Angles and muscle memory.

Howdy folks,

When I teach sharpening, I encourage students to sharpen their knives at one particular angle depending on the knives being used by the owner.

Naturally, different knives should be sharpened at different angles in order to optimize the performance of that knife. However, it is quite common for people to own some medium quality Henckels for example, or Kitchen Aid or something similar.

Why not sharpen these knives at 20 degrees and develop the ever important muscle memory that will come into play every time you pick up the knife and go to sharpen it?

Now...when you are happy that you don't have to fight every time to find that right angle on those Henckels then be be prepared to expand  your muscle memory.

You may get a Shun or Global or something better that should be sharpened at 15 or 16 degrees or even 12 degrees.

It is very important however when learning to choose an angle, develop your skills on that angle and stick with it until your knives are sharp every time. Don't ever raise the angle because it is easier to form the Burr. For example, if your sharpening angle is 20 degrees, don't raise the spine of the knife off of the stone because you are having a hard time raising a burr.

Instead, use a sharpie to ensure you are hitting the target area and remain patient, the burr will come eventually.

In Summary, even if you have variety of knives, become proficient at sharpening one of them and then adjust the angles as necessary. You don't want to sharpen your Shun at 20 degrees so you just have to lower the angle a little to 16 degrees.

How the heck do you know if it is 16 degrees, well unless you have a laser device that can measure the angle you cannot say with complete accuracy that one knife is sharpened at 18 deg while the other is at 16 deg. However you will be able to notice a lack of performance if you sharpen it at too an angle too obtuse.  Now if you are using a guided device like the Edge Pro or Wicked Edge Precision Sharpener, of course you can lock in a given angle. (Awesome devices by the way)

This all comes with practice and time, don't let it bother you. Make your knives sharp at an angle that is comfortable for you to hold over and over but one that makes the knife sharp. You can make a knife sharp if you sharpened it at 30 degrees but it will be very thick and completely useless in the kitchen.

 Here is a paring knife that I sharpened at approx 10 degrees. While the knife was ridiculously sharp the steel is not hard enough to sustain that angle so it would not hold it's edge very long. The angle I chose (on purpose) was inappropriate for this particular knife. A 17-20 deg angle would have been better.  ( The 2 white spots are just a reflection of the lights on the camera that I used)

In time, you will need to be able to adjust your sharpening angle to different knives, a folding knife for example may be better with a 23 degree angle, you need to take what the knife is being used for into account as well.

A meat cleaver is sharpened at 23 degrees while a vegetable cleaver could be sharpened at 15 degrees, depending on the steel.

It is not a scary as it may sound, let the Sharpie guide you and also let your sharpening instincts help you, you will get the hang of it.  If all you ever sharpen is your own personal 3 henckels knives then the 17-20 deg angle will serve you well. When your friend brings over his Masakage however, that 19 deg angle will not be acute enough, you'll need to drop it down to 12-13 deg.


All part of the learning process.

Knife sharpening is not easy, if it was everyone could do it.

Having said that, it is not as difficult as you may think.

Peter