What edge angle for Ontario butcher knife?

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777zzz

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Oct 31, 2008
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I have a 7.25" Ontario butcher knife model 7025TC that I bought for $15 on Amazon. What is the best edge angle for this knife for general bushcrafting which will include quite a bit of chopping? Thanks for any replies.
 
I convex grind mine on belt sander roughly at 15*. I just use mine in kitchen, but friend I did one for cut up deer and rabbit with it, worked fine for him. He wasn't splitting bone or chopping trees though.

Its a $15 knife, try something and see how it works. If you don't like it, can always change angle.
 
Try 22 degrees per side. Then if you don’t see any issues, drop it to 17 dps. The optimal angle depends on your tasks and how you do them. For that knife if it was me I’d just do a 12 dps edge with a 15 dps microbevel.
 
777zzz said:
What is the best edge angle for this knife for general bushcrafting which will include quite a bit of chopping?
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I think you should stay within a range of 20-25 degrees per side. Any lower than this and your edge won't hold up for very long. I suggest you just go with 25 to start, and reduce the angle from there if you feel like you need to. Remember that lower angles are for slicing and higher angles for chopping. The higher the angle the better the edge holds up to abuse, but the worse it performs at more precise tasks. You're going to have to feel this one out and settle on a preference based on how you're using the knife.
 
I assume that by " quite a bit of chopping ", you mean chopping wood, if so, depending on the steel, under 25 degrees per side won't hold up. The last thing you want to be doing is going to a stone while out in the bush all the time.
 
I'd be more concerned on securing the handle scales over thinning the edge.

Maybe just sharpened her up as is, then epoxy the scales.
 
cudgee said:
I assume that by " quite a bit of chopping ", you mean chopping wood, if so, depending on the steel, under 25 degrees per side won't hold up. The last thing you want to be doing is going to a stone while out in the bush all the time.
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Felling axes used by experienced loggers are often sharpened less than half that. My machetes are 12 degrees per side for some uses. It depends in large part in the skill of the user. I wouldn’t go that low with an axe because I don’t use one often, but I’ve been using my machetes for decades in some cases.
 
me2 said:
Felling axes used by experienced loggers are often sharpened less than half that. My machetes are 12 degrees per side for some uses. It depends in large part in the skill of the user. I wouldn’t go that low with an axe because I don’t use one often, but I’ve been using my machetes for decades in some cases.
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I'll stand corrected then.
 
It’s not corrected, but very dependent on use and skill. Thin the edge until it takes a little damage for your use, then go back up one step. It’s different for every user.
 
I just put 15 degrees per side on an Old Hickory Slicer that's used in the kitchen. It's totally dangerous. But the only thing it chops is vegetables.
 
For Kitchen knives , 15 deg per side is fine ..
But if you plan on doing any serious chop chop where your slapping the cutting board , than backing off to 18 deg per side might make some sense ..
Just depends on the steel , and how much it will take to fold the edge .
I think I slapped 22deg on my kitchen knives , and they stay sharp enough for a few months .
 
I'll start with 22 degrees per side and adjust from there if necessary depending on its cutting ability and edge retention. Thanks.
 
I did a few Old Hickory "bushcraft" versions (cutdown "Butcher" into a Bushlore profile) back 2012-2014. All were the 1095 versions. Also did a little handle contouring with a plan to drill the brass pins & bolt the scales. Spent some time with them in the woods learning how much can be done with a thin lightweight knife. Made bow-drill divots with the tip, cross-cut batoning, wood spitting, sharpened spine excellent for wood scarping and/or ferrocerium). No where near enough blade weight to think about chopping, but get the "Cleaver" for that project as it's a bit thicker and much heavier blade.

"Butcher" cut-down to 5-7/8" O.A. Blade Length & reground to 4.5-dps primary bevels & 15-dps secondary bevels.
Below shows same knife w/above edge after a fair amount of use (with "Cleaver" in background to show much heavier overall).

Old Hickory Butcher.JPG

Old Hickory Butcher-2.JPG

Old Hickory-1280Wide.jpg

Old Hickory-2-1280Wide.jpg
 
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777zzz said:
I'll start with 22 degrees per side and adjust from there if necessary depending on its cutting ability and edge retention. Thanks.
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22 is probably okay. Just remember that it's easier to reduce the angle than it is to increase it. That's why I suggested starting at 25 and working your way down.

Cheers.
 
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