bevel angle help?

[monkey boy]

so iv desided to have another go at a file knife, this time I am going to use a filing jig, i need to know what is the best angle for a scandy grind to get it shaving sharp.?
does the thickness of my steel matter?
all help needed please mb

 

[nic.]

If you just want to shave hairs off your arm I would go for 15 deg; if you are going to use it then 20-25 is better. at 20 deg you will have to treat the edge with some repect but it should be OK. Thickness is really just a balance. A thin blade will penetrate better but will ultimately be weaker. 3mm is a good enough compromise. If you go for a shallow grind and a thick blade you will end up with a very long bevel which is a pain to sharpen and will be difficult to steer out of concave cuts.

 

[lannyman8]

i do my ones by eye, and yes to me it depends on how thick the steel is, a 6-7mm blade would be useless with a full flat unless the belly is very deep, you would loose half the thickness anyway..

as above 3mm is a good all rounder, i have a 4mm which is a pain with the finer bits, like a notch on a bow drill set, the steel is to thick to get in easily...when you look at what a mora can do though, do you really need 3mm????

 

[bushwacker bob]

the steel is to thick to get in easily...when you look at what a mora can do though, do you really need 3mm????

Some people dont have or know how to use a sharp knife properly or they regularly expose themselves to survival situations at weekends, so they smash the spine of their knife with a log to exert more chopping force on it. I believe one would need a thicker knife for this activity to save it from damage.

For anyone who does this to a knife it is worth discovering that to grow a branch thick enough to batton, a tree must grow a very large amount of smaller sticks and twigs to use as kindling.

 

[HillBill]

22 to 24 degree bevels will require a micro secondary to keep a good edge 24 + and you can get away with a zero scandi.

Don't forget your filing jig angle wants to be half of the angle you want your bevel to be.

 

[ex-member Raikey]

regularly expose themselves to survival situations at weekends, .

i love being in survival situations,...

it gives me a chance to use all the expensive gear i buy,...

 

[Big Stu 12]

I do the bevels by hand/eye, with use of a protractor. Think I should make a jig really. For ideas can any one post pics of theres please, no point in making things too complicted.

 

[monkey boy]

thanx for all the good advice everyone this has been very helpful indeed

 

[ged]

I do the bevels by hand/eye, with use of a protractor. Think I should make a jig really. For ideas can any one post pics of theres please, no point in making things too complicted.

Can't post a pic because mine is in France but if you look at the Lansky system jig it will give you an idea.

http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/lansky-standard-knife-sharpening-system-128-p.asp

It's basically a clamp which holds the blade and a stone somehow fixed to a bit of straight wire. The wire is about the thickness of a wire coathanger.

The clamp is more or less two flat bits of metal, each bent at a right-angle, i.e. an L-shape.

The two L-shaped bits of flat metal are clamped together onto the back of the blade with the edge of the blade sticking out, so you now have a T-shape with the blade edge sticking out of the bottom of the T.

There are holes drilled in what is now the top of the T. The wire on which the stone is mounted slides into one of the holes, and that controls the angle.

It's all a bit of a faff and I hardly use it any more.

PS: Lansky recommends 17 degrees for razor blades, 20 degrees for things like scalpels and 25 degrees for most other things. I bought the Lansky kit donkey's years ago at Lansky's technical department's recommendation to sharpen a SOG Tech. The angle on the SOG was so obtuse that the Lansky wouldn't anywhere near reach it.