article share - What is the best angle to sharpen a knife?

[HSC /// Knives]

What is the best angle to sharpen a knife?

you will have to google translate the article from French

Marina is a Franco-Japanese knife sharpener and proprietor of Atelier Doma in Paris
She speaks French and Japanese and fortunately for me, English

 

[Matt Jacobs]

Good article, I have no idea what angle I sharpen at. I tend to try and sharpen pretty much the same angle on all my knives just for muscle memory. I do go higher on my wives or other peoples knives for longevity. I then thin when I need to and go back to my standard angle. Maybe not the best way but works well for me.

 

[Just a DK]

I wonder. Is there is any merit to sharpening with a lower angle at the tip vs mid/heel. I find that often I like the higher angles for an initial puncture through skin / fine work and then let the belly do the lower angle grunt work.

Tried this on my Hyde recently and I kinda like it.

 

[azn_knives_4l]

I wonder. Is there is any merit to sharpening with a lower angle at the tip vs mid/heel. I find that often I like the higher angles for an initial puncture through skin / fine work and then let the belly do the lower angle grunt work.

Tried this on my Hyde recently and I kinda like it.

Absolutely. Many knives feature this by default as distal taper basically mandates that the angles decrease toward the tip to maintain consistent bevel width over the length of the knife.

 

[stringer]

I wonder. Is there is any merit to sharpening with a lower angle at the tip vs mid/heel. I find that often I like the higher angles for an initial puncture through skin / fine work and then let the belly do the lower angle grunt work.

Tried this on my Hyde recently and I kinda like it.

I vary the grind of the knife behind the edge Sabatier style. Zero grind at the tip. Chunky choil. Blended in the middle. The longer the knife the more useful this is. Wouldn't do much for a 180mm gyuto. Over time all of my knives get adjusted this way. It helps maintain a thin wispy tip over the life of the knife but keeps a more useful board banging geometry near the heel to limit micro-chipping where contact happens most.

 

[stringer]

Absolutely. Many knives feature this by default as distal taper basically mandates that the angles decrease toward the tip to maintain consistent bevel width over the length of the knife.

For me maintaining a consistent bevel width over the length of the knife is not a goal. I would rather have a continuously variable bevel width that goes from zero edge/20 degrees inclusive at one to maybe 45 inclusive at the heel. Aesthetically it may be jarring to some. But performance wise it is vastly superior.

 

[azn_knives_4l]

For me maintaining a consistent bevel width over the length of the knife is not a goal. I would rather have a continuously variable bevel width that goes from zero edge/20 degrees inclusive at one to maybe 45 inclusive at the heel. Aesthetically it may be jarring to some. But performance wise it is vastly superior.

Absolutely. Just calling attention to how normal it is.