Shoutout to my old boss for calling me out on knife angles

I spent about 2 years sharpening my knives at what I thought was the right angle... always getting frustrated when they'd dull fast. Then my old boss at a shop in Denver watched me one afternoon and just shook his head. He grabbed the stone and showed me I was holding the blade way too steep, like 25 degrees instead of 15. Ever since I corrected that, my edges hold up twice as long. Anyone else get stuck in a bad habit like that for ages?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_taylor3224d ago

Give me a break, it's really just a few degrees. You probably just got better at sharpening over those two years, not because of a magic angle change. Half the guys I know can't even tell the difference between 15 and 20 degrees in a blind test.

the_anthony24d ago

Wait, half the guys you know can't tell 15 from 20 degrees?! That's wild.

jenny4724d ago

Blair I gotta push back on that one. A 5 degree difference in edge angle is actually a pretty big deal once you're paying attention. Like, 15 degrees is noticeably more delicate and slices through soft stuff like crazy, while 20 feels way tougher and works better on harder steels or rougher use. Most of the guys I know who can't tell the difference probably just haven't spent enough time sharpening with a fixed angle system to really feel it in the cut. It's one of those things where once you know what to look for, it stands out way more.