Which sharpening angle?

Plumberdv

Plumberdv

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Sep 26, 2008
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I have the set below and I need to touch up the edges on the straight edged knives. I use the Spyderco Sharpmaker and would like to know which setting, 30 or 40 degees.

It's something that I should know (duhh :o ) but I'm not much at sharpening my own knives so I never gave it much thought until now.

Americrafta.jpg
 
If you're trying to match your factory bevel, I can't tell you without looking at your knife.

If you're just wondering which is "better" then it's preference--a thinner edge cuts better, a thicker edge lasts longer. Honestly, I find 40 degrees to be goofy-thick for most uses, but on a kitchen knife which has such a thin cross-section and is usually run relatively soft compared to most other knives, 40 degrees probably makes sense.
 
If you just want to touch them up quickly, 40 deg. If you want to decrease resistance so that it's a better "slicer" (knocking off the shoulders of the V edge), 30 deg. It will take much longer.....but give you better results on a kitchen knife. It depends on how much you care about blade edges and if you're willing to put in the time.
I do 40 deg. on my sebenza because it's a work knife, sees more cardboard, ect. and needs a more robust edge. My kitchen knives see meat, veg and not much else....so they benefit from a more acute edge...just makes food prep easier..or 40 deg. will work fine if you need a quick fix :thumbup:.
 
Plumb,
the other posters all have correct and valid points.......But, ole 300 would do thirty degrees to make that ripe tomatoe cry out for mercy.....

ch/300
 
Dave, Do you have the coarse grit stones/rods for your SM something near 100g. If so take the time to do 30* on all your knives, you'll enjoy the preformance they give you. Plus, do you think you'll be doing some Heavy cutting? I set all my knives at 15* and they stand up well and I do a lot of cutting. I like the way they preform as well. Next, what grit were you going to stop at? Enjoy, the journey. DM
 
The abuse that kitchen knives take is not from the meat and veggies they're cutting, it's from the surfaces they cut on and accidental contact with sinks, cooking forks, etc. If you're careful with your knives, cut on a proper surface (wood or bamboo cutting board) and touch up regularly with a steel, 30 degrees is fine.
The other thing to consider is the blade steel and hardness---I'm not familiar with the Americraft line and don't now what steel they have or the hardness it was taken to. Again, many kitchen knives are fairly low-carbon stainless, run in the mid-50s HRC and don't support a thin edge as well as the steels/hardnesses that many of the knife knuts on these boards (including myself) favor. If it's ATS-34, VG-10, 440C or something like that then fine. If it's 1.4116, 425M, 420 or AUS-6 at thirty degrees, your edges may end up rolling/blunting very quickly unless you're careful.

I don't want to come across as a thick-edge advocate (My Busses get knocked back to 25 included) I'm just saying that not all alloys do as well when you create thinner edges.
 
We have the same knives only a Buck stamping, most likely the same steel (420) just different handle material. I set them at 15* and they have been just fine. We treat them like a knife should be and don't go around chopping car hoods. DM
 
Car hoods are less a worry than glass/granite/fiberglass cutting boards. Still, Buck does 420 better than just about anybody, so it should be fine like you say.
 
I was told by Mr. Hubbard on the forum that they are 420HC. My cutting board is wood. The SharpMaker has the two sticks that came with it (white and brown), plus I bought the diamond sticks for it. I'm headed out this morning to Anaheim, Ca. to meet up with imafritz and his family so I'll work on them when I get back tomorrow.

Thanks for all the advise.
 
Never having used a Sharpmaker I looked them up and it looks like the user must maintan the blade in a perpendicular to the table manner? You change the position of the rods to change the angle?
I like the Lansky because its like having training wheels for your sharpening stone. Even my wobbly hands cant mess it up.
If it were me, I would start by just touching up the existing edge as you go. If your happy with the performance, great! If not, then try something diferent. You will end up reprofiling the edge the first time which will take more time and remove more metal than a standard touch up so thats why the recomendation to try the existing edge out first.
Personally I'm with 300. Nice and thin edges go through the veggies fast, especially if you knock off the edge shoulder like mac said.
I first learned about thick vs thin edges and edge shoulders when I grabbed a Strider Buck 880and tried to slice a potato. Lets just say I would have had better luck "slicing" that spud with a hammer! Grab the right tool for the job joe! Next I used an old Buck Fillet knife...Nice!
 
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