# Need sharpening angle suggestions for different knives



## jwk1 (Nov 13, 2009)

I have ordered an Edge Pro and it's on its way.  I'm looking for sharpening angle suggestions for these knives:

Trizor Professional 10X 8" chef.  I haven't used this knife much since it really needs to be sharpened and I have found over the years I do not like 8" chef's knives and I do not like German profile blades.  However, this might be good for splitting fryer chickens.  If anyone knows if this steel is too brittle for this, please let me know.  Otherwise, I'll just sharpen it for the usual stuff.

Henckels five star 7" santoku.  My wife loves this knife.  I don't use it.

Chicago Cutlery 10" Chef's knife from the late 70s.  This is the knife I use for almost everything.  I'm guessing the steel is on the soft side.

I also have a few other Trizor.  10" slicer, 6" utility, boning, paring.

So basically I'm looking for angles to use and how fine I go on the stones before it's no point.  I'm guessing the Trizor can benefit from less angle and more polish than the Chicago and the Henckels is somewhere in between.  Just a guess.

Thanks for any help.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

The Trizors were made with a triple-bevel -- hence the name trizor.  I think the primary was either 22 or 25*.  Whatever it was, it was complicated eough to act more like a convex than a flat bevel.  Too complicated to try and duplicate on an EP. 

I'm not sure, but believe the Trizors were made from X55CrMoV15, which has a very slightly higher carbon content than your wife's Henckels (presumably a Zwillings?).  Trizors were hardened to 56-57ish RCH, her Henckels ot 55-56 -- not enough distinction to be a difference.  The Chicago Cutlery ... could be a lot of things.  Whatever it is, probably isn't much to write home about.

. 

Not knowing how old and worn your edges are, it's hard to say whether you should try to find the factory set, or impose your own. 

Try sharpening the Chicago Cutlery to 20*.  Thin the Trizors and your wife's santoku to 15* and finish with a 20* primary.  Thin the chicken knife to 17.5 and finish with a 25* primary.  If your edges collapse too quickly, it's always easy to sharpen more obtusely. 

If you have questions about double beveling, please ask.  It's not difficult once you get the ideas.

Also, I suggest (and I think Ben -- the EP guy -- does too) using the Magic Marker Trick until you get everything sorted.  It makes it so much easier when you can see what is and isn't going on. 

BDL


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## jwk1 (Nov 13, 2009)

Thanks!


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## yogidog98 (Jul 27, 2010)

I spent about 30 minutes on a Naniwa 1000 stone trying to sharpen my 8" Chicago Cutlery Traditional Walnut knife to 20*, and I never got down to the edge. It was my first knife sharpening attempt, so it's very possible I wasn't holding the 20* angle consistently, didn't apply the correct pressure, didn't give it enough time, or just did it wrong altogether. I used a carpenter's protractor to set my edge angle, and I know I never made it to the edge thanks to the magic marker trick. I believe the Naniwa 1000 cuts pretty slowly, so I'm sure a coarser stone would have helped a lot.

Anyway, I'm guessing my Chicago Cutlery knife was probably at least 25* from the factory.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Most Chicago Cutlery steel is very soft and tough. That means that even one of the coarser Naniwa SS won't have an easy time, and the going will be still worse for a 1K. JWK's Edge Pro has some pretty aggressive, tough grit sharpeners and the angle holding is very consistent.

Because the knife is old, it probably needs complete re-profiling anyway. It will take a while to create a 20* bevel, but it will be worth the time. At the worst, the knife won't support a 20* edge angle and JWK will have to sharpen a 25* angle over it. Without a full re-profile. The thinned section above the edge will actually help the knife cut better.

By the way, here's a picture of one of my knives.



This knife (K-Sabatier _au carbone_ 10" Chef's) is currently somewhat stained, so when I recently polished the edge it created enough contrast so you can see it. The Magic Marker Trick will do the same for you.

It looks like the edge is a little wavy here and there, but that's a "trick of the light," it's straight where it should be straight, and arced how and where it should be arced. Soooooooo, discounting for that...

You can see that the edge (shinier than the rest of the blade) is an even width for the length of the knife, and that the bevel shoulder (top of the bevel) runs absolutely parallel to the edge for the length of the knife. That's what you're trying to do. Your edge bevels won't be as wide as mine, because my angles are relatively acute -- taken to the limits of the knife, just a bit less than 15*.

BDL


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