as much as .010",max.
On single grind Japanese knives, I often go to a fully sharp edge, and then add a micro-bevel just to break the edge. These edges are about .002", maybe less. To be honest, the thickness is so slight that I never tried to measure them.

I use .020" for the thickness of a heavy 1095 knife before HT.

 

[Misanthropia]

Are you guys having any problems with warping from HT with these edge thicknesses? .020" always seemed pretty thick to me, and to get it any thinner after HT it seems like it would take an absolutely arduous amount of grinding. But that's what Peter's recommends, so when I (hopefully) start making knives I don't want to ruin a few from my own mistakes.

 

[james terrio]

Are you guys having any problems with warping from HT with these edge thicknesses?

Nope. I grind very thin before HT like the other fellows are describing, and have never had a blade come back from Peters' with a warped or wavy edge.

I feel very strongly that a thin, keen edge is a hallmark of a well-made custom knife. With appropriate steel and HT, even a big heavy-duty chopper/survival/tactical knife can and should be able to shave hair and peel an apple easily.

 

[Mudbug007]

I should have mentioned that nearly all of my blades are ground thin AFTER heat treat. On 1/8th thick steel, most of the time I don't bother grinding bevels until I'm done HT'ing. It's just not that much difference for me and it cuts down on warping. When I do grind pre-HT, blades run about .030 to .020 before getting the heat.

On stainless, I learned the hard way to take it down to almost the thickness you want the edge to be. Once you grind 3/16ths CPM 154 hard, you'll figure it out