I'm still learning - Question

[longbowman]

I've made some knives that have turned out pretty good but I blew right past some of the basics getting there.  A question that never entered my mind until I made a knife and had it heat treated properly to 60Rc is, what angle do you guys put on your cutting edge when making your knives?

[DANA HOLMAN]

Frank, I think most of us put a 20-22 degree angle on the blade

[longbowman]

Dana,  Thanks.  I was thinking it was somewhere in that range but after making my last knife and just eyeballing it I found out quickly that getting a sharp edge was nearly impossible.

[Lin Rhea]

If you are just getting into knife making and are having trouble holding the knife on a particular angle, you might consider getting one of Ron's KME sharpeners. It will work great on blades up to 6 inches, maybe 7. But, while you are sharpening knives of that size, you are training your eye to recognize the angle. Then you can use that knowledge on bigger blades.

One problem I see often with those who are just getting started is that they dont get familiar with what is the proper edge geometry for a knife. So, they might make a hunting knife with way too thick an edge. Or thin, as the case might be. There is a optimum geometry for every blade.

Study knives that cut well and see you can immitate that. Here is a link that has some sketches that might shed some light on geometry.
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