Adjusting an Asymmetric Bevel.

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I bought a used knife off of someone and it has a very asymmetric edge on it. On one side the bevel is very, very wide and acute, and on the other the bevel is narrow and less acute. I am just wondering what the best way is to reduce the asymmetry. I've never done this before, but the bevel is so wide on one side, I can't imagine taking that much steel off.

I was going to keep it as is, but the blade steers left, and I am thinking of gifting it to someone, so I want to make the edge more friendly for sharpening.

k.
 
afaik, there really isn't any other way but taking off a lot of steel to make it steer less. i haven't had any righty knife that steers for me, being a lefty. if i owned the knife, i'll just gradually change the symmetry over the coarse of several sharpenings instead of taking it off to get the most out of the steel that's left. but if you're gonna gift it to someone, you'll have to.
 
What kind of knife is it? You are likely going to have to remove a good bit of steel, to really change it, but depending on the knife there might be shortcuts...
 
if it's that asymmetric then it's gonna steer no matter what.
 
Couldn't you just lower the back bevel?

it might lower edge stability but you can always add a micro bevel.
 
Couldn't you just lower the back bevel?

it might lower edge stability but you can always add a micro bevel.

+1, just match the wide bevel on the left side. Think of it as thinning, and install a new, more stable and symmetric fifteen degree bevel.
 
I wouldn't try to get it symmetric, just attenuate the asymmetry and balance the friction on both sides to reduce steering, Add a straight, non-convexed 15 degree bevel on the left side.
 
Sharpen on the left side. On the right side, refine only. Continue to use the higher angle. Eventually, the force on both sides of the edge will even out. If you really want to make it symmetric, you'd need to grind quite a bit off of the left side and even out the bevels. I would not recommend it unless you really want to do a lot of work.

Do not merely thin the left side. That will exacerbate the steering. Whatever you do must move the actual cutting edge over toward the center of the blade. You MUST grind material at the edge. The less acute the angle, the sooner you'll get there.
 
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