Next sharpening question

[jowen]

Ok, this isn't really razor related, but I figured that someone here has to know. If I wanted to sharpen, say, a pocket knife (or some other knife)

1) What's the best way to find out what the angle of the bevel is? I've already tried using a permanent marker on the edge.
2) How do you maintain that angle while sharpening on a bench stone with out using an edge guide? (Looking for a low-cost, low-tech solution.)

I don't think my free handing is very effective and it's seems like it would go faster as well if I wasn't checking the angle all the time.

 

[mdunn]

how I learnt to freehand my kitchen knives (and the angle for a pocket knife might be different, so check that) is to fold a piece of paper 3 times (90 degree angle, then 45 degrees, then 22.5 degrees) to get a pretty close guide to the 20 degrees I was after, and then use that while I was learning until it became muscle memory.

You can buy guides that you clamp the knife and move the hone at a fixed angle too

 

[jendeindustries]

The exact angle is not that relevant other than if angles are too low, the edge may break down faster, and too thick will result in longer lasting edges, but requiring more force to cut, with less slicing action.

I suggest using pennies. place 2 stacked pennies on the stone, and place the spine of the knife on the lip of the top coin. make a forward and backward stroke, reset your spine, and go from there. It's slow going in the beginning, but once muscle memory kicks in, it will go fast. You can adjust angles by adding or taking away coins - or by using thinner coins, like dimes, or thicker nickels.

Just my 2 cents

 

[LessLemming]

that´s not necessarily a str8 question,
but when I sharpen my kitchen knifes I no longer need to "check" or "look"
if my angles are right, I can feel them by now.
But for the beginning you should stick with the marker method
along with something to refer to:
this could be pennys, folded paper or even your thumb,
wich I eventually used as a guide.

Sharpening kitchen knifes isn´t as much a task as sharpening straights

 

[cityjim]

Here you go . This blows the Lansky and others away .

http://www.kmesharp.com/Products.html

They also offer a military discount .

Videos below .


http://www.kmesharp.com/media/kme_knife.wmv

http://www.kmesharp.com/media/kme_broadhead.wmv



cityjim

 

[ouch]

The exact angle is not that relevant other than if angles are too low, the edge may break down faster, and too thick will result in longer lasting edges, but requiring more force to cut, with less slicing action.

I suggest using pennies. place 2 stacked pennies on the stone, and place the spine of the knife on the lip of the top coin. make a forward and backward stroke, reset your spine, and go from there. It's slow going in the beginning, but once muscle memory kicks in, it will go fast. You can adjust angles by adding or taking away coins - or by using thinner coins, like dimes, or thicker nickels.

Just my 2 cents

Here's the problem with the "two penny" method-
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=317548&postcount=93
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=317573&postcount=95

The effectiveness of the two penny method depends on the width of the blade.

 

[jendeindustries]

The effectiveness of the two penny method depends on the width of the blade.

Agreed.

2 pennies would hardly be enough height for a common chef knife and certainly not enough for the average Chinese cleaver, but once an acceptable edge angle vs. spine height ratio was determined, using stacked coins is a viable method, even if it is a little "cheap".

My response was based on the OP stating an example of a pocket knife, where 1-3 dimes, nickels or pennies would certainly be appropriate in most cases.

Nonetheless, you pointed out an important feature of using the coin method for knives of varying blade heights.



P.S. Man, you have a lot of posts!

 

[matt321]

15 degrees per side is had by lifting spine 1/4th of the blade width.
20 degrees per side is had by lifting spine 1/3rd of the blade width
(When following this rule the height of the spine is measured from the stone surface to the centerline of the spine.)

Another way:
I have a small digital level that reads to a tenth of a degree. I set it on the stone face and prop one end of the stone up so that it is at the desired angle. Then I hone by holding the blade horizontal by eye.

None the less, I usually get best results on a Spyderco SharpMaker.