What angle do you sharpen your knives

for me it depends on the steel type. if a steel type can't handle below 15deg i keep it stock. if im getting chips like s110v i modify the factory grind to more obtuse. if a steel is very good at keeping an edge ill lower it to 10-17deg.

scandivex for bushcrafting knives.
 
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Aquaholicc said:
Why do I feel like a micro Edge is cheating?
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I don't know why you'd think it's cheating. Allows you to keep a thinner geometry immediately behind the edge where it still matters a ton while giving unstable steels the angle they need to not fold over. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I don't know why you'd think it's cheating. Allows you to keep a thinner geometry immediately behind the edge where it still matters a ton while giving unstable steels the angle they need to not fold over. :)
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Hmm maybe I'll try it on one of my blades then. Couldn't you argue that the micro bevel could fold over just as easily?
 
Nope. The whole point is that it's thickened right at the apex to make it more resistant to folding over. :)
 
The one thing to be careful of in microbeveling is to not make the backing grind excessively thin for the steel either. The thickened apex introduced more abrupt force to the edge vs a thinner one and so if the material right behind the micro is excessively thin then you increase the chance of rippling the bevel under hard impacts. But that's pretty easily avoided through good geometry management and the context of the particular tool's usage.
 
Microbevel for me has two uses.

First is to rapidly finish an edge, usually for commercial sharpening. Only the very edge sees action, so there is little benefit to polishing the entire bevel. It allows me to use a relatively fast grinding abrasive to reset the edge, and then go to a microbevel with an abrasive that would be far too fine to effectively polish the entire bevel, I just hit the last 20-30 microns. An added advantage is it allows a good level of customization without needing that "just right" stone for every steel that gives a good mix of refined and catchy edge. The more passes the greater uniformity the edge will have, the fewer passes the toothier the edge will be.

The second is that on very thin geometry edges it is a lot easier to microbevel than it is to precisely hit the same working angle to deburr perfectly.

The two biggest drawbacks are that it increases terminal cutting edge angle - a good thing if the edge is too thin, a bad thing if the edge is thick it will lead to premature dulling.

And, if you fail to microbevel cleanly and have to fight a burr it quickly makes an overly broad cutting apex.

I normally do not microbevel with the same stone I'm working the bevel - it is always a finer surface, usually much finer. I don't see a lot of benefit to micobeveling with the same abrasive and in that case I just finish it as a single plane.

I also theorize that microbevelling induces a slight bit of (sub)surface burnishing due to the huge jump in unit pressure the steel sees, and this may help with edge retention on lower RC steels.
 
Work hardening induced by burnishing would only assist in edge retention by slightly reducing plastic deformation to the edge, so abrasive wear rate would be the same as prior.
 
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