how thin before sharpening

You probably better wait for the experienced guys, but i was told generally between 0.01-0.02"

Depends of course on the type of knife (a chopper cant be treated like a skinner and vice versa ;)) and probably on the how crazy sharp you want it to be

For 0.01" you can sharpen using 400g belt, for 0.02" you can use a 200g to establish the edge first then sharpen

Again im new to this, just passing on what ive been told :)
 
It depends on the end use of the knife as mentioned.
about half to three quarters the thickness of a dime is what I do before sharpening for a Chef or skinning knife.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Good advice given thus far. There are variables that "CAN" affect the answer to your question.

The biggest variable for me personally is the steel type.

Oil quenching steels I like to go slightly less than the thickness of a dime (.050) and shoot for about .040 before HT.

Stainless I'll go much thinner on in the neiborhood of .020

I would advise to use caution and err on the side of too thick before HT and finish grind after HT.

Pretty much any suitable steel for knives is going to fully harden in sections under 1/8" so getting it thin before HT isn't necessary and leaving it thicker is insurance against our good friends de-carb and warp ;)

-Josh
 
I am using O1 steel and they are skinning knives. I think I am right in the .05" range after HT. so I'll see how this goes.

Another question i have is the angle used for sharpening? let's say on a scandi grind and on a flat grind..
 
I like my edges around 0.020" before sharpening, and I will free-hand sharpen a convex edge on the belt grinder (slack section). Not real sure what the angle comes out to be...

Starting with 100x Norax (about 220g), then 65x (about 400g) and finally either 15x or 5x (very high grit, not sure exactly). Light pressure, move fast, dunk after every pass.
 
I like thin so on skinners I go to .010" hunters usually .015" and then on choppers and camp knives.020-.030" it all depends on the use of the knife, and to some extent the steel used, the same with sharpening angles, my thin skinners get around 17 degrees, hunters and utilitys get 20 degrees and choppers 22 degrees to raise the burr, then increase the angle by 2 degrees to remove the burr, this gives micro bevel backed up by a primary bevel for edge strength, any of the above angles will get hair popping sharp. This is the method that was taught to me buy a professional knife sharpener, and has done well for me.

Dale
 
On my skinner/hunting knives I usually shoot for .010 - .015" before I sharpen it. I sharpen all my knives free hand on a slack belt to start with so I am unsure about the angle but I would have to guess between 15 and 17 degrees. They do pretty well.

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I take the intended purpose of the knife in account. I just finished two chef knives that were at .003" before sharpening. The Camp Chopper I just did was .025" before sharpening. Sometimes I will leave the big knives a little thicker and dress a tall blended convex edge on them. Most hunters and skinners though are .008" to .012" before sharpening.
 
I go as thin as I can hold. The last knife I reground was 0.015" behind the edge after sharpening on the slack belt at ~20 degrees per side. This was a large chopper with a 12" blade. I reground my old Buck Scoutlite all the way to a sharp edge flat to the belt, then back sharpened on the bench stones. I can't recommend this due to risk of ruining the HT on the thin edge, but so far I've not noticed any issues with most of the edge, though the tip did get burned. I've been moving down in edge angle over the years. I have a couple of knives with 7-9 degree per side edges, most are around 16-18 degrees for easy final honing on the 20 degree Sharpmaker slots.
 
I am in the .015 -.010 boat as well. I build hunters and skinners mostly and take them to .020 before HT unless its 3v, in which case I take it to .015 then .010 afterwards. Keep in mind I am using a digital oven with dual thermometers and I use pcb to coat all my blades is my current oven does not exclude O2. If I had the salt pots finished then I would take the edge all the way to its final thickness before HT and smile everytime I finished ht and tempering that way!
 
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