I should have made this more clear in the video but the angle finder is placed on the FLAT portion of the knife near the ricasso. The flat portion is parallel to the knives centerline. So this shows the exact angle we are sharpening at without being affected by the bevels. Here is a video explaining this better➡ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xuSFZf8vrGc.html Best VALUE stone as of now➡amzn.to/3yrojAY Angle guides➡amzn.to/3wHKr9z Angle finder➡amzn.to/3ymKRmr These are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I have to admit you was right on the money! I placed the top bevel on my 20 degree guide and ran it through and it made a total difference both in paper cutting and hair and actually had no resistance cutting through a cheap paper towel. Really appreciate this video and your knowledge my friend 👍🙏
I see that on a lot of the knives you sharpen, in regards to the blade shade, the edges are relatively "straight" from heel to tip. Do you have any recommended material on sharpening edges on say a clip point, bowie type tip, or similar? Feels like I am having difficulty maintaining consistent contact with the stone towards the tip as I have to adjust the angle I hold the knife.
You can measure the spine thickness and the blade height, and then calculate a rough (but fairly accurate) approximation for the angle of your blade using the triangle formed by these measurements. Half of the smaller angle of that triangle represents the additional angle created by the knife thickness when sharpening. To determine the true angle you are sharpening at, simply add this angle to the one on your angle finder.
Alex, I’m a 68 year young knife maker out of PA, making folders since 1983. I enjoy your honest and detailed videos. I always find a little nugget of knowledge I can add to my toolbox - sort of like re reading a favorite book again for the third time. For those that are just starting out on their knife sharpening journey, here’s a tip that should correct the problem that’s been correctly described in this video. If the knife you’re planning to sharpen has an, exposed full thickness and parallel flat, in front of the handle - Double face tape the plastic wedge to the CLEAN diamond stone so it sticks out approximately 1/4” beyond the edge of the stone. Place the flat of the blade in front of the handle, not the blade bevel itself, against the wedge and you should be now be holding the knife at the sharpening at the angle marked on the wedge. Depending on your sharpening technique you may need to either purchase another set of wedges or simply cut the one you have in half to allow two reference positions when switching to the other side of the blade. Sharp Knives, an enjoyable slice of life. Enjoy Mike
Never had this sort of sharpening guide here in my country. If there comes one with the stone, it's one that you clamp on the back of your knife and then slides along the stone with the blade itself. With this the thickness of the Blade influences the angle less, but rather the size of the knife which then has a massive influence on the resulting angle. Therefore i never really used that sort of guide as it seemed so variable depending on which knife you use. But I can imagine that this type of guide at least helps to archive a consistent angle but at the cost of a too steep or sharp angle. Taping such a wedge guide on your stone is an interesting idea as a reference, might give it a try if I ever get one of those with a stone in the future. Although the thing about sharpening I struggle the most with is if the blade got a curve towards the tip, not holding and finding the right angle in general
@@OUTDOORS55 As a private chef you 'invade the space' of kitchen warriors backed by an Amazon Army. *So you break out a humble 50 year old glass smooth Arkansas stone, to 'feel' if your edge is clean on a gloriously long and perfect slicing knife of unknown but definite antique age, and they want to snatch it from your primitive hands with a, **_"oh no, I got a machine for that silly"_** and wreck it through their newest whizz/brrrt sharpener that they bought on one of their wine adventures through the Amazon forest.* Your choices at this point: - surrender your weapon to the enemy and lose a knife you cannot replace, - embarrass the person who probably argued with her hubbs to have you here, by explaining how geometry and physics works, and lose future business, - or... smart method, don't bring 100% important knives with you in your case, throw in 2-3 sacrificial ones, and agree with her, and suggest she start with those, because they are the most important and will need to be used next.
Being a math geek, I must make a correction. You actually need to split the difference between the angle guide and that digital level in half to get the actual apex angle that you create. This is because the difference of the measurement is between the angle guide and the total taper of the blade, not the center line.
Yes, I was just puzzled about this miss of measuring angles. Whole video is about how important to keep angle at 14 degree with half a degree tolerance and no ability even to calculate right centerline angle
I believe that is why stresses multiple times that he places his angle finder on the FLAT portion of the side of the blade. Since that is parallel to the center line, I don't see the error.
@@ajsikkepit But, as he noted, a lot of knives do not have flats that parallel the center plane or have those flats so far from the cutting edge that the guide doesn't rest on that portion.
13:53 "I hope I explained it well." A 15 minute video with absolutely no filler - not even a break for your wonderfully daft humour! - and packed with solid, detailed, reliable info backed up by who knows how many hours of experience and testing. Yes, Alex, you explained it well. I mean, who else is telling us about the edge retention benefits of adding half a degree to the bevel?
Thank you! That is a really good explanation and guidelines. May I suggest a video idea? You have all these cool sharpening videos, I really like them. But most of the time you sharpen a small knife on a big stone. I have trouble sharpening my kitchen knifes (size like the dollar store one you showed here) on the small Sharpal you recommended. You dont seem to have problems with this, but I cant quite figure out how you do it. (Especially when the knife is not straight all the way to the tip, but starts to do a curve. How do I hold the angle there?) Maybe you could do a short video on this topic?
I do my larger knives in sections, just doing whatever length of edge is comfortable for the stone, then moving down a bit and overlapping the sections.
smaller stones are just worse in my experience. I also ordered a small sharpal and i was really struggling with it. then the big one came back in stock, I ordered that one and it was much better.
Have you tried the scary sharp method? Having a big sheet of sandpaper gives you a lot of freedom of movement. I know nowadays it's considered "unfashionable" but I still use it for some use cases, like very long blades, and really like the feel of it. I use a set of 3M sandpaper sheets of various grits and they're great.
FINALLY!!! Thank you, Alex! You’ve finally addressed the issue I’ve been trying to get an answer to for ages. Same goes for fixed angle sharpeners. If the center line of the blade isn’t parallel to the clamp, the angle won’t be accurate. Even the Ken Onion sharpener. You still have to account for the bevel. Hope you’re feeling better!
- yes the clamp also may or may not centre the knife properly. (figuring out the design taper of the blade is important - everybody can make use of an angle finder.) Fixed angle systems at least allow you to get a consistent (machine like) primary bevel.
I wrote it elsewhere, I'll write it here again: "arm hair shaving sharp" is nowhere near actual razor sharp. I learned this by cutting my own face with a "dull" straight razor. That razor wasn't actually dull, mind you. Just not quite sharp enough to only cut my beard. That experience stepped up my sharpening game, though^^ I also looked up the ominous H1 steel, never heard of it as a European. It doesn't excell at hardness or edge retention, but corrosion resistance in salt-water applications. You'll have to choose here, because chlorides are just really bad for any kind of steel you could sensibly make a working knife from. And the Spyderco knives in question are designed for surfers, so no heavy duty cutting but good corrosion resistance in mind. Before I forget to mention it: Your videos are informative and well-made. Just pointing out some minor inaccuracies here. I'm probably biased that way, working in QA at a larger industrial forge...
I recently bought the Sharpal Stone with the angle guide and last weekend i had to sharpen the same garden knife twice. I realized the problem with the angle guide right away. I was using the 17 degree side of the guide but the knife looked like it was at 25 degrees. I was able to use the guide but only after repositioning the blade on guide so that most of the knife wasn't contacting the guide. Thanks for addressing that!
(I just realized this comment is about your next video "Was I wrong abou...) I know I'll sound like a big dope, but all the math explained made my vision swim. I'm 73 and I'm just going to keep using my Spyderco Tri-angle sharpener at 20⁰ and if my knife slices through receipt paper, I'll be happy. I was very good at math all through school and your videos are the best sharpening videos period. And the most entertaining. But I'm starting to forget the names of people and things, so I'm not going to change to freehand stone sharpening. It's too late for that, and I don't have the space now anymore. You continue to be my favorite channel and I'll keep watching. Thanks.
Love your comments! I too am 73 and have bought over the years every conceivable knife sharpening gadgets around, including the little plastic angle aligners, which were immediately put in a drawer. I guess it’s time to grow up and sharpen freehand like the grown ups do. I bought good stones and diamond flats and strops and a Sharpie. I actually managed to get a burr and gently smoothed it away. My heart was in my old mouth though. I actually like the Spiderco Sharpmaker too. I bought a couple of rougher stones, rather than the brown ones supplied, which helped me re-do all my knives just right. I also liked the Lansky Sharpener and was always my go to. Many Chinese copies of all the types of sharpeners have wonky stones and certainly not level and the drum sharpeners don’t last more than a few sharpenings unless you purchase the genuine sharpener. I am beginning to love this channel and your comment.
Alex, I have a different set of angle guides that's ambiguous in a different way. They're a perfect ramp, and the angle can vary by a lot depending on how far up the ramp you actually go with the spine of your knife. I measured my "18 degree" guide at 13.6 degrees at the typical location I place the spine of my knife. My 20 is between 15-16.5 degrees in the same spot, so it's the one I typically use. They're a good reference point to use, but to know the real angle, you need one of those Klein angle cubes for sure. Thanks for the video as always.
Old knife sharpening guy I grew up near would make a prow-curve (like a boat) to the apex on knives he wasn't sure about and then rotate em up and down while taping the back with a metal rod to figure out what apex a knife needed. Didn't know if he was doing by sound or feel, but he got stuff shave sharp all the time. I presume there's a huge subtlety in that skill. Remember to leather strop your knives after washing them, it superheats the edge and vaporizes any moisture - but also remember the stropping angle is more acute because you're heating the blade not milling it. Leather stropping also gives a mild temper to the edge of iron blades like razors.
Alex, just wanted to tell you that since your last video, you’ve picked up a lot of positive opinion on Reddit, especially in r/sharpening. Those fine guys and gals over there love your content and speak highly of you.
Thank you Sir: I have been using a German made round Steel for the past 65 years. Of course I learned from other colleagues working in a variety of hotel/restaurant kitchens but choose those knives carefully for the jobs to be done.
76 year-old guy here, who's spent his whole life with dull knives, wondering why they never, no matter what I do, get sharp. I've watched your channel for 4 months now, and I know more about sharpening than is comfortable in a non-sharpening conversation. However, this video is closer to the holy grail area than most of your other tutorials. I bought some diamond stones, got a strop and some compound, grabbed a couple of knives, and did exactly what you're talking about here. I got them kinda paper-cutting sharp, but not shaving sharp, and wound up growlingly frustrated at why it's so easy for you, and so impossible for me. I was, after my move, going to buy some angle guides (glad I haven't yet), because I intuitively felt that the angle issue was where I was falling down. In addition, I think I was substituting pressure for angle effects, and I found that the more pressure I used, the longer it took me to built the burr. Frustrated again. Most of my knives are kitchen / chef knives, most the dollar-store-knife situation - same non-taper from the top to bottom of the knife. In a month or so, when I can dig out my stones (after my move), I have some really new techniques to try. Thank you. My goal is to become the sharpening guru for our extended family, and I'm gradually getting there. Hope your health improves. I've dealt with long Covid issues, and the problems of doctors not being able to pin down cause/effect is a big part of my life. Get better.
I'm with you you, I'm 55, been sharpening since I was 6. Still frustrated trying to get blades sharp. I've tried many sharpening devices. Just bought a $26 dollar Japanese stone, 1000 and 3000 grit. still no improvement
Woahhhhh, now I know why my knife gets dull within a couple minutes of putting it to wood... I just figured my technique had general suck. I guess I'll have to make myself a strop now, lol. Thank you for the video! I am pretty new to sharpening and I am certain that your content is saving me hours and hours of confused frustration. In particular I appreciate that you are unrelentingly specific about the physical mechanics and properties of these things--that way I am learning not just what to do, but why. It makes a huge difference. :)
Thanks for all your helpful info. I had the same issue--cuts paper but won't shave. This baffled me because I could always get a shaving edge when I used my Arkansas stones. Your video inspired me to examine my technique using my cheap ($16 for a set of 4) diamond stones from amazon. I discovered that I had to strop with more strokes compared to sharpening with an Arkansas fine. Once I did this little tweak my knives all shaved after a proper stropping. It seems like diamond stones leave more of a burr, but again that may be my newbie technique--I still have much to learn, but that is part of the fun! Kind Regards
Fantastic - thanks! I noticed this same thing when I got my Sharpal, with the orange angle guide. I was working on a 0.25" thickness blade in 440C stainless (Entrek) for camp/hunting use. I thought I would use the 20 deg guide. I realized that there was a big difference between the center line, and the actual angle against the stone. So I figured that using the 14 degree angle was closer to getting 20 degrees with that knife, and went with it. Then I eyeballed rotating the edge up a little from the guide to get closer to 14 deg. I'm getting shaving sharp, but not hair whittling - yet. Maybe when I get the strop...
I used the angle finder to help find out the best place to put my thumb as a guide so I could focus on free hand sharpening with your method. It actually came in handy because at first my angle I was sharming at was too low and I wasn't getting good results.
Thanks for your time. Explains stuff I will not understand. I do have idea. I have a problem feeling a burr. I will feel a burr ( what I think is a burr) in certain parts of a knife. Not along the whole edge. Thanks for your advice!!!
I work with chainsaws and youve got me thinking about the mechanics of sharpening in a whole new way. Depth into the tooth is critical, as it dictates how fine or blunt the cutting edge is, which is a tradeoff between durability and razor sharpness and hence cutting speed.
@13:27 H1 was developed to maximize corrosion and stain resistance. In pursuit of that, they reduced toughness and edge retention. Just because a steel was designed with parameters that you don't care about, doesn't mean it's the worst steel ever. In other words, all you care about is edge retention and toughness, and you are disliking a steel that intended for corrosion resistance. It sort of like criticizing a rock crawling truck for being bad on a race track. I have H1 salt in yellow, and it's great *at what it's good at.* The other end of the spectrum is Maxamet, which I also have. Both are excellent in extremely different ways. Aside from that one line, your video was super helpful! I just tried to sharpen by hand the other day for the first time, and it felt weird. I now realize that it's because the angle was way too big because I was using one a wedge angle guide. I'm gonna verify with the electric angle finder from now on.
I realize that. I'm still not sold on it. I used to use my sage 2 in s30v to cut road salt bags open all winter and I never cleaned, or oiled it whatsoever for years. Theres still no rust. Perhaps in a saltwater dive knife only does it make sense. But thats a very specific application. Anyway great discussion, thanks for the comment 👍
You are the best analytic sharpenig authority, who is able to bring the complexity of multi angle geometry, steel diferences, grit variation into an understandable explanation/demonstration. Simply a stellar perfomance!!!
Your videos got me back in the dark garage days. Ever since a decent portion of my life is spent perfecting knife edges. I even keep a knife in my pocket I don’t use just so I can pull it out when people think they have a sharp blade 😅 it blows peoples friggin minds!
I learn something in every video you post. I was using a much to large of an angle on my kitchen knives. You also saved me from a cheap whetstone (I bought the blue/white one, then looked for a video on how to use it and found you. Immediately returned it.) I saw another video on honing steel, which I do not use, but I do have a flat diamond honing rod. Have you ever used on of those?
I can't thank you enough for the priceless information you continually share with us. I have learned SO MUCH since stumbling upon your channel! THANK YOU!
Nice to see an old technice again, as carpenter I learnded to sharpend my tools first at 25 degree for having a thinner blade to going into the wood, but after that going to a 30 degree angle for a bit so that you see like 2mm of that 30 degree angle over the 25 degree for lasting much longer sharpness. Chisels are flat on the backside so the angle seems to be more than for a knive but in reality its not (2x17=34 degree) And also if you look your knife: if its tapered it has also a double angled edge. Hope this makes sense. greatings and keep up with this !
I never had an angle guide and basically free-handed. If I saw this videos way back when I started, I would not have to learn on my own mistakes. I got the apex much pointier than was needed. The knives were quite sharp, but they lost sharpness rather fast. And that might have been the reason why even a honing steel removed material by my observation, as it removed any remaining burr (or even rolling over apex?). And it still does remove material, because I did too pointy apexes for a long time and have it in my muscle memory. But I am trying to become better each time. I had nobody to learn from, watched no videos, read no books. Trial and error. This channel is very good, even though it is not about kitchen knives. Luckily I ruined no knives over all those years, just made my life harder. I am talking about kitchen knives that cut only food, not wood, cardboard or bones. The most used knife is a 16 cm long Zwilling Twin Pollux Ice Hardened which is rated at 55 to 58 HRC. Thanks to its rather "low" hardness (it is by far not the top of the line), I did not experience any chipping even with a rather pointy apex. It is lightweight and cuts very good in my opinion when sharpened. Even though it is the "cheap" stamped type, not forged. I do have a "better" (and longer) knife, and it cuts maybe a bit better, but working with it is exhausting. I use it only to cut/chop big pieces of food, e.g. cabbage. But I have yet to resharpen it and use the 5000 Shapton Kuromaku, which I acquired only a couple of weeks ago. I hope to get it sharper than ever, hair wiggling sharp (I never achieved that before).
Thank you for all your content. Thanks to your content, I finally got a strop. And for the first time, I managed to get a knife to actually cut tissue paper! Took 10 min start to finish, with the following progression: • Sharpal Diamond, Coarse 325 • Sharpal Diamond, Extra Fine 1200 • Shapton Glass, 2000 • Shapton Glass, 8000 • Strop, 1u Diamond Compound
Strips are essential, if you think about it. They're the only easy way to abrade the metal near the top without stressing it enough to bend it over and out of the way before becoming a perfect apex. You just need enough stropping to cut though the base of the burr to the real apex.. it's the flexibility that helps do it.
That Orange Sharpal Pyramid helped me a lot to get an angle correct. OK, might not be the correct angle, but i learned to keep that specific angle. And even a few days ago i went back to it. I bought a japanese kitchen knife (in japan). It is made out af VG10 steel. I had problems to get it hair whittling sharp. So i decided to use the pyramid again and had a very good result soon! The hairs of my wife kind of popped away when they got close to the knife. I think there are much worse tools to learn the "correct" angle. At least with kitchen knives. Before that i had a fixed angle to clamp at the back of the knife. That was really bad, Scratches the knives and you get a different angle on different knife widths...
Hey OUTDOORS55, This is a quite complicated topic (especially for those of us - like me - who did NOT excel in Math!), BUT I APPRECIATE you taking the time and effort to help us all understand it. I saw there is a follow-up video to this video with some corrections and/or clarification, so I will also watch that. You have a great channel - THANK YOU!
Killin me with the Neeves knives interview being under a price wall. Understandable, but it makes my poor self very sad. Y’all 2 guys are some of my favorite sharpeners on the tubes! Certainly the 2 of you have taught me more than anyone else. I’m actually pretty darn good at freehand now and it’s like a zen process for me ! Thanks.
Sorry! We didn't actually film it to be published in full. It was to gather some content in smaller portions for future videos. I wasn't even going to publish it till we talked about it in the end. We will be doing more stuff together in the future for sure!
I'm only 1:00 into this and I know exactly where this is headed and I've tried to explain this to people numerous times with what feels like little success. But yes 100% with this, angle guides like that are not generally reliable unless you know what you're doing and/or know the angle of the primary grind of the blade so you can compensate for that somehow.
Great video! It really makes me appreciate the deburring process a lot more. I didn't know that skipping that will affect the usable lifetime of the edge when when the blade feels sharp immediately after grinding. I think I've avoided narrow angles too much because I've always assumed that the lower quality steel was the most important cause for the short lifetime of a good edge.
Wow, what a great vid. I don't hand sharpen but use a KME. I have a newer Para 3 in Cruwear and I was having some issues with edge damage. I was just following the factory angle when sharpening. I moved the angle up exactly one line (more obtuse) and that is the ticket. The Para 3 ripped through a whole weekend of cardboard cutting, lots of boxes, probably 200 feet, and yard work and still shaves arm hair. Why didn't I think to do this?? Thank you!!
Greatings from Germany. Thanks a lot for your videos. You are the reason why I bought a sharpening stone, made my own strop and still trying to focus and getting better in sharpening knives. So all of our knives at home are "test objects". Thanks again for all of your videos. Most of them are very well explained. So beginners can get your advices, can understand them und use them while sharpening. Great. I usually don´t comment at RU-vid. I think you are my 3rd comment after years of using this plattform. But you and your videos with all the helpful information earn it. Stay/become healthy and keep going what you do!
If you have an angle cube, it's easy to measure the angle of the primary bevel (not the edge bevel) on most knives. Place the cube at the edge of a table, with the long side facing you. Zero it out. Then lay the blade of the knife on the table with the butt of the handle facing you (with the handle hanging in the air). Place the cube on the blade and measure the angle. Divide that in two, and you have the angle of the primary grind. Add that number to whatever guide you're using to determine the actual sharpening angle.
@@OUTDOORS55 if they have a smartphone they can download an angle finder app (at least I know I have one on my iphone) and it isn’t perfect but it works well enough for me to do what was described.
Same here, the best timing for this video to come out for me as I've just started sharpening and already have decent results but I know I'm not quite there yet.
Yeah, you really simplify knife sharpening, and remove woowoo very effectively. I basically changed my entire setup after watching your setup videos, and my kitchen knives and camping knives are all much sharper for it. The stropping compound(which i didnt know i needed) changed the most for me. Suddenly my edge goes from holding up for a day or 2, to holding basically until i manage to deform the edge in some way. Don't chop with small camp knives.
Your videos are really helpful. Pretty much everything I know about sharpening has come from your channel. I sharpened one of my dad's kitchen knives last time I went home and he texted me the other day saying he was using it to cut up a chicken and that it worked amazingly. I was relieved to hear that because I was 90% sure he was about to say he cut his finger off or something. Thanks for the videos. If you take requests, I'd like a video(s) about more niche blades. Maybe serrated blades, recurved blades, and blades that have heavy curves where it's hard not to bend the wrist.
This is the best explanation of sharpeningI've ever heard. It answers and solves my problems with getting a good edge. I don't really care about a razor sharp edge since they seem to dull quickly. But I would like a good strong edge that lets me dress out an elk without having to stop and sharpen. Thanks and good luck!
I think this is the 4th video I have watched, and I just wanted to say thank you. You do a terrific job of explaining and showing exactly what is going on and what needs to go on. Just subscribed today, keep up the great work!
My dad gave me his fathers tomahawk. He never knew his father as he died when my dad was 2yrs old. It was all he had left. We moved states and he found it in the garage, and after our move, gave it to me cleaned up with a std handle when i was 12. I threw the handle and handmade a new one using Australian hardwood. I then ground the entire thing on a belt sander, hand sanded it, polished it down to 1500 grit wet n dry. I heat treated and oil dipped several times. Re sanded, blued it, fitted the waxed wood handle with a hand made brass wedge., and sharpened it over two weeks of spare time. I showed dad, and he couldn't believe it. Great moment to see him realise how i had treated it with respect. It hung in our family business behind his desk on a framed family photo collage that was added to with each passing down. I ended up passing it on to my son after my marriage split, explaining the family story, and that it was probably over 100 yrs old the times it had been restored, and that it was gifted to him as a present for his own kids etc. A few years later he posted a video of him and his friends throwing this tomahawk at the trees and his rear fence while drunk. It was clamped into the picture frame with the family photos, behind glass. So it probably wasnt removed with care, and the family pictures, ... no respect. He abused me when i was angry with him next time we met. Said it was "just an axe". ... We dont talk any more. My son become "woke". And an arse.
Sad. I've got tons of sentimental vintage tools etc, no one would probably look after but I like having them around to use or just gaze at. Found a really nice antique straight razor amongst my dad's things, (he had 'everything') & I've watched several videos & managed to get it sharp enough to start learning to shave with. Kinda scarey. Bought new stone for it. He had several antique strops but I couldn't get a good edge so I just stropped on a big flat piece of latigo I have & it done well! New fancy strops = $$ These things can be made complicated or simple. I see mostly unnecessary complications & detours.
I love how you and Pete ( from Cedric and Ada ) are referencing each other as you are both my go to knife video guys and have been for a few years. Thanks for another great video. I'm always learning something new.
Pete is hilarious and has a great channel. Hes been around a LONG time. Even Dr. Larrin Thomas from knife steel nerds referenced Pete in his book. Thats how you know you've officially made it🙂
I literally just finished using that exact system he's using and actually dulling my knife making the exact mistakes he demonstrated when he posted this video lol! It posted perfectly on time for me! I was so frustrated and confused. Thank you so much for making this video. Your like the Master Yoda of knife sharpening!
To a beginner this is like alphabet soup what do other people who know someone about steals hardness blade angles blade thickness variations geometry I think you did a superb job I think you're spot on your evaluation of all the criteria spoken about. Well done Columbus Michigan
The wedgek agm angle guides come with 10 different guides with single degree increments from 10-20 degrees so I think those plus making adjustments as needed is a decent option. They also have a wider flat spot to rest the blade against instead of the pyramid shaped ones which I found can be tricky with staying flat against if you aren’t focused on it. Another cool thing I found is a video from a channel called Felix Immler, he shows a few great options to diy a laser goniometer dirt cheap so anyone can check the angles of there edges very accurately. I know you can get a few now for under $100 but these diy plans can be done from nearly free to under $20.
Pro-Tipp: Skip angle guides whatsoever! Use the old fashioned marker trick to resharpen the factory/maker edge angle and then go from there and adopt as needed/suitable for the job. Using angle guides is as fun as mountainbiking with training weels - it won't work. (The tip is all yours...)
I own a Tormek wet stone sharpening machine. The plastic guide labelled as the Anglemaster WM-200 which you use to set the post height and cutting angle of the blade, has angled notches from 16 to 70 degrees on the edge of the Anglemeter to measure the angle of the beveled edges of the blade. Can be purchased separately.
Let me start off by saying I personally can’t hold an angle for more than a pass accurately, however buying the sharpal diamond stone was the best choice of my life. I previously sharpened my kitchen knives with the horl 2 and for some odd reason at 15 degrees on the horl 2, my KAI Seki Magoroku Damascus Nakiri Knife 165mm AE5206 would just not hold an edge. It works fine 20 degrees, but once I switch to 15 degrees the apex would roll/fold/crack from just sharpening. I don’t even need to cut anything with it for the edge to crack. However, using the the sharpal and its ane guide set at 14 degrees i was able to get it to at least sharper than the 20 degrees apex with the horl. Its still far from shaving sharp but I’ll take it as a win for now. It is way sharper than i ever got it before. Can you review a few more strops? I would love for you to find the sharpal of strops.😂
I like how around the 2:00 mark he quickly runs his finger along the spine of the knife, he then flips the knife over, goes to do it on the edge and then realizes what would happen if he did.
I have had great success getting my knifes sharp enough to shave with. First I use two stones 1000 and 3000 grit then I strap it works everytime I have used a steel from time to time however the edge dosen't seem to hold well.
Thank you for what you do here! And also, I (and I'm quite sure We) appreciate the integrity with which you approach these videos. I bet that can't always be easy, but please know it is effective in building trust.
Omg, you're on a studio now? Cool! Ngl, last time I stumbled upon one of your videos, you were in a shed, dont know how long ago it was, but I'm sure its been more than a year. Congrats!
Awesome tutorial! The flat grind an mostly straight blades are easy to sharpen. I, and maybe some other viewers, would like to see how you maintain proper angle on the curved portion of a clip point and spey blade (e.g. hunting knife and trapper). Thanks and continued prayers for 100% recovery. I hope you have a great trip to knife show. 👍😁
As a woodworker, almost every plane iron or chisel is sharpened to 30-degrees and I have no problem getting those to hair cutting sharpness. 😂 Methinks there is more to the issue than just the angle. Perhaps metallurgy or how fine of a grit you are sharpening to plays a big role as well?
Planes and chisels have a flat side and the edge is measured to that flat side. But knives have two sides that are measured to the centerline, not to each other. So a 30 degree chisel is equivalent to a 15 degree knife. The extreme example in the vid is a knife that ends up at 30 degrees per side. Can you shave with the equivalent 60 degree sharpened chisel?
Its so wild to finally see you using some different knives! Yet another awesome informative video. Thanks for all you do and sharing your experience and wisdom with all of us. Keep up the great work!
I have a hard time sharpening anything freehand from knives to tools. What can I do to maintain the right angle for whatever needs sharpening with unsteady hands? What sharpening equipment should I get that's not going to break the bank whether at home or in the field?
Another great video, Alex! Excellent explanation. Something I would like to see is how you would sharpen a long, thin blade such as a 9" filled knife. Thanks!
Good to see you banging out the content Alex.. I always learn something or change my perspective. Like being devoted to my pest control. 🤪 I still can't get past that email. 👍👍🔪
Hey Alex. Really great video as always. I have a suggestion. My brother somehow came up with a theory he kept bugging me with - if you sharpen to very high grit, it makes the apex smoother but also thinner, making it sharper but weaker in terms of edge retention. I don't remember you making a video about this. In theory it shouldn't work that way but it would be interesting to see you investigate it in detail. Hope you're doing great health wise and remember - can't keep a good man down ❤
The first time I saw those edge guides, my first thought was that the angle is being added to the grind angle. A lot of my pocket knives have a total grind angle of about 8 degrees or 4 degrees per side. I tend towards high sabre grinds and some FFG. So I've never used them. They measure the angle from the wrong reference. But you bring up a good point. They can be used with a little compensation. I would need to find or make some 12-15 degree angle guides to cover my high sabre and FFG knives. My trick for finding the existing angle on a knife is to clamp it into my Lansky sharpener and slide a quarter inch dowel along the edge towards the angle slots, as if it were a sharpening stone, adjusting from a shallow angle going more obtuse until it bites on the dowel. The Lansky angle reading is only approximately accurate, so I measure the half width at the back of the clamp to the discovered angle slot and measure the distance from the apex to the front of the back of the clamp (as close to the centerline as possible). If you divide the half width by the apex distance and then apply the arc tangent, you'll get the half angle of the actual edge with only very small confounding factors. I found my BM North Fork came from the factory with 25 degrees on one side and 35 on the other, so it was time for some heavy diamond grinding. It was much easier to do because I knew exactly what I was getting into instead of trying to sharpen it armed with half truths or complete fiction.
For plane blades and chisels, I sharpen at a 35 degree angle for a "tough" edge. In knife terms, that's 17.5 degrees per side. 30 degrees also works great, (15 degrees each side). 25 degrees (12.5) just doesn't hold up well. For knives, I think I do raise the spine too much, just because it feels like it will be too weak otherwise., but, I should know better from how I sharpen my tools. I do get shaving sharp, but I'm going to try pushing acuteness a bit. Thanks!
It takes practice and good guidance,which you provide. 😁 And that's it. From the very begining i didn't want to use those guides. I wanted to train my hand,so i can execute the right angle if you would woke me at 3 am. And i've learned. So for all of you that are disencouraged,it's not that hard. Practice is all you need.
I got a box full of old hand planes that were dull & the blades were upside down & I taught myself to sharpen them by feeling the bevel on the stones & they must be sharp. Straight razor is good to learn on & I use a scythe on my property & it must be razor sharp. I find knives somewhat tricky & have lots to practice on.
Thank you for this. It needs to be said, especially by someone with a large audience. I regularly see people recommend sharpening tough steels like cruwear at 20+dps, people who's opinions are actually given weight in the community... I keep my k2 at 11dps, and my s110v pm2 at 14dps. Even my s110v 0562 which sees a ton of stupid (batoning & prying) use, is 16-17dps convexed.
My custom scandis are at 14dps. They will handle hardwood knots battoning no problem. I find once you go steeper than 13 dps you start to have problems. But its also steel and hardness dependent. 👍
