18 or 20 degrees for kitchen knives?

S

slashbrackets

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Apr 1, 2023
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Hi, a while back I had a source (can't remember where) advise to sharpen kitchen knives (chefs knife, even filet knife) to 18 degrees. I did so and then recently I was informed via instructions that came with some sharpening tools to go 20 degrees. So I don't know what to do. Should I stick with 18 degrees on them or re-profile to 20 degrees?

Thanks :)
 
The difference is small enough to not matter.

There is no universal best angle for kitchen knives. Personally, I like to go to as low an angle as I can without chipping. That's maybe 15 degrees per side on typical European kitchen knife steel, and maybe 12 for typical Japanese kitchen knife steel. But I like to sharpen, so I'm not looking for the best edge longevity.

Chinese cleavers, I use 25 degrees per side, because of all the chopping.
 
UncleBoots said:
The difference is small enough to not matter.

There is no universal best angle for kitchen knives. Personally, I like to go to as low an angle as I can without chipping. That's maybe 15 degrees per side on typical European kitchen knife steel, and maybe 12 for typical Japanese kitchen knife steel. But I like to sharpen, so I'm not looking for the best edge longevity.

Chinese cleavers, I use 25 degrees per side, because of all the chopping.
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Sounds good, i'll stick with 18 on the chefs and filet knives. Thanks for mentioning the chinese cleaver since I do have one of those and your answered the question on that. Only thing I don't know at this point is for things like skinner knives? What angle is good for those?

Also, is there a way to know what angle a knife is currently sharpened to?

Thanks again! :)
 
slashbrackets said:
Sounds good, i'll stick with 18 on the chefs and filet knives. Thanks for mentioning the chinese cleaver since I do have one of those and your answered the question on that. Only thing I don't know at this point is for things like skinner knives? What angle is good for those?

Also, is there a way to know what angle a knife is currently sharpened to?

Thanks again! :)
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Skinner knives, don't know, you need someone who uses those. I'd be inclined to think the factory angle is probably pretty well-chosen.

As for knowing the current angle, I know how I'd do it: I'd clamp the thing into a guided sharpener, sharpie the bevel, adjust the angle until the scratches hit the middle of the bevel, and read the numbers off the angle cube.

Lacking a guided sharpener, I'd use a stone and a sharpie and these little fixed-angle plastic things, same drill, except it's about finding which plastic thing caught the angle correctly.

Lacking the plastic thingies, I'd try to hold the knife on the stone in a position where the edge contacts the stone, and use my other hand to make measurements, horizontal edge-to-back-of-knife, vertical stone-to-bottom-of-side-of-spine, then go look up the trigonometry operation to compute the angle. Then I'd go buy a guided sharpener and an angle cube, probably, because I hate having to do stuff like that.
 
UncleBoots said:
Skinner knives, don't know, you need someone who uses those. I'd be inclined to think the factory angle is probably pretty well-chosen.

As for knowing the current angle, I know how I'd do it: I'd clamp the thing into a guided sharpener, sharpie the bevel, adjust the angle until the scratches hit the middle of the bevel, and read the numbers off the angle cube.

Lacking a guided sharpener, I'd use a stone and a sharpie and these little fixed-angle plastic things, same drill, except it's about finding which plastic thing caught the angle correctly.

Lacking the plastic thingies, I'd try to hold the knife on the stone in a position where the edge contacts the stone, and use my other hand to make measurements, horizontal edge-to-back-of-knife, vertical stone-to-bottom-of-side-of-spine, then go look up the trigonometry operation to compute the angle. Then I'd go buy a guided sharpener and an angle cube, probably, because I hate having to do stuff like that.
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Thanks for all the help, excellent input. Much appreciated. :)
 
I would first consult the manufacturer for edge bevel angle from the factory. Then be prepared for their claims to be off by 1-4 degrees or thereabouts. I test bevel angles by feedback from my whetstone. I can feel the angle when sharpening, and adjust accordingly. My kitchen knives are German stainless and come from the factory at an advertised bevel of 16 degrees. In my case, this has been acceptably accurate. I confirm the angle on the whetstone using a manual angle finder that sits parallel to the spine then indicates angle. Works well. In my opinion, I would not want an angle approaching 20 degrees. I like slicey kitchen knives. I have chef's, santoku, paring, and bread knives. That's all I need.
 
Greggy said:
I would first consult the manufacturer for edge bevel angle from the factory. Then be prepared for their claims to be off by 1-4 degrees or thereabouts. I test bevel angles by feedback from my whetstone. I can feel the angle when sharpening, and adjust accordingly. My kitchen knives are German stainless and come from the factory at an advertised bevel of 16 degrees. In my case, this has been acceptably accurate. I confirm the angle on the whetstone using a manual angle finder that sits parallel to the spine then indicates angle. Works well. In my opinion, I would not want an angle approaching 20 degrees. I like slicey kitchen knives. I have chef's, santoku, paring, and bread knives. That's all I need.
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for chefs and kitchen knives what angle do you usually go with?
 
Good quality kitchen knives with very thin primary grinds can still do pretty well with somewhat wider edge angles - up to 20° per side or so - so long as the apex remains crisp & sharp. If the knives are very thick behind the edge though, a lower angle of 12-15° per side will make a BIG difference in how effortlessly they cut and they'll still do OK even after the apex begins to dull a little bit.

Typically, I don't sharpen anything at edge angles wider than 15° per side - even cheap stainless kitchen knives at relatively low hardness can usually handle that. And as mentioned earlier, you can go lower so long as you don't encounter issues with chipping of harder steels or edge rolling & flattening of the apex, which is more typical of mainstream kitchen stainless knives at low-to-moderate hardness.

Cheaper knives might also exhibit some weakness of the steel at the edge due to overheating during factory edge grinding. But if you're patient, a few resharpenings will eventually remove that damaged steel near the edge, and it'll start working better at lower edge angles.
 
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Shouldnt be a problem,i sharpen all my knives at those angles,some have secondary bevel and some dont,never had any problem,especially with kitchen knives
 
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