I'd like to touch up the edge on a few knives, and can't determine what blade angle to use.

Is there a way of determining the correct blade angle without a trial & error method?

Main one I'd like to touch-up is my Pro-tech Godfather.

I have a Lansky system that uses stones at various angles.

What I do is take a sharpie pen and darken the edge and try an angle to see if it removes the ink. Keep doing it at different angles till the ink is removed evenly.

Jim

What is the knife gonna be used for? Slicing, chopping, whittling, box cutting?

quote:

Originally posted by sybo:
What is the knife gonna be used for? Slicing, chopping, whittling, box cutting?

Up until now, it has only been used to open up packages.
The Godfather is a spear point 4” auto in 154CM.

I like the angle that originally came with it, and I’m betting it’s a pretty low angle being as sharp as it was when I got it.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
I have a Lansky system that uses stones at various angles.

What I do is take a sharpie pen and darken the edge and try an angle to see if it removes the ink. Keep doing it at different angles till the ink is removed evenly.

Jim

Hadn’t thought of that. Pretty simple method too.
I assume you’d start with the largest angle and work your way down?

That’s a great visual tool!

There are a number of different gauges to measure sharpening angles, here's just a few of them:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ancuandgu.html

As far as to which angle to use I kinda like Murray Carters rule of using the sharpest angle that your edge doesn't roll over. Start at 20ish for hunting knives and 15-20ish for kitchen knives and adjust from there depending on your cutting habits..........dj

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:
There are a number of different gauges to measure sharpening angles, here's just a few of them:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ancuandgu.html

As far as to which angle to use I kinda like Murray Carters rule of using the sharpest angle that your edge doesn't roll over. Start at 20ish for hunting knives and 15-20ish for kitchen knives and adjust from there depending on your cutting habits..........dj

Thanks for that. It gave me the correct search terms to use for the search.

Still very new to sharpening, as if it weren’t plainly/painfully obvious

I sharpened my first couple last week. Worked on a cheap Kershaw and a Ka-Bar kukri, and was very satisfied with the results, so started checking some others.

If you are new to sharpening Chefsknivestogo and Knivesshipforfree both have some excellent sharpening videos on their .com sites well worth watching for conventional and convex edges respectively. Both edge styles are well worth experimenting with. Also as mentioned Murry Carter has some superb sharpening video's out there - he won sharpening competitions with cheap stones and newsprint!

Lots of advice good and bad out there. Those three are in the good category ;-) ...............dj

As some of you may know, I am a fan of the Wicked Edge system. Set the degree of angle and start moving up the grit, simple and EASY to replicate the same angle for re-sharpening!

What your asking for is actually one of the hardest things to do when sharpening a knife for the first time. Even if you know the exact angle, its hard to duplicate the vice for the blade then the angle to polish. That's assuming there is no microbevel on the edge which makes it even harder to assess the angle.

It's easier to get as close as you can with the marker trick or with a sharpener that has graduated angle measurements. Just make sure not to start to thin or you'll end up scuffing the profile and not the edge.

I think the TSPROF is the words best sharpener, but a wicked edge or edgepro or designs like them will allow you to set an edge angle,document and recreate your exact angles going forward. They can be expensive and most people can't justify the expense. They are worth it if precision is important to you.

All that said, unless you have a collectors piece, which you probably shouldn't be sharpening anyway, the need for precise recreation of factory angle isn't important. Just that you make it sharp.

quote:

Originally posted by C-Dubs:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
I have a Lansky system that uses stones at various angles.

What I do is take a sharpie pen and darken the edge and try an angle to see if it removes the ink. Keep doing it at different angles till the ink is removed evenly.

Jim

Hadn’t thought of that. Pretty simple method too.
I assume you’d start with the largest angle and work your way down?

Yes, that is what I do. Usually start with 25 degrees and go down from there. It's not a perfect way to find the right angle but it's easy and gets you very close. I think I got that trick from a post by Albert of Seattle Edge fame.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:

quote:

Originally posted by C-Dubs:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
I have a Lansky system that uses stones at various angles.

What I do is take a sharpie pen and darken the edge and try an angle to see if it removes the ink. Keep doing it at different angles till the ink is removed evenly.

Jim

Hadn’t thought of that. Pretty simple method too.
I assume you’d start with the largest angle and work your way down?

Yes, that is what I do. Usually start with 25 degrees and go down from there. It's not a perfect way to find the right angle but it's easy and gets you very close. I think I got that trick from a post by Albert of Seattle Edge fame.

Jim

It helps to have a loupe or at least a good magnifying glass for this.