What Edge Angle Do You Prefer? Some Help, Please.

[Fish30114]

You go as low as you can for the tasks you perform without damaging the edge. Within reason.

It always takes a few times of sharpening a new knife at different angles to figure out what works best.

Amen brother! I am going through the 'find out what angle to sharpen at' on a couple new blades, a Kershaw Launch 4 and Brous stiletto.

 

[COS911]

Elk 40 degrees, which will work for deer and antelope too, but you won't be quartering them in the field so 30 degrees will work too. It's best to have two knives for field dressing IMHO, one that the edge isn't quite as important and one that you use when you need a really sharp knife. But just what I do, so it's what I recommend

 

[RX-79G]

The TME graph is interesting but it is clearly labeled for steels in the 0.4% - 0.5% carbon range. Maybe I remember wrong, but I thought O-1 was 0.85% - 1.0% carbon.

My bad. Here's the O1 TME chart.

Not much point in making O1 any softer than 60 since you don't get any additional toughness out of it.

 

[MichaelMyers]

That O1 tme chart is quite surprising. The dip in toughness is right at mid to high 50s where most big manufacturers like cold steel temper their blades! The peak is around 62 hrc which almost no one will temper that high in fear of brittleness. How accurate is this information?

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Other than how hard the edge is taken, the best sharpening angle depends on how close to zero the primary bevels were taken. A 40 inclusive edge on a zero ground bevel is not the same as a 40 degree edge on a bevel left at .010. Two completely different blades.

 

[awestib]

I usually recommend 15 dps because it is a safe improvement to general factory edges... if you REALLY want to dial in your edge, this is how you would =) Everything about the blade (grind type, grind height, edge angle, thickness, etc) must work together for the intended uses of the knife.

[video=youtube;Hy23qeCL1s8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy23qeCL1s8[/video]

I just love that video!

Either way is much easier to make the edge more durable even in the field, is not so easy to thin it out.

Sooo true !!

 

[me2]

That O1 tme chart is quite surprising. The dip in toughness is right at mid to high 50s where most big manufacturers like cold steel temper their blades! The peak is around 62 hrc which almost no one will temper that high in fear of brittleness. How accurate is this information?

It's consistent over many steel types. That embrittlement zone happens in many steels. Many knives are tempered right in the valley because a certain hardness range is considered "right" for knives, regardless of the steel.