What angle to sharpen case pocket knives

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dd61999

Joined
Sep 12, 2007
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692
I sharpened my Case peanut CV blades to 20 degree's on each side (40 total).

Due to the thin blade should I do 15 on each side?
 
Not that I get my protractor out and measure :D. But 20 is about right for me on the CV a little greater for the SS. It really can depend upon what you want. If you like more delicate but hair popping edges try 15. That might be too little of an angle for steels less than 59 or so RC. It has been a while since I have tried less of an angle so things may have changed, but in general I have found that those smaller angles seem to work better on harder steels and that the edge will last a little longer at 20 to 25 degrees.
Your mileage may vary though.
 
case's website actually says 10 to 15. So I am a little unsure.........


anyone know the rc hardness rating with cv?
 
Case sharpens them by hand on a giant belt sander. So I think that's just a generalization. Try 15 degrees and see how it works for you.
 
If I am sharpening a knife with multiple blades I will usually have one that is a dedicated food blade so I sharpen it at around 12-15 degrees. On the other blades I stand it up just a touch more so that it is around 20 degrees. This as always worked well for me. But I do do mine free hand to it all becomes somewhat subjective.
 
dd61999 said:
case's website actually says 10 to 15. So I am a little unsure.........
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Huh, I would have guessed that most of the Case knives I have were more like 20 degrees. I know that's what I mostly sharpen them to, and afterwards they are as sharp or sharper than they were from the box. :p
 
I sharpened the knife today at 15 degrees each side. The CV was easy to reprofile and it is sharper. But not as sharp as my other knives.
 
I think that Case's SS and CV are little on the softer side when compared to some of the newer blades steel alloys out there. I only take mine to 20º per side regularly and they stay sharp for a reasonable time. I think that at 30º total (15º per side) , they would loose their edge faster IMO.
 
I do 20-30 totall on every cuttingtool I use, More feels dull when cutting. The lover angle makes them need sharpening more ofter witch probobly is the cause I prefere steels and hardness appropriate for freehand field sharpening.
 
why is it that the pen knife blade sharpens up better than the clip point blade on the peanut? But both do not sharpen up as nice as other knives I have
 
A loaded leather strop keeps mine hair popping sharp.:D Convex edges are great for slipjoints.:thumbup:
 
mmarkh said:
A loaded leather strop keeps mine hair popping sharp.:D Convex edges are great for slipjoints.:thumbup:
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I shoulda added that. :D Thanks for filling the gap.
 
I think the Case CV is plenty good enough for 15 per side.
Thats what I do on most(up to 20 on bigger Case's though), and have never had an edge problem. It may dull just a tad quicker, but not by much.
 
Yeah, I think the Case CV is more than hard enough for 15 per side. I sharpen pretty much all my knives convex, so it isn't exactly the same thing, but I'd say they are mostly around the equivalent of 15 degrees per side.

I'll second the notion that you can/should sharpen to the edge you want for a particular blade too though. As an example, I use the coping blade on my whittlers mostly as a chipping blade, so I sharpen that to a fairly short angle, probably 25 per side, give or take. Between the fat edge and the convexing it gives it a whole lot of strength to stand up to hard chipping cuts. And yes, I dinged the heck out of a couple blades before I came to that idea. Another example would be my EDC stockmans. I keep a thin profile on the main clips, probably about 15 per side. Then a heavier angle on the sheepsfoot for somewhat more abusive stuff. But I keep a seriously thin, around 10 per side edge on the speys, or pens. I don't use those much so they don't get abused, but they are insanely sharp slicers. Mostly use they for slicing off little skin tags, or other super fine cutting. You could easily do surgery with them if it came to that, just can't beat them up.

And I'm sure I'm not the only knut who obsesses over this stuff. Who else goes nuts over thinking and over sharpening to all sorts of different angles? Tell me your out there, my wife thinks I'm nuts, I need some backup! :D

Syn
 
synghyn said:
And I'm sure I'm not the only knut who obsesses over this stuff. Who else goes nuts over thinking and over sharpening to all sorts of different angles? Tell me your out there, my wife thinks I'm nuts, I need some backup! :D

Syn
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Um, you want backup from a bunch of nuts to prove you're not nuts???
 
synghyn said:
And I'm sure I'm not the only knut who obsesses over this stuff. Who else goes nuts over thinking and over sharpening to all sorts of different angles? Tell me your out there, my wife thinks I'm nuts, I need some backup! :D

Syn
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Tell your wife you have plenty of company. When I carried a stockman I got into the habit of sharpening all three blades to a different degree and angle. I figured with three blades, why have them for all the same use?

You're not alone syn.:thumbup:
 
I got the Swayback Jack in CV for Christmas. The edge grind was about 20 pers side on the main blade, but the grinds were not even. I cut it back to 15 per side with the Sharpmaker, then finished it with a microbevel with the 20 degree setting.
 
I think I did about a 26-28 inclusive using a DMT Aligner kit on my CV Swayback and it worked out great.
 
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