You're Sharpening At The Wrong Angle, And Its Why You Can't Get A Razor Edge

I should have made this more clear in the video but the angle finder is placed on the FLAT portion of the knife near the ricasso. The flat portion is parallel to the knives centerline. So this shows the exact angle we are sharpening at without being affected by the bevels. Here is a video explaining this better➡ https://youtu.be/xuSFZf8vrGc Best VALUE stone as of now➡amzn.to/3yrojAY Angle guides➡amzn.to/3wHKr9z Angle finder➡amzn.to/3ymKRmr These are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

He is THE Edge Lord. ❤

Alex, I’m a 68 year young knife maker out of PA, making folders since 1983. I enjoy your honest and detailed videos. I always find a little nugget of knowledge I can add to my toolbox - sort of like re reading a favorite book again for the third time. For those that are just starting out on their knife sharpening journey, here’s a tip that should correct the problem that’s been correctly described in this video. If the knife you’re planning to sharpen has an, exposed full thickness and parallel flat, in front of the handle - Double face tape the plastic wedge to the CLEAN diamond stone so it sticks out approximately 1/4” beyond the edge of the stone. Place the flat of the blade in front of the handle, not the blade bevel itself, against the wedge and you should be now be holding the knife at the sharpening at the angle marked on the wedge. Depending on your sharpening technique you may need to either purchase another set of wedges or simply cut the one you have in half to allow two reference positions when switching to the other side of the blade. Sharp Knives, an enjoyable slice of life. Enjoy Mike

Being a math geek, I must make a correction. You actually need to split the difference between the angle guide and that digital level in half to get the actual apex angle that you create. This is because the difference of the measurement is between the angle guide and the total taper of the blade, not the center line.

It can be the best Chanel I have seen so far about how to sharpen knives. Thank you for a great job.

I wrote it elsewhere, I'll write it here again: "arm hair shaving sharp" is nowhere near actual razor sharp. I learned this by cutting my own face with a "dull" straight razor. That razor wasn't actually dull, mind you. Just not quite sharp enough to only cut my beard. That experience stepped up my sharpening game, though^^ I also looked up the ominous H1 steel, never heard of it as a European. It doesn't excell at hardness or edge retention, but corrosion resistance in salt-water applications. You'll have to choose here, because chlorides are just really bad for any kind of steel you could sensibly make a working knife from. And the Spyderco knives in question are designed for surfers, so no heavy duty cutting but good corrosion resistance in mind. Before I forget to mention it: Your videos are informative and well-made. Just pointing out some minor inaccuracies here. I'm probably biased that way, working in QA at a larger industrial forge...

13:53 "I hope I explained it well." A 15 minute video with absolutely no filler – not even a break for your wonderfully daft humour! – and packed with solid, detailed, reliable info backed up by who knows how many hours of experience and testing. Yes, Alex, you explained it well. I mean, who else is telling us about the edge retention benefits of adding half a degree to the bevel?

FINALLY!!! Thank you, Alex! You’ve finally addressed the issue I’ve been trying to get an answer to for ages. Same goes for fixed angle sharpeners. If the center line of the blade isn’t parallel to the clamp, the angle won’t be accurate. Even the Ken Onion sharpener. You still have to account for the bevel. Hope you’re feeling better!

Another solid gold video, thank you so much for this clarity! We love everything you create and share. The best! God bless you brother!

Those macro shots are stellar!

You answered a question I've had for such a long time free handing. Thank you so much!!!!

Thank you! That is a really good explanation and guidelines. May I suggest a video idea? You have all these cool sharpening videos, I really like them. But most of the time you sharpen a small knife on a big stone. I have trouble sharpening my kitchen knifes (size like the dollar store one you showed here) on the small Sharpal you recommended. You dont seem to have problems with this, but I cant quite figure out how you do it. (Especially when the knife is not straight all the way to the tip, but starts to do a curve. How do I hold the angle there?) Maybe you could do a short video on this topic?

Fantastic - thanks! I noticed this same thing when I got my Sharpal, with the orange angle guide. I was working on a 0.25" thickness blade in 440C stainless (Entrek) for camp/hunting use. I thought I would use the 20 deg guide. I realized that there was a big difference between the center line, and the actual angle against the stone. So I figured that using the 14 degree angle was closer to getting 20 degrees with that knife, and went with it. Then I eyeballed rotating the edge up a little from the guide to get closer to 14 deg. I'm getting shaving sharp, but not hair whittling - yet. Maybe when I get the strop...

I recently bought the Sharpal Stone with the angle guide and last weekend i had to sharpen the same garden knife twice. I realized the problem with the angle guide right away. I was using the 17 degree side of the guide but the knife looked like it was at 25 degrees. I was able to use the guide but only after repositioning the blade on guide so that most of the knife wasn't contacting the guide. Thanks for addressing that!

Thanks for all your helpful info. I had the same issue--cuts paper but won't shave. This baffled me because I could always get a shaving edge when I used my Arkansas stones. Your video inspired me to examine my technique using my cheap ($16 for a set of 4) diamond stones from amazon. I discovered that I had to strop with more strokes compared to sharpening with an Arkansas fine. Once I did this little tweak my knives all shaved after a proper stropping. It seems like diamond stones leave more of a burr, but again that may be my newbie technique--I still have much to learn, but that is part of the fun! Kind Regards

I can't thank you enough for the priceless information you continually share with us. I have learned SO MUCH since stumbling upon your channel! THANK YOU!

As always, zero bullshit. You are a scientist. You helped me A LOT with the explanation. Amazing

Alex, just wanted to tell you that since your last video, you’ve picked up a lot of positive opinion on Reddit, especially in r/sharpening. Those fine guys and gals over there love your content and speak highly of you.

Woahhhhh, now I know why my knife gets dull within a couple minutes of putting it to wood... I just figured my technique had general suck. I guess I'll have to make myself a strop now, lol. Thank you for the video! I am pretty new to sharpening and I am certain that your content is saving me hours and hours of confused frustration. In particular I appreciate that you are unrelentingly specific about the physical mechanics and properties of these things--that way I am learning not just what to do, but why. It makes a huge difference. :)

I think this is the 4th video I have watched, and I just wanted to say thank you. You do a terrific job of explaining and showing exactly what is going on and what needs to go on. Just subscribed today, keep up the great work!