I was sharpening my boning knife on a ceramic rod for years before a guy in Omaha set me straight.

He watched me for about 30 seconds at a regional meet and said, 'You're just polishing the edge, not resetting it.' I'd been using a 15 degree angle when the knife was made for 20, so I was basically rounding off the tip every time. How do you all figure out the right angle for different blades, especially older ones without any markings?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan_owens1422d agoMost Upvoted

That Omaha guy nailed it. For old blades without a guide, the sharpie trick works great, just color the bevel and see where your strokes remove the ink.

noah_webb22d ago

Saw my buddy try that on a beat up old drawknife last week. He spent twenty minutes coloring the edge black, took one stroke with the stone, and only wiped off a tiny strip in the middle. Showed him his angle was way off without saying a word. He fixed his hold and got it scary sharp after that. Simple trick but it doesn't lie.

emerycarr22d ago

My cousin had the same issue with his grandpa's old cleaver. He was grinding away at what he thought was the right angle for weeks. Finally colored the whole edge with a marker, took two passes on the stone, and saw he was only hitting the very top. Totally missing the actual edge. Felt like a real lightbulb moment for him.