Sharpening angle and razor sharpness

If you have a knife sharpened at 20* and it is sharp enough to shave with, what is gained from sharpening at an angle < 20*?

I'm wondering this after reading Clay's post re German steels and kitchen knives.

I always thought more acute was more comfortable…well, I'd always heard that…

I notice a pretty big difference between my Japanese knives at +/-15 degrees and my German knives at 20 degrees. It is definitely enough to make me always reach for the Japanese blades.

Is it the difference in the steel or the blade profile that you think gives the difference in the most acute angle a blade will comfortably support? Or like most things pertaining to knives, is it always a combination?

I think it’s mostly the steel though the geometry is definitely a factor.

Ah man topics like this make me want those new arms to really go crazy on my practice pieces… I would have to agree that geometry plays a big role, just because of the variety of knives I’ve worked with since getting my WEPS kit I’ve noticed a massive difference in how each grind and angle handle normal tasks. I haven’t quite adjusted to the semi-chisel grind of the CRKT in my pocket right now, so it still seems kind of lackluster at certain light duty tasks but does seem to cruise through cardboard nicely. Maybe it’s still user error 🙂 At any rate I’ve read a lot of discussion on different grinds, chisel in particular, handling different cutting tasks differently so there’s got to be more to it!