Traditional sharpening angle?

From 20° to 25° inclusive. No micro bevels. It happens i use an angle gauge to check the result but it's not necessary. 50 years at sharpening knives and axes freehand have made my hands dexterous enough to achieve a result that satisfies me.
What i now like to use is a magnifying glass. The more I advance in the process the more I increase the magnification (5, 10, 15 X) to check i've really reached the apex.
That's for setting the secondary bevel or for fixing damages, most of the time i just maintain with a leather strop or eventually with a fine grit stone.

Dan.
 
Arathol said:
I have a Lansky, which is similar, and find that many traditional type knives have blades that are just not big enough to position correctly in the clamp to get the proper angle.
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I had the Lansky for years. KME jaw system works much better since it’s designed a bit differently than other guided systems. I also have the traditional knife/pen blade jaws on mine so that also helps a ton. Definitely need an angle cube tho because you can’t always trust the notches.
 
I freehand sharpen to a convex edge. I start with a roughly 10-12° angle to thin out the edge, then gradually work up through 15 to 18° angles to convex the edge and put a micro bevel on, followed by light stropping. I work until I achieve arm hair shaving, and it remains a good strong edge for heavier tasks as well.
 
For me, the 'sweet spot' is usually around 25° inclusive (12.5° per side), if possible. And up to 30° inclusive (15° per side) is OK. I NEVER go any higher than that.

I've taken some probably below 12.5° per side. But in typical traditional knives in simple steels, they get kind of fragile at the edge when it's that narrow. An almost-nothing microbevel at the apex, essentially invisible to the naked eye, can make those very thin edges more stable for normal cutting tasks.
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
For me, the 'sweet spot' is usually around 25° inclusive (12.5° per side), if possible. And up to 30° inclusive (15° per side) is OK. I NEVER go any higher than that.

I've taken some probably below 12.5° per side. But in typical 'traditional' knives in simple steels, they get kind of fragile at the edge when it's that narrow. An almost-nothing microbevel at the apex, essentially invisible to the naked eye, can make those very thin edges more stable for normal cutting tasks.
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Thanks for the info, I appreciate the knowledge. I think I’m going to try a slighter microbevel at the edge like you mentioned on some of my more fragile edges. I think that will help out with some of my rolled edges I get on some of my more narrow angle knives 👍
 
I don't really even know. I think it's "my angle" - whatever it is that I naturally hold the knife at when sharpening. Proably 20-ish per side, I guess. At one time I tended to use the Spyderco Sharpmaker with the two slots that are approximately at 20 per side / 15 per side. I even used a phone-app clinometer to test to see if they were the actual angles (the 20 degree slots were 22 and 20).

But I spent a while teaching myself to free-hand, a few years back, and now I just touch up on an Arkansas stone and strop afterwards on a belt that I rubbed some green buffing compound into. When I was learning I would use a loupe and bright light to inspect the edge, and all manner of things like phone book paper, rolled up paper towels, arm hair, as testing media. I have a nice set of Japanese water stones and a balsa strop with 1 micron diamond compound on it, diamond plates of varying mesh, all the cool toys, from when I was fully in the sharpening rabbit-hole.

Nowadays I just don't care that much. I'll still make sure it cuts a rolled up paper towel (RUPT) when I am done sharpening, but since it is probably going to be used for cutting down cardboard boxes, a nice mirror edge is not going to last that long anyway.

I do still use the good stuff for my Japanese kitchen knives, but for a pocket knife - nah.
 
Let'er Buck said:
Thanks for the info, I appreciate the knowledge. I think I’m going to try a slighter microbevel at the edge like you mentioned on some of my more fragile edges. I think that will help out with some of my rolled edges I get on some of my more narrow angle knives 👍
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I've been in the habit of using my Sharpmaker to apply the microbevel. Maybe 1-3 passes on each side at the lightest touch is enough. The microbevel fixes the sort of unstable, erratic behavior you might see in simple cutting tasks if you notice differences from one cut to the next (indicating the thin edge is deflecting / moving around a bit with each cut). More often than not, I'll use the 30° inclusive setting for that. I've occasionally done it with the 40° inclusive setting for experiment's sake.
 
Like Brandon said when asked if he prefers boxers or briefs: “Depends”

In general 25 is the sweet spot between edge sharpness and durability. The slight increase in sharpness at a smaller angle is not compensated for by the increased fragility of the edge. If you’re making sushi or chopping wood that's a different story.
 
I am glad this question was asked. I have been about 20dps, but I’ll try more acute next time.
 
With how thin the grinds on most good traditional knives I find that I don't need to go crazy 15dbs at most(least?) to get a very sharp edge that's reasonably durable.
 
Sharpen on fine diamond then strop on redwing boot leather fragment. Don't know the angles. I go by feel. If the edge grabs my thumb it is done.
 
I bring most of mine to about 15-17 DPS because the increased cutting performance, especially for things like whittling, is a huge difference and I don't get any edge stability issues because I'm not doing anything crazy like battoning or something with my slipjoints anyway. On top of that, I typically get LONGER edge retention out of an edge with a thinner secondary grind vs the factory grind.

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