Solingen Bowie

[Marc Simon]

Hi,
Just started with my WEP how do I figure out what angle to put on this knife. I have no idea what is on it now.
I used to sharpen with a smiths sharpener but the angle is not as exact as I can get on the WEP. I think I used the 25 degree mark butt not sure.
Any thought would be helpful.

No specific purpose for this knife, I received from my father and just want it to have the edge it deserves.
Thanks,
Marc

[Phil Pasteur]

25 degrees might be just fine for a knife that will see hard use.
Any idea of what steel it is made from? Solingen… well that might mean anything.

[cbwx34]

My suggetion, is always to start with what’s on the knife. You can find this by following the instructions on this page: How To Find Your Angle… basically marking the edge with a Sharpie and matching it. This will tell you what angle is actually on the knife also.

From that point, if you were happy with how it cut before, you can sharpen it, or if not, reprofile it from there.

[Leo Barr]

Isn’t Solingen a famous cutlery area of Germany as is Sheffield for England .
I would guess that since it is a famous area for knives the steel will be good Northern Europe produces very good steel so much so one of the Japanese chefs knives makers use Swedish steel .

[Robert Nash]

+1 – my method as well assuming the bevels look even left to right and along the blade length…

My suggestion, is always to start with what’s on the knife. You can find this by following the instructions on this page: How To Find Your Angle… basically marking the edge with a Sharpie and matching it. This will tell you what angle is actually on the knife also.

From that point, if you were happy with how it cut before, you can sharpen it, or if not, reprofile it from there.

[Phil Pasteur]

Solingen is a City in Germany.
There are many blade manufactures that operate from there:
“Dreiturm, DOVO Solingen, Wüsthof, J. A. Henckels, Böker, Eickhorn-Solingen, and numerous other manufacturers. Wilkinson’s German operations are also based here”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solingen

However, I have had knives that were stamped Solingen that probably never were any closer to Germany than Peking..
🙂

Also, those different manufacturers have different lines that use different grades of steel. I don’t think that he can assume anything about the steel based on the stamp.

In any case, knowing the specifics of the steel that one is sharpening can go a long way towards letting one understand how to plan a sharpening strategy.

Nothing wrong with starting with what is there, but if that is not acceptable, figuring out where to go from there is highly dependent on the quality of the steel.

Isn’t Solingen a famous cutlery area of Germany as is Sheffield for England .
I would guess that since it is a famous area for knives the steel will be good Northern Europe produces very good steel so much so one of the Japanese chefs knives makers use Swedish steel .

[Marc Simon]

Well I sharpened it and will try and post pictures. My angle was 24.7 degrees. I put a beautiful edge on it.
Thank you for all the comments.
Marc

[Phil Pasteur]

Glad you are happy with it!!

Phil
:cheer:

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