Thread: Knife sharpening angles

Originally Posted by csmiffy

Well at the local freezing works they have a not only a sharpening robot but also a small bench mount.
Bothe set up at the same angle. 18 degrees I think.
It's the optimum for edge and general retention.
Some don't like it but most are ok.
If you go at the bone a bit steep you wreck the edge and these guy are a bit like that generally.
Also if old mate is using the steel on the edge different to you that's a problem too.
Gotta be the same.
Also less steeling is more better.
The guys at the works will do their 20 seconds of cuts (boning chain) then a couple of very light passes on the steel.
That's it. They look like serial killers lol.
If you steel a knife like the old tegel chicken ads you are doing it wrong.
I would suggest he is doing both.
Lots of the steel and wrong angle

The old Tegel ads are a bit rough, but if you are 'on' it's a very quick way to flick a good bevel back to a sharp edge. The technique for doing that the Tegel way is useless on anything but those long 450mm very slightly curved to a point butcher steels (Cambrian again, have I mentioned that name? But there are others). Otherwise every time you contact the knife to the steel you end up tapping the edge and you'll get a ripple in it. That's how you start chasing your tail and next step you've stuffed the edge and pushed the 'burr' right over to one side (and it's usually right where you want to do most of the cutting with the blade). Part of the issue is most people unless they are very careful will hit one side of the blade much harder than the other, so are doomed to an uneven and blunt result. A fine cut steel will mean you don't have to use so much force and very much helps with the uneven effort problem.

This may be of interest. Very long winded tho. The first 30min covers the basics I think. And he obviously knows what he is talking about.


https://youtu.be/Yk3IcKUtp8U?si=eZ_KsuhRcTTuIekh

Geez, for a "wet sharpening" talk through that was... Dry.

I got 5:16 (with skipping forwards) before my adhd found more rewarding things to attempt... Not sure about the dressing gown too.

Originally Posted by csmiffy

Well at the local freezing works they have a not only a sharpening robot but also a small bench mount.
Both set up at the same angle. 18 degrees I think.
It's the optimum for edge and general retention.
Also less steeling is more better.
The guys at the works will do their 20 seconds of cuts (boning chain) then a couple of very light passes on the steel.

Bingo.... I was always taught "between 17 and 21 degrees depending on the work you used it for"
And it's stood me in good stead all my life.

@No.3 the guys at the works hold the knife up and very gently give it a light pass down the steel maybe once a side, 2 tops and back into it.
Plus they have the knife sharpening stations about just in case you have a big woops.
At the end of the day you hand them back in. Get new ones start of shift

I need to do alot of knifes around here but angle depends on your use and style. My knife in my pack is perfect at 20° some of my kitchen knifes are 25°

Japanese knifes are traditionally sharpened at 15° i read somewhere.

Scary Sharpening systems have a saying that goes something like "the angle of the blade doesn't matter, but the consistency of the angle does"

Out of interest my chinese made bahco knife has skinned out 15+ heads with only a few strops on a steel every now and then. Not quite as good as the Sweedish made versions but way better than I thought and I've been giving it hell!

Originally Posted by csmiffy

@No.3 the guys at the works hold the knife up and very gently give it a light pass down the steel maybe once a side, 2 tops and back into it.
Plus they have the knife sharpening stations about just in case you have a big woops.
At the end of the day you hand them back in. Get new ones start of shift

Yep, I've seen them working and they are doing it totally different to your average punter I reckon. They are more like chainsaw guys - a quick lick and a tickle up every tank or any time they hit something odd just to keep the chain on song which in the lines is the equivalent of a light pass between every animal that comes through, and they are doing the same number of cuts in the same number of places repeatedly. Your average knife wielding hunter tries to get through an animal or two including hair and slicing along bone etc with one knife and no touch ups, so by the time you go to touch the knife up it's coosed in comparison to the meatworks guy's tool.

My kitchen knives are more like the hunters blade too, I get handed one when it gets to the point where the wife starts hating it (after being used on dinner plates, slicing everything, a few trips to the garden and several runs through the dishwasher geez no respect for the kit). By that time it needs a bloody replacement rather than a sharpen but a fistful of steel and 30 seconds of 'abuse' and it's passable again and cutting like it should. A few 'light licks' are the gold standard and what someone who is looking after their gear is aiming for, the rest of us need a little more violence in our sharpening haha.

Originally Posted by Billbob

Out of interest my chinese made bahco knife has skinned out 15+ heads with only a few strops on a steel every now and then. Not quite as good as the Sweedish made versions but way better than I thought and I've been giving it hell!

The Swedish ones were gold standard knives, but they definitely do not like being shoved through the dishwasher. I have one in the kitchen as a rough duty knife, the wife claims to hate it as it's a 'fat' blade compared to the same sized kitchen knife and the handle is a lot chunkier. Which always surprises me when I go to use it and the edge is stuffed! Must be the knife fairies again hey? But in general use the thing is really good, the longest lasting edge of the lot.

I have four of them Swedish Bacho's new in a box downstairs hoarded, but I do have a newer Chinese one as a comparison that I have been using. It's noticeably different but still as good as the average hunting knife you get which for the price makes them a really good deal. Just not a superlative example of a knife like the Swedish ones.