Optimum sharpening angle

DiverTexas

Well-Known Member
Just curious what everyone considers to be the best angle to sharpen knives to.
I've always used a Lansky system and use 25 degrees for my skinners and 20 degrees for my kitchen knives.
What do you consider to be the optimum angle for either?
 
I like mine a bit finer, around 15 degrees per side, 30 degrees overall... choppers get a bit more, but never more than 22 degrees. My leather cutting knife gets a 11 degree edge, and cuts like a scalpel.
 
Well...if you believe the historical research, a majority of ancient sword makers thought 16 degrees per side was it. Kind of like Mr. Ezell.

Personally, I think angle is job specific for the type of steel the blade is made from. If I'm gonna be using a mallet or stick to bang my old hunting knife through the pelvis and brisket bone on a deer and then expect it to cape out the deer cleanly afterward...which I DO, I stand the angle up to more like 18-20 degrees per side. If I'm sharpening a boning knife for the kitchen or small game knife it's more like 15 or so.

But all of that is contingent on the type of steel. If the blade is stainless, I always go with steeper angles because it is so much harder to sharpen when it gets dull. So I want it to stay sharp longer to avoid having to sharpen as often.

I know you stainless guys will say I'm full of it. But in my experience, easy to sharpen stainless is because it's left softer. Which means it will dull quicker and the steeper angle holds an edge longer in that case too.

But each steel has a character that plays into angle. 5160, properly heat treated will retain an edge better than 1095 that's properly treated. But it's also a little harder to sharpen. It's all about trade offs between edge retention and cutting ease. Just kind of a personal preference thing to my way of thinking.
 
If the primary bevel was taken down to sharp, I put a 10 degree edge on filet knives and others of this cross section where with a bowie size blade [11/2"]wide a 12 degree per flat grind, is whats on my blades.

As stated above; it is always job specific.

Fred
 
22.5 degrees for all. A good round about angle for sharpness and toughness.

That angle is pretty hard to beat. It's not an edge to impress people splitting hair but it will shave hair and stand up to repeated poundings through pelvic bone and splitting ribs and still shave afterwards. Provided it's good steel to begin with of course.

I do lay my fillet knives down a little flatter than that. More like 17 degree.
 
I sharpen 50 to 100 knives a day at our cutlery store. IMHO all above is correct. It depends on what the knife is going to be used for and what kind of steel. We also adjust what abrasives we use depending on the steel and how we use them. As a general answer though, 20 to 25 degrees is good for almost everything. Just my two cents...
 
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