Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades What angle for sharpening Hunting knives?

Just curious what you guys like for the angle to sharpen your hunting knives. I've used a Lansky for years and recently switched to the Worksharp Precision Adjust for it's more capable clamp design. It seems that the standard production knives need a larger angle than the customs I have in S30V. I'm sure alot of this is dependent on heat treat as well as type of steel used in the blade. I've used 20 degrees per side for years, but have some knives that roll the edge easier with that thinner edge. Move up to 22.5 or 25 and they hold up better. What is your favorite angle?

for general purpose outdoor knives, I stay around 25 degrees. For knives that I reserve for processing dead animals, and depending on the blade thickness, I usually go with 20 or 22 degrees. That is of course, for standard bevels. With a Scandi Grind or a convex, none of that applies.

Depends entirely on the edge geometry….how thick is the edge prior to establishing the cutting edge. My blades I make go anywhere between 19 and 22 degrees depending upon the style blade.

Thanks guys. I much prefer 20, but a couple of my production knives are a bit weak with that angle.

20

If your knife is a thicker grind, use the 20 to thin the edge. Take it to zero and stop.
Then use a 25 or whatever to set the final edge. You get a nice thin blade behind a tougher
edge that way.


The bevel behind the edge is as or more important than the angle of the edge.
You can get a hatchet or axe to a razor edge, it still won't slice worth a crap.

I made a paring knife for my wife, the edge was flat around .0010 wide.
Hardened, had just shaped the handle and brought it in for her to try for comfort.
She was peeling potatoes for supper, and tried to peel one.
I didn't think it would work for crap, but it did surprisingly well. Considering.

.058 steel, full flat ground, a setup like that just wants to slice.

I like a thin edge. Most of my blades are thin blade stock, from .100" - .125" and an edge between 15* - 18* cuts great and works well for me.

When I do hunting knives, I try to do 22.5 to 25 degrees. Skinners and bird type knives closer to 20 degrees.

Yup