Knife sharpening can be intimidating.
Kitchen knife angle. You still have to run the blade through the machine guides but the work is done for you. The sharpening angle for your knife is half the angle of the cutting edge after all you will sharpen on 2 sides. On the other hand western style kitchen knives favorite sharpening angle is about 20 degrees. Some knives especially the japanese manufactured ones sharpened at the recommended 17 degrees.
Rest your fingers on the flat of the blade except your thumb. Standard american and european kitchen knives are double beveled and sharpened on both. Now place the knife on the stone its coarsest side at a 15 to 20 degree angle. The 17 to 22 degrees angle is the typical sharpening angle for most standard kitchen knives.
If you want to make the job easier you could use an electric knife sharpener like the chef s choice 1520 that gives the option of sharpening either a 15 or 20 degree angle blade which will cover most any western or asian knife. If your knife is used for cutting soft items or slicing meats this lower angle can hold up and provide a very smooth cutting action. In this video we explain how to find the correct angle for your knife. While specialty knife makers have come up with varying degrees of blade angles intended for different functions most kitchen knives are sharpened at facets of either 15º or 20º for a total angle of 30º and 40º respectively.
For normal knives you can use an angle between 36 and 40. Remember to hold the blade at about a 15 degree angle which is about half the height of your thumb. The sharpening angle of a japanese knife please find a few examples below is therefore 15 30 2 and of other knives 18 to 20. Sharpening a 1 kitchen knife with 300.
17 to 22 degree angles a 17 to 20 degree angle covers most kitchen knives. From our experience most kitchen knives are built of. Some knives typically japanese manufacturers will sharpen their knives to roughly 17 degrees. The tip of the knife should point away from you.