The Secret to Sharper Knives 

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Great point, micro bevels and thickness behind the edge are topics we didn't really touch on here. Thanks for bringing it up.

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Tormek's jigs let you get really accurate angles. Have fun playing around with it!

Use our numbers as a guide, but what works best for your pocket knife and how you use it might be quite different. I've got quite a few different pocket knives and they've mostly each got their own angle.

Somewhere between 18-22 is a great edge angle for EDC pocket knives.

That's awesome. What I want to know is where are you getting telephone directories in 2024?

I do my 8" chef knife and it sucks, the clamp and really whole assembly is not rigid enough for the extra leverage from being so far from the center, even with the lightest pressure on the stones.

30 cm golok, type " kopak rawing "

@billdickson871 Is that on the Professional Precision Adjust or the original Precision Adjust?

@@SharpeningSupplies original

Even with the Professional Precision Adjust, the systems clamp is terrible with kitchen knives, that weigh 6 ounces or more and have a 2mm and under spine. The clamp is on the struggle bus with heavy(6 oz isn’t even heavy) thin knives. I had two systems of the holy grail 1st production run made in the US, and both clamps did the same behavior. Meanwhile NOBODY is talking about the Mediocre clamp. 😐

Interesting stuff. Thinning blades is perhaps a little outside the scope of this video. Beyond kitchen knives it's not a common practice, and perhaps a little more involved than most beginners are willing to do. Certainly, we should cover this in a more advanced kitchen knife video. Thanks for bringing it up.

I think this is the main reason many people prefer Japanese knives. Even when duller, a thin blade will still perform relatively well in a lot of cutting tasks.

Increased wedging.... Width ( ) & Speed ( ) equal increased power input requirements. Increased force/power requirements ultimately make the knife feel duller. A knife blade thinned behind the cutting edge has more to do with perceived performance, than apex angle grind when cutting high density fruits & vegetables. Thinning the knife blade about 0.005" (the thickness of a piece of paper) will significantly reduce the perceived performance of a knife. @@thorwaldjohanson2526

For such a wide range of knives and tools, honestly, whetstones are the most versatile. But if they don't interest you, the Work Sharp Precision Adjust Pro is the cheapest option that will handle all the knives. The Work Sharp Precision Adjust Elite is cheaper still, and includes a carry-case, but might not be able to sharpen your pocket knife and definitely won't do the straight razor. The tools would all have different angles. Gransfors Forest Axes typically have a convex grind on them, and you can go pretty low with the sharpening angle, depending on the work you're doing. I'd start the chopping machete at 22 degrees and see how that works. The grass machetes could go lower if they are just for grass and not woody plants. In my experience, a froe doesn't need much of an edge to it, I'd go 25 degrees to avoid having to repair any damage. Once it's in the wood, the edge isn't doing anything. Same with the maul, I'd go 25 degrees, but I'd make sure the edge is sharp, as that can help with starting the split. The Work Sharp Ken Onion Elite would work on all your tools, plus the knives, but it's an electric sharpener, not sure how that fits into your portability criteria. Feel free to ask more questions here, or give us a call (1-800-351-8234) if you want more help picking a sharpening system.

@@SharpeningSupplies, Thanks for the initial info, I'll look into the Work Sharps you mentioned. I have some wet stones and a small diamond thingy. One of the stones has a groove on the long side and a couple of short V notches in it. I just can't hold the work pieces steady enough to get them sharp. My sister's maul is going to need a grinding wheel to start with. It's bad. The heel is flattened over 1/8th inch at least 2" long. What grits should I use to start with before finishing with the stones? I want to put a shoulder guard on my axe and maul handles. What would you suggest for my inexperience in that area? Who sells decent tool handles for replacements and backups? I have some vintage and antique heads I've gotten from yard sales in need of handles, and one wide blade in good shape I found metal detecting.

Nice!

Technically, there's no reason why a convex should be less sharp than other grinds, just depends on how thin you make it. I have a Fallkniven F1 I really like, so I'm certainly not against convex grinds. Keeping them sharp isn't difficult with a strop, but getting them sharp from blunt is best done on a belt. The Work Sharp Ken Onion Elite is a nice option for that.

@@SharpeningSupplies: Thanks! I’m actually trying to convert a Spyderco Delica to convex using the sandpaper and mousepad method. I’ve got it decently sharp, but so far nowhere near how sharp I could get it on stones as a V edge. I’ll keep working at it.

Depends on how gentle you are with it. If you're avoiding bone, 15 degrees would give you a nice slicing ability. If it's a filet knife you also take out while you're fishing and use it for odd jobs like cutting fishing line, a more robust angle (18-20 degrees) might suit you better.

Take this advice with a grain of salt since I don't have 30 years of experience in the meat trade! I'd start with a 22-degree angle for boning meat in a commercial setting. I'm assuming a knife with a slightly softer steel so it's quick and easy to resharpen, and I'm picking a slightly higher angle so it's not getting damaged when the edge hits bone. If the knife doesn't get damaged during use, I might drop it down to 20 degrees the next time I sharpen it. You could keep dropping the angle with each resharpening for better slicing, but lowering the angle takes more time than just resharpening, and eventually, a low enough angle would start taking damage. Fortunately raising the angle is a much quicker process.

it’s the new worksharp precision adjust. worksharp made a new version of their older more budget fixed angle sharpening system and released it around november of 2023. the older cheaper one works really well (i have one) but the new one definitely seems quite a bit better for the $300 asking price

Perfect, sounds like a great way to organize your sharpening.

Broken tips are a fairly common issue with a relatively simple fix. I've only restored the tips on kitchen knives, never a clip point, which I assume your Buck is. The principle is the same. You want to grind down the spine to create a new tip. You'll need a wheel or the round end of a belt sander to maintain that clip-point curve. If anyone else reading this has a different method, feel free to share.

Buck might replace the blade for free if you don't mind getting rid of the old blade Contact them

Life time warranty on Buck knifes

That's why when I see someone complain about the sharpness of his new knife, I know he doesn't know much about knives. Even people who call themselevs knife experts on RU-vid, unfortunately, are on that level, of really low knowledge on the subject.

Great point. We didn't go into different grinds at all. Bit of an oversight. Thanks for pointing that out.

It's a great starting point.

Per side?! No.

Totally agree. Different knives need different angles. Even the same kind of knife put to different uses will benefit from a little time finding the right angle for it.

I hope you pay for your knives before they require steeling*. And you do not put spaces in front of a punctuation mark,* only after. Otherwise totally agreed.

@@einundsiebenziger5488Ze grammar Nazis are out, beware!

@@einundsiebenziger5488Just a passive observer here who’s genuinely curious, what do you get out of this? Like when you correct people online for a single typo, on a sentence that 99% of people don’t care about…how does that make you feel? Smart? Like a genius? Like a real live big boy? Go fuck yourself, no one asked for your proof read, grammar overlord. -Sincerely, the world.

You're right, perhaps I misspoke with "tasks" to then focus on knife types. I was hoping to get across the message that the "perfect angle" will exist within a range but depends on different factors. We're working on more videos that go a little more in-depth on individual tools, with the idea that this video would be a starting point for people without your 20 years of experience. Thanks for the comment, It's great to get feedback on how to improve our videos.