Not sure about my approach
- This topic has 7 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 01/24/2018 at 11:40 am by
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Hello Michael,
20 deg. is a safe and good angle for most knives and if that is where you want them their is nothing wrong with your approach. You can benefit from more acute angles on some kitchen knives especially but 20 will work.
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Michael, I think you should look at each knife individually and maybe consider what angle it was sharpened at from the factory. Each knife is different or may be different. You should try to sharpening the knives in a way that would work best with the knife’s style, profile, and it’s use. A way that would enhance the knifes abilities and features. Like Steve said, “some knives can benefit from a more acute angle.” For the same reasoning some of your knives may benefit form a wider bevel angle than 20 degrees per side.
You bought this fine knife sharpener to be able to sharpen your knives to very accurate angles with high precision. If you wanted to just throw a 20 degree bevel on everything you could have purchased something much less expensive, much less sophisticated and much easier to use.
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)Thanks Sksharp!
I have a shunfeng boning knife. It came at a 15°, and it’s insanely sharp, so I’ll be staying with the original bevel.
Michael
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I do think that even if you do use an 20 deg. edge on everything that the WE is still going to give most anyone better results than any other option my a mile, but I know what MarcH means. With the capabilities of the WE system you do short change some knives by not getting the proper angle for sure.
Like MarcH said, there are reasons to keep the angle on some knives. 15 to 17 deg. will hold up very well if the steel is capable and that boning knife will. I think you will find that 15 deg will have better retention than 20 deg on quite a few knives. The reason I sharpen pocket knives and heavy use knives at 18 to 22 deg. is for damage control and not edge retention. 20 deg. makes an edge that is less prone to damage. 15 deg. will usually be sharper, stay sharper longer but if the steel is to soft the edge rolls and to hard it chips. Kitchen knives benefit from 15 to 17 deg. in most cases. Pairing and utility knives I do at 20 to 22 for peeling and such. Most of the knives I do are in the 15 to 22 deg. range. My “general rule” is “the harder the use the more obtuse” the angle and the lighter and delicate work the more acute, the worse the steel the more obtuse the angle.
Now I have a couple edcs at 15 deg. because the steel can handle it. I also do some chef knives at 20 deg because the steel is less than desirable. My suggestion is to match the angle as close as possible on any particular knife first and then use it. Then if you determine that you want to change something at least you have a starting point to start to optimize the knife.
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So I do a minimum 25 for my VG10 knives now.
I don’t think one experience with one knife should be used to set your sharpening technique or edge parameters for every other knife of similar steel. First from what I can see the Roadie is not VG10 steel. Second, many factors can be pointed to for the cause of a rolled edge. It may be just this one particular knife wasn’t sharpened well, or heat treated to it’s best results or possible it got overheated while grinding it’s bevel at the factory. For me there’s too many explanation to contribute to a single knife’s edge failure. Certainly not enough reason to assume any knife with the same, with similar or with close to the same steel would have similar durability issues.
I think each knife should be considered objectively and the sharpening decision also considered on an individual basis. Knife size, knife blade profile, knife blade finishing, heat treatment, previous sharpening results, and many other factors I believe will contribute to the knife’s edge longevity and durability.
I would be looking to sharpen a knife that suffered with edge failure that was previously profiled at an edge angle with-in normal recognized limits for that steel’s general application, again, this time more conscientiously and give it another go round before I just made a generalized change in how I sharpened every knife of like or similar steels. One instance is not conclusive proof, for me.
Marc
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