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For Those Of You With An EdgePro...
- Thread starter Blues
- Start date
20° degrees / side on my cheap kitchen knives. About 12° / side on my MAC paring knife and 15° on a MAC chef's knife. 20° / side on my SOC Flash, although that is probably to acute and 25° or 30° would probably be more appropriate for outdoor/utility knives. I guess I would rather experience the sharpness even if it doesn't hold up as well.
For the kitchen knives, I have since gone to convex edges from a belt grinder, finishing with loaded leather belts on the MAC's with a very acute edge. I find with the convex edge I can still get a very acute edge, but they hold up better. They have about the same durability as if I went up to a 15° or 20° flat bevel on the EP, but they hold up better and cut better with the more acute convex edge. I was getting some micro chipping when my wife used them at these acute angles with flat bevels on the EP.
On my really cheap soft SS kitchen knives I use a little more obtuse convex edge and they hold up a lot longer and don't roll the edges as easily. I still touch them up with a ceramic steel and this works well between sharpening. I wouldn't say they cut any better then they did with a 20° edge on the EP, but that sharpness only lasted a few minutes with the flat bevel and last much longer with a convex edge. I need to get rid of these knives and get more good knives.
After convexing some machete's on a belt sander and getting a couple of Bark River knives in A2 with their signature convex edges and grinds, I was amazed at how sharp they were and how well they slice and cut even with thick bushcraft blades and a steep convex edge. I started experimenting with many of my existing knives.
I love the EP, and I still sharpen free hand, but I am gravitating toward convex edges on many of my knives. Convex seems to out do flat bevel edges for most double bevel knives in the kitchen and outdoors. This is true in cutting ease, edge retention, and ease of sharpening. They are easier to sharpen, and of course faster to sharpen on the belt sander, even on a leather strop starting with sandpaper over the leather, and finishing on the loaded strop. This works great in the field too. A small strop on a piece of paint stick handle with a piece of sandpaper is light and small to carry. I stick them in a small Ziploc bag. I usualy only carry a small piece of 1200# and the strop. You could carry a small piece of 80#, 120#, 240#, 400#, 800#, 1200#, & 2000# wet or dry and the strop loaded with CrO. You would have a full compliment of grits to handle most any task and it only adds a few grams of weight and less then 1/10" of thickness to the package. A lot less the even one small field stone.
Gary
For the kitchen knives, I have since gone to convex edges from a belt grinder, finishing with loaded leather belts on the MAC's with a very acute edge. I find with the convex edge I can still get a very acute edge, but they hold up better. They have about the same durability as if I went up to a 15° or 20° flat bevel on the EP, but they hold up better and cut better with the more acute convex edge. I was getting some micro chipping when my wife used them at these acute angles with flat bevels on the EP.
On my really cheap soft SS kitchen knives I use a little more obtuse convex edge and they hold up a lot longer and don't roll the edges as easily. I still touch them up with a ceramic steel and this works well between sharpening. I wouldn't say they cut any better then they did with a 20° edge on the EP, but that sharpness only lasted a few minutes with the flat bevel and last much longer with a convex edge. I need to get rid of these knives and get more good knives.
After convexing some machete's on a belt sander and getting a couple of Bark River knives in A2 with their signature convex edges and grinds, I was amazed at how sharp they were and how well they slice and cut even with thick bushcraft blades and a steep convex edge. I started experimenting with many of my existing knives.
I love the EP, and I still sharpen free hand, but I am gravitating toward convex edges on many of my knives. Convex seems to out do flat bevel edges for most double bevel knives in the kitchen and outdoors. This is true in cutting ease, edge retention, and ease of sharpening. They are easier to sharpen, and of course faster to sharpen on the belt sander, even on a leather strop starting with sandpaper over the leather, and finishing on the loaded strop. This works great in the field too. A small strop on a piece of paint stick handle with a piece of sandpaper is light and small to carry. I stick them in a small Ziploc bag. I usualy only carry a small piece of 1200# and the strop. You could carry a small piece of 80#, 120#, 240#, 400#, 800#, 1200#, & 2000# wet or dry and the strop loaded with CrO. You would have a full compliment of grits to handle most any task and it only adds a few grams of weight and less then 1/10" of thickness to the package. A lot less the even one small field stone.
Gary
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