Knife to Know: Blade has a forged distal taper; handle butt flared to enhance purchase
Weight: 12 ozs.
Overall Length: 20″
Sheath: Wood with handcarved details
Sheath Weight: 3 ozs.
I received a bolo made in the Philippines from my friend, Mike Key, as a gift a couple of years ago. He went on a three-day search for good bolos made from carbon steel in villages, not the souvenir type. He was successful in his quest.
I ran a triangle file down the edge and it skated off, an indication the blade is hardened steel for sure. The forged blade has a smooth distal taper, starting around 3/16-inch thick down to 0 inches at the tip. The knife sports hidden-tang construction. The wood for the sheath and handle are from a local shop in the Philippines. Of course, a blade must cut no matter where it’s made.
Cutting Tests
Up first: the paper slice. Despite a coarse edge, the bolo still managed to give clean slices in 20-pound bond paper. Normally, a bigger blade is cumbersome slicing paper, but the bolo has a perfect balance due to its distal taper.
The bolo was very aggressive on the plastic foam. The author held the pool noodle suspended in air with one hand and sliced it. He indicated the knife is very controllable and the handle is indexed perfectly.
A pool noodle was next on the test menu. The bolo was very aggressive on the plastic foam. I held the pool noodle suspended in air with one hand and sliced it. The knife is very controllable and the handle is indexed perfectly.
Next up: chopping into a hard cardboard tube with the noodle inserted to prevent wall collapse. It worked on the first two chops, but then I hit too close to the previous pair of chops and the tube crushed under the force of the blows. Still, the blade made it halfway through the tube.
When you have trees encroaching on your property, you have to take steps to keep your yard clear. One such branch had scraped me for the last time while I was mowing the lawn. Its 2.5-inch diameter was a breeze for the bolo. Five whacks and the branch was down.
Five whacks and the 2.5-inch-diameter branch was down.
I dragged it away from the fence to whack it into smaller pieces. This is what the bolo was designed to do. One chop per branch and it was in pieces quickly. Just a wrist snap carried the blade halfway through a 1.5-inch-diameter branch. The bolo is a very fast chopper.
A note on the wooden sheath: It’s flat on one side for resting against your body and slightly rounded on the other. The maker even added some hand-carved detail into the wood. Excellent workmanship!
A big thank you goes out to Mike Key for finding this gem of a bolo for me.
Changes
On a blade this long, I would like to see a pin in the handle for a mechanical connection.
Final Results
The bolo is a very balanced working model. You can use it all day without wearing your hand or arm out. It exhibits great workmanship in the forging and the woodwork!
There’s never a bad time for outside fun, but the COVID era provided a serious force multiplier for fresh air. For instance, golf surged in popularity in the United States since the start of the pandemic, adding 500,000 new sand trap junkies to the sport.
From the perspective of the knife world, that begs a question: what blade is in your pocket when you’re working on that birdie?
Enter Golphers, a company turning out everyday carry (EDC) knives worthy of a PGA tour.
EDC Knives for Golfers
It was nearly guaranteed that the push in recent years toward urban EDCs—high-performance folders that don’t raise eyebrows—would yield knives tailored to sports and hobbies. Golphers got out ahead of the curve with its catalog of blades purpose-built for the putting green.
In addition to being tidy EDC designs, the three knives that make up the core of Golphers—the Ace, the Scottsdale and the Wichita—feature a bottle opener, a fold-out divot tool and a detachable ball marker.
How Not to Lose Your Ball Marker while Golfing
The detachable ball markers can be customized. This excellent feature makes it harder to lose these small discs.
The built-in marker is a stroke of genius I didn’t fully appreciate until talking with a few golf enthusiasts. These small discs constantly get lost or misplaced through nine or 18 holes.
Attaching the marker to something with presence clipped into a pocket, like one of these Golphers knives, solves that problem with style.
The fold-out divot tool on the trio of Golpher knives is the icing on the cake.
The Ace, Scottsdale and Wichita come with fold-out divot tools, the lemonade to the iced tea of these knives. Some designs are smarter by half when it comes to multitools, but this addition is entirely necessary and baked in seamlessly between the frame and the handle scale.
A person could start to feel spoiled by the time and attention spent on these designs. But how do they actually perform?
How Do They Perform? The Ace
The Ace is the largest of the trio, sporting a three-inch blade and 7.5-inch OAL.
Golphers sent in three knives for this review. I’ll tackle each one at a time.
The Ace is an Eric Ochs-designed flipper with a three-inch S35VN blade, available with a variety of handle materials. I received the blue carbon fiber version, much to my enjoyment. The Ace includes a bottle opener, ball marker and divot tool.
Three-inch blades are the right size for EDC, and this flipper snaps into place with a crisp “click.” It’s infinitely fidget-able (not a technical term, but close enough), which isn’t to be discounted while waiting for the duffers up ahead to finish.
When I showed off the knife, the divot tool always surprised and delighted. It waits inside the Ace for a sneak attack. It’s a simple thing, sure, but this divot tool could’ve easily been bungled in the design. Simple is hard to do.
The Ace works well as an EDC even if you never touch the golf-centric features.
Honestly, the Ace would be a respectable EDC on or off the course. I’d be happy to include this in my regular rotation.
That said, I wish the design allowed my index finger to choke up on the blade a bit more. I’m missing a little jimping, too. That’s my personal preference, though, and certainly not a knock on the knife itself.
Along the same lines, a three-inch blade may be overkill for the golf course. This feels to me more like a knife that plays to the culture of golf, like a T-shirt with a logo on it, than something to be used for its stated purpose.
Again, that’s a personal preference. If three inches is your style, you won’t be disappointed with the Ace.
If not, Golphers still has you covered.
The Scottsdale
The Scottsdale was this reviewer’s favorite of the three knives, but that comes down to personal preference.
The Scottsdale is the 2.5-inch blade version of the Ace. It sports the same golf-friendly features, but in a more compact package. For me, this is the sweet spot, and it made the Scottsdale my favorite of the three.
Golphers wisely went with framelocks on each of their knives, and the Scottsdale I received made it clear why that’s the right choice. The blade locked up nicely each time, maintaining its sturdiness for each task I put it through.
The detent arrived hard out of the box, too, which is always a plus for staying secure in the pocket.
Other than the blade length, the key difference between the Ace and the Scottsdale is the flipper tab. The Ace has it, while the Scottsdale doesn’t. This isn’t necessarily good or bad. It’s a preference thing, and it’s worth keeping in mind in case thumb studs alone won’t do.
And if you don’t want thumb studs at all, Golphers didn’t stop at the Scottsdale.
The Wichita
The Wichita wouldn’t look out of place at the Masters. This is what the urban EDC category is all about.
Like the Scottsdale, the Wichita also wields a 2.5-inch blade. However, the belly on the Wichita’s blade is a bit beefier, and a thumb hole is in place of the studs.
Golphers calls the Wichita the “holy grail” of its knives, and it’s hard to disagree. The Wichita is the most classed up of the trio, ready for an experienced caddy to open with two gloved hands. Of course, the Wichita can be opened with one hand, too, but this is the picture it paints in my mind.
To the point, the Wichita is only offered with G10 handles in swatches that shout “urban EDC.” Were this knife to pop up on TV during the Masters, I doubt anyone would find it out of place.
That’s saying something for a knife that retails a hair under $100, as of this writing.
The Verdict
The Scottsdale takes the cake as the best of Golphers’ three knives, but that’s just me. Golfers will find at least one Golphers knife to suit their tastes.
Golphers shows why there’s so much vitality in the knife industry. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, along comes another wave of innovation and creativity. Golphers is good news for every knife enthusiast, whether they golf or not.
If you do hit the links, you seriously need to consider getting one of these knives. They may not stop you from pulling too hard to the left on your drive, but they will make your time on the green more enjoyable.
Like most forgers, I try to build a stockpile of damascus and different sized blades in the winter months when the temperature is below 50 degrees F. Sometimes, because of where you live, it might not drop below 70 degrees F. Hot is hot no matter where you forge, and there will be a time when you have to forge no matter how high the temperature is.
Here are some helpful hints to get you through the hot times.
Hydrate
Keep a squirt bottle nearby for a cooling spritz when you need it.
“Pre-hydrate” the day before you are going to forge. Also, drink plenty of water during forging and afterward. I use a squirt bottle to spray myself during forging to add extra cooling. Staying hydrated should keep those nasty headaches away.
Limit Heat Exposure
Take frequent water breaks while sitting in a cool breeze if at all possible.
If you are lucky enough to have a second person that knows how to forge helping you, take turns doing the work. This limits the amount of time one person has to stand by the hot forge. After your turn, get away from the heat and drink fluids.
Usually I’ll pull a chair close to the door to catch any breeze that might be blowing. I place a fan to blow across the cooling chair if the temperature’s above 90 degrees F. Some have a gas forge that can be moved outside, which is better for the radiating heat, though a strong wind can mess with the fire.
The main point here is to limit the time you are exposed to the forge heat.
Dress Appropriately
The author eschews long sleeves while hammering a hot billet.
I do away with such coverings as aprons, arm covers and/or long sleeves. I haven’t gone to shorts because there would be a piece of hot something rolling down my leg and into my work boots. No amount of stomping around gets it out. I stick with jeans.
Sweat the Load
A towel or rag that helps keep the sweat from getting in your eyes is a good idea. Your shirt will be soaking wet after a few minutes, so don’t count on it as a sweat sponge.
Divide the Labor
The author eschews long sleeves while hammering a hot billet.
When welding damascus on very hot days, one day I do just the first weld to seal the billet. Then the next day, I stretch the billet. The following day, I cut and restack the billet for layer count.
I follow this pattern till I have the billet the way I want it. This takes a lot longer but it doesn’t wear you out at the end of the day.
Then again, sometimes I just work through the heat and sit in my truck with the air conditioning on high. An extra shirt also helps to keep sweat off your vehicle seat.
Keep on Forging
So remember: Drink fluids, limit your time being by the hot forge, stay as cool as possible—and keep forging!
Harry Archer is no stranger to fans of BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® members Bob Loveless and A.G. Russell, as well as followers of Steve Johnson, Bob Dozier and other inhabitants of the custom knife scene. A larger-than life “operator” for the CIA, among others, Archer designed the chute knife, a fixed blade that got its name for use when a parachutist landed in a tree or in some other sticky situation and needed to cut the shroud lines to free himself.
Archer fell in love with Loveless knives and designed a chute knife that Bob made. In the process, Archer and Loveless became close friends and the chute one of Bob’s best-known knives, one reproduced today by scores of custom makers.
A.G. and Loveless had a special relationship, so it should come as no surprise that A.G. became friends with Archer as well—and neither should it come as a revelation that A.G. saw the potential for reproducing a chute knife. In fact, as it turns out, A.G. Russell Knives wound up ordering three different chute repros.
There are great similarities between A.G.’s chute knives and those by Loveless, but also differences. For one, A.G. included a hole in each end of the double guard. Loveless did not. A.G.’s early A.G. Russell and Morseth chutes used narrow-tang construction with distinctly shaped, solid handles. Loveless’s were full tang with applied scales.
Dozier was the maker behind the first A.G. Russell and Morseth chute knives. Aside from a few changes, the Dozier design is much like the Loveless, including no holes in the guard, full-tang construction and the Loveless signature green Micarta® scales.
As A.G. wrote, “In the beginning, Loveless probably would have used A2 tool steel for the blade, and later 154CM and/or ATS-34 stainless. Dozier’s design uses Dozier’s signature D2 tool steel.” It also features one of Dozier’s solidly built leather sheaths.
From 2003-2007, A.G. offered a chute knife designed in collaboration with award-winning German knifemaker Dietmar Kressler.
Russell took Archer’s basic chute and “added as much elegance” as he could manage, “using the talents of that most talented maker [i.e., Kressler]. Dietmar is the master of integral hilt-and-butt [aka hilt-and-cap] hunting and combat knives,” A.G. wrote. “He has taken my design and executed it beautifully.”
Just 75 were made and the last one sold for $2,195. They are available today on the secondary market only.
After that, A.G. began work on a more economical drop-forged version of the chute. It took 10 years to get the tooling finished in Taiwan and the knives made. From the blade tip to the end of the pommel, the entire knife is drop forged of 440C stainless steel and has a “very tapered” tang.
“The standard model has ebony Rucarta® scales. Blade and overall lengths: 5.5 and 9.5 inches. MSRP: $245. With ironwood scales the MSRP is $295.
As Russell wrote, “Harry Archer could well have been the pattern for Mr. Clark, the ubiquitous CIA problem solver in Tom Clancy’s novels … He spent a lot of time in the jungle teaching jungle combat and survival to American soldiers and soldiers of other countries as well … He loved knives, well made knives. In his lifetime he was probably Loveless’s #2 or #3 customer. He was a strong influence on the design of custom combat knives and his design for the chute knife is classic.”
As noted in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, “strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.” On the other hand, oaken logs lounging in bogs for a couple of millennia transform into something of a “holy grail” for knifemakers.
The oxygen-poor, acid-rich bog environment changes humble woods such as oak into something dark and infused with history. And it’s in no small part because of this that makers have turned to the material for knife handles.
Knives seem to have a long relationship with bog oak, a prized and precious wood pulled from bogs after thousands of years.
For instance, take the Scottish sgian dubh, the small utility fixed blade sheathed in the sock of a Highlander in traditional Scottish garb. Translated from Gaelic, sgian dubh means black knife, which some think is a reference to the dark bog oak from which the handles of a number of sgian dubhs were carved.
Just as oxygen-poor and acid-rich bogs transform wood, some makers have gone beyond traditional sgian dubhs and use the handle material to hearken back to more mysterious and historic times.
Black Betty
Because it takes ages to form, bog oak is a finite resource. ABS journeyman smith Mike Deibert, who makes knives on the weekends and evenings when he’s not working as an elementary school teacher, waited five years after he bought a piece of bog oak for the right knife to come along.
Mike Deibert (inset) uses 5,400-year-old bog oak for the handle of his Black Betty Bowie. Blade length and steel: 10 inches and bold-feather-pattern damascus. (SharpByCoop knife image)
The large, handle-sized piece of the material came already stabilized. Deibert has most of his natural handle materials stabilized so they’re not subject to fluctuation in humidity and are more predictable to work. Even before he decided to use the bog oak, the project was going to be a special one.
“The Black Betty Bowie was created in September of 2019,” Deibert explained. “I designed it for a client who wanted to present it as a gift to an individual who was responsible for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer research. I wanted to come up with a special work of art that even a non-knife enthusiast couldn’t help but appreciate.”
Deibert started with a bold-featherpattern-damascus design by working out the pattern on paper. When he saw the finished billet, the contrast thrilled him. Besides its tight grain and chocolate color, the wood, billed as a 5,400-year-old relic pulled from a bog in Ukraine, gave the blade historical gravitas.
“When I saw how incredible the dark plume billowed down the center of the blade, I knew I had to put together a guard and handle that complemented this intense feature,” he began. “Originally, I had drawn the knife with a piece of ironwood burl in mind for the handle and a satin-finished steel guard. But, with a very dark portion over most of the blade, I decided to go with all-dark furnishing as a complement.
“This wood, once growing and living thousands of years ago, is now preserved and on display as a handle on the world’s oldest tool. There’s a story in it, and it makes me proud to be able to keep that story going.”
Baba Yaga
What kind of knife would Baba Yaga, a mysterious and terrifying old woman in Slavic folklore, wield as a war blade? That’s the question Connecticut knifemaker Matt Berry pondered as he read through Katabasis, a novel in which the wicked witch swoops in for an appearance.
“Babayaga’s Warknife” began with a blade Berry had put aside after beginning it in 2016.
One of the highlights of the Babayaga Warknife by Matt Berry (inset) is the pommel. Berry carved the bog oak to fit into the bronze pommel and ferrule, which he created by casting them via the lost-wax method. The oak for Berry’s handle entered a bog about 5,300 years ago and helped set the knife’s tone. (SharpByCoop photo)
“I started with the pommel carving, which was meant to be Baba Yaga’s face. The rest of the handle just kind of fell into place as I worked forward from the pommel,” he recalled. “I worked on it as time and inspiration allowed and finished it in the spring of 2019.”
One of the highlights of the knife is the pommel. Berry carved the bog oak to fit into the bronze pommel and ferrule, which he created by casting them via the lost-wax method. The oak for Berry’s handle entered a bog about 5,300 years ago and helped set the knife’s tone.
“I wanted something European even if bog oak was never used in the 1200s,” Berry said. “Bog oak is quite expensive. It’s right up there with burl in price and will sometimes cost more. There’s not a lot of it around and the supply is finite. I get most of mine from an English furniture company that digs up and dries its own logs and then makes high-end furniture. I’m buying the company’s scraps.”
Like anything that has sat around for a few millennia, bog wood has its quirks. According to Berry, it can be as temperamental as Baba Yaga herself.
“The grain isn’t tight, and it’s kind of mushy and chippy at the same time,” he warned. “Th at makes it very frustrating to carve. It drills and sands fairly normally but it can be prone to splitting.”
Dagger of Firsts
Brant Cochran of Gray Flame Forge works in the insurance industry but, when he can, he’s in his shop. When he created his 10.5-inch dagger with a blade of W2 tool steel and a bog oak handle, it was a project of firsts.
He took three months to slowly build the dagger, in part because it was his first time making a dagger of that length. While he wanted to make a large knife, the quintessential bowie didn’t appeal to a man whose interests in edged tools were whetted when, as a youngster, he saw an arming sword at his grandparents’ house.
The bog oak for the handle of the dagger by Brant Cochran (shown inset in the process of assembling the takedown piece) is 3,300 years old. The 10.5-inch blade is W2 tool steel with a double hamon. Overall length: 17.5 inches. His list price to make a similar knife: $800. (SharpByCoop knife image)
The dagger was the first time he had made a knife with a cross guard, a pommel, takedown construction and a bog oak handle. He initially had planned on making the handle from ironwood. Then, after some African blackwood got “screwed up,” Cochran turned to a piece of bog oak.
“I’d never used it before,” he stated. “I was already doing all these new things—why not try a new material as well? That was part of it. But I was interested in bog wood because it has a historical element to it. It had spent 3,300-plus years sitting in a bog.”
His impressions? The bog oak worked a heck of a lot better than ironwood.
Furthermore, it was almost the perfect carving wood. He created a subtle ridge running down the length of the handle. The wood wasn’t soft enough for the subtle feature to get “completely washed out,” nor was it hard enough that it required extra effort to eliminate the sharp edges. The dagger of “firsts” became a springboard to future projects.
“I would work really hard on one piece as I was trying to build up my skills,” Cochran said. “Then I would bring it to master smiths I knew and respected to get it critiqued. A picture is not going to show you every little detail you need to figure out how to make a quality knife.
“Your edge might have good retention but if your handle’s too thick or just very uncomfortable, you might not pick that up. And, by speaking to the master smiths and having them show you what those details are, you can then train your own eye to do it as you move forward.”
Perfect Complement
For Anders Högström, bog oak is a relic from an ancient time and a perfect complement for his Valdez ceremonial dagger.
A full-time knifemaker who lives in southern Sweden, Högström is also a hobby chef when he’s not crafting knives. One vein of his work is to build knives of cultures that are combined or are long-ancient ones that persisted for years.
One-thousand-year-old bog oak and ancient walrus ivory comprise the handle of the Valdez ceremonial dagger by Anders Högström (inset). The 3-inch blade is 1050 carbon steel with hamon. The custom leather sheath is by Balatoni. Högström’s price for a similar knife and sheath: $2,500. (SharpByCoop knife image)
According to Högström, “My main direction of design is that of a marriage between the Nordic and Japanese.”
He uses a lot of one-off casting and hamons. For his short-bladed ceremonial knife, he went with a model he imagined could have been used by an ancient American Indian culture, such as the Inca or Maya.
“The ceremonials I make are a sort of homage to what would have been used by a high priest, shaman or someone of similar standing at a ceremony of importance,” he explained.
Högström indicated bog oak pairs well with other materials. For the Valdez, he “married” the 1,200-year-old material with ancient walrus ivory left raw in the handle butt to provide texture. The bog oak, he said, carried a “meaningful weight”—almost as if the material were an artifact of an older time.
Anders Högström used bog oak for the stand for his cutlass. As he noted, “The stand is made from an old piece of bog oak that was likely a beam from a ship—the ax marks are intact and are all on the top surface—and it comes from the area where I live, named Blekinge here in the south of Sweden, that has been in the ship building business for centuries.” (image courtesy of Anders Högström)
“Something ancient that has been left to decay—but, as nature would have it, something happened in the process, and the original material got to evolve into something else—much like the fossil walrus ivory in the handle that was colored by minerals in the ground and because of the thousands of years it stayed there,” he mused.
Högström pointed out that some pieces of bog oak must be stabilized because they might be soft and the pores of the wood must be filled.
It depends on the project. However, for his ceremonial dagger, he said the unstabilized wood was “easy to work and medium soft.” He chose a fine-steel-wool finish to get into the wood’s grain, thus bringing out the most character. This was followed by a couple of coats of wax to protect the surface.
When customers learn of the bog oak’s history and the stories it evokes, Högström said they often react with “both amazement and amusement, as well as a certain reverence.”
An object of art or music should give you a sense of life, an idea what it’s like to be in the artist’s shoes.
Technical control.
An endless flow of ideas.
J.D. Smith: Dancing in the Shop
J.D. Smith and I were neighbors for three years and, as it was a short walk, would frequently wander down to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) together, sometimes for class, sometimes just to work.
Boston’s a very diverse city, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to stop and start speaking Russian or Spanish with various friends along the way before getting to class and beginning to speak Korean with a student.
Neither was it unusual for J.D. to dance around the shop, especially while making damascus. Dance, music, sculpture: They all have a flow to them, and some people simply love to incorporate and live with all three. J.D. dances through the music, the work, and the awards. I was with him at the 2013 Oregon Knife Show when I watched him win four awards, and his study at home was littered with many more.
Two of the pieces were collaborations: one a hunting knife with now American Bladesmith Society master smith (MS) and past apprentice Zack Jonas, the second a precious metal and stone-laden sword crafted with the talented Joseph Shnayder, J.D.’s partner at AmeRRuss Blade Arts.
J.D. received the MS stamp in 1998, along the way winning the B.R. Hughes Award for the best knife submitted by an MS applicant at the BLADE Show. This made J.D. the first black MS, though he tries not to dwell on this because he feels it detracts from the bladesmithing.
“The field should be blind to age, sex, and race,” he noted. “The focus should be on the work.”
Developing A Style
In 1991, J.D. walked into Joe Wood’s office, who at the time was head of the MassArt sculpture department. J.D. told Joe that the school’s officials couldn’t say they were teaching the most up-to-date metals program without teaching damascus. Joe agreed and offered J.D. a guest teaching position. In 1996, George Greenimire offered J.D. a regular class to teach.
As a teacher, J.D. would encourage students to do what he thought they were naturally inclined to do without controlling their sense of design, or discouraging them from pushing their limits. The goal isn’t to replicate other people’s work, but, if you can understand what you’re attracted to, you will have an easier time designing your own work and, hopefully, developing your own style.
Another collaboration with Joseph Shnayder, this arresting art knife features a 6-inch blade of J.D.’s explosion damascus in 1084 carbon and 15N20 nickel-alloy steels. The handle is carved African blackwood, highly detailed silver work and gemstone settings. The quillons are carved in the shape of claws. Overall length: 12 inches. (SharpByCoop image)
“If there’s a table with 500 different knives on it,” he observed, “someone should be able to pick out your work with ease.”
When I asked him how he started to develop his style, he mentioned it being “cobbled together from Don Fogg, Wayne Goddard, Jimmy Fikes, and Wayne Valachovic—Valachovic especially for folders—Bill McHenry and Jim Schmidt.”
Bill and J.D. had become good friends over the years, and J.D. credits much of his knowledge of folders to him. Bill passed away in 2019 and is greatly missed by many inside and outside the knifemaking community.
Knifemaking: ABS Master Smith J.D. Smith’s 4 Principles of Superior Art
Over the years, J.D. has developed his Four Principles of Superior Art:
A personal approach and style.
An object of art or music should give you a sense of life, an idea what it’s like to be in the artist’s shoes.
Technical control.
An endless flow of ideas.
The author collaborated with J.D. on this stylish fixed blade in damascus, a carved handle, and stunning wooden sheath. (SharpByCoop image)
Further explaining his sense of style, he said, “Style is every technique that you use as part of your personal toolbox, and the things you choose not to use. That equals your style. As an artist progresses, he starts to limit his options. It shows a level of maturity. You use four or five techniques, and you develop your style off the permeation of those techniques.”
The best sharpening angle depends on the use of the knife, the thickness of the blade, the type of blade steel, the sharpening materials used and more.
What is the Best Sharpening Angle?
What determines the best sharpening angle? The answer is one that plagues knife neophytes and old hands alike.
“The best angle of sharpening is one of those very intriguing topics that many have explored but most have come up with different answers,” states Jake Broce, online marketing coordinator for A.G. Russell Knives.
Agrees Kyle Crawford, brand manager for Work Sharp, “The answer is often different for everyone.”
He says the two keys are knife type/use and edge retention/maintenance. In fact, all of our story sources cited the intended use of the knife as a deciding factor. For tough chores such as chopping or batonning, a wider angle is best.
“Generally, the wider the angle of edge, the more steel is behind it, which increases the edge’s toughness,” Broce observes.
“For kitchen knives that see light duty cutting food on cutting boards, or a task-specific hunting knife like a camping knife, a low angle is ideal,” counters Crawford.
By “low” he means an edge angle between 15 and 20 degrees.
Knives come with a standard edge from the factory, around 22 degrees inclusive. The edge is sharp and durable, and a good middle-of-the-road angle that is a good balance between durability and cutting ease. The Work Sharp Ken Onion Elite sharpener is set here to sharpen at 22 degrees. (Marty Stanfield Photography)
Edge angle also affects edge retention.
“If you sharpen your heavy-use EDC knife to a low angle such as 15 degrees, it will be incredibly sharp,” Crawford says, “but the trade-off you are making is edge retention and durability.”
Conversely, he adds, if you sharpen at a wider angle, such as 25 degrees, the edge will still be very sharp but you gain improved edge retention and, thus, eliminate the need for more frequent maintenance.
However, Kendra Tobler, marketing communications manager for Benchmade Knife Co., indicates grades of blade steel also factor in as well.
“A harder steel with higher yield strength can be ground to a small included angle with less worry about rolling or deforming the edge,” she says. “Conventionally cast steels with large carbides are better suited to larger included angles.”
Lesser grades of steel such as the 7Cr17MoV stainless of the Gerber Tri-Tip should not be taken down to an acute angle. (Marty Stanfield Photography)
This is done so for edge durability. A prime example of Tobler’s point is Benchmade’s 15017-1 Hidden Canyon Hunter, a compact drop-point fixed blade in premium CPM S90V stainless steel well known for its extreme edge-holding ability.
Benchmade uses its SelectEdge 14-degree included edge on the knife. It is ground thinner because S90V is a high-yield-strength steel that can retain its strength with a thinner edge without deforming or chipping.
With task-specific knives of high-yield-strength steels for hunting/field dressing, you may opt for a more acute edge angle, anywhere between 15 and 20 degrees. (Marty Stanfield Photography)
Blade thickness is a factor as well.
“Thin blades are much easier to sharpen to low edge angles than thick knives,” Crawford states. “The thicker the blade, the more material you will have to remove to create a low edge angle.”
And it usually takes time to thin down a thick blade.
As he warns, “If you choose to sharpen a low edge angle onto a thick blade, be prepared to be patient.”
Blade thickness is a factor as well. “Thin blades are much easier to sharpen to low edge angles than thick knives,” Crawford states. “The thicker the blade, the more material you will have to remove to create a low edge angle.” (Marty Stanfield Photography)
Establishing Angles
How should you go about establishing the edge angle when you sharpen? A safe bet is to invest in a sharpener that sets and maintains the edge angle for you—all you have to do is set the sharpener to the desired angle.
“Angle guides are tried and true and solve one of the biggest sharpening challenges—establish the angle and be consistent,” Crawford says.
Cautions Broce, “The first time you use [a guide kit] on your knife will usually take the longest, as your edge angle adjusts to the way you use the sharpener.”
The angle guide kits subtract the science of maintaining a consistent angle, so all you need do is concentrate on getting the edge sharp. The kits have been a game changer for consumers who struggle with freehand sharpening on a bench stone.
A good tip is the black marker trick. Using a permanent black marker with a wider chisel tip, color the edge bevel on both sides of the blade. The goal is to sharpen the blade—here on the Gerber Tri-Tip—removing the black marker ink from both sides. (Marty Stanfield Photography)
Another good tip, regardless of which sharpener you use, is the tried-and-true black marker trick. Using a permanent black marker with a wider chisel tip, color the edge bevel on both sides of the blade. The goal is to sharpen the blade, removing the black marker ink from both sides. When you accomplish this, your edge angle is correct and you should have a sharp blade.
“The goal is to remove all of the ink in one swipe,” Crawford says. “If you are removing the marker at the cutting edge, your edge angle is too high and you are micro-beveling.”
From there adjust your edge angle to a lower degree and take a few more passes to see how the ink is being removed.
“It is a process of trial and error,” Crawford notes.
Tobler is another proponent of the marker method. “It helps for matching the edge angle already on the blade when resharpening,” she observes.
According to Jason Broce of A.G. Russell Knives, “The blade grind determines how much steel is behind the edge. More steel behind the edge improves edge stability, whereas less material behind the edge can improve the pass-through.” (Marty Stanfield Photography)
You can use the method in conjunction with one of the guide kits even if the kit holds the angle constant for you. The method enables you to see how much more you must sharpen off in order for the edge bevel to be reestablished.
In this regard, you’re using it to determine how much more you have to go as opposed to if you’re holding the angle correctly.
Another tip is sharpen in a well-lighted area. Good visibility is very important and key to doing a thorough, well-executed sharpening job. And if you use the marker method a lot, abundant lighting helps you see clearer without eye strain.
Finally is sharpener selection. You can use any quality sharpener as long as it fits the steel type. The key here is to select a sharpener you feel very comfortable in using.
Another tip is sharpen in a well-lighted area. Good visibility is very important and key to doing a thorough, well-executed sharpening job. And if you use the marker method a lot, abundant lighting helps you see clearer without eye strain. (Marty Stanfield Photography)
Knife Sharpening Safety
Sharpening can be dangerous, so be sure you are in the right frame of mind when you do it—not mentally or physically tired, nor pre-occupied. Focus on sharpening with little to no distractions.
Not only is your own personal safety at stake, but the more focused you are, the better job you can do. This is especially true if you’re learning a new sharpening technique, such as re-establishing edge angles.
Most of all, be safe, have fun and take satisfaction in the knowledge that, once you master establishing edge angles, you have become self-sufficient at sharpening.
Focus on sharpening with little to no distractions. Not only is your own personal safety at stake, but the more focused you are, the better job you can do. (Marty Stanfield Photography)
