# Size of knife bevel



## ColinCB (Jan 20, 2012)

I've been using my Gesshin Ginga gyuto for awhile now and I want to attempt to sharpen it. 

One thing I noticed when I was practicing with my beater knife was that the size of my bevel was much larger than the one on my Ginga. When I look at my Ginga from the size, the bevel is barely noticeable. Is the bevel on my beater just large because I wobbled on the angle during sharpening?

Thanks!


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## JBroida (Jan 20, 2012)

your bevel will be larger for sure when you sharpen it... nothing wrong with that... pick an angle somewhere between 15-20 degrees and just be consistent... that will be a good middle of the road grind... not too thick, not too thin.


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## Eamon Burke (Jan 20, 2012)

The wider bevel is because the angle you put on it is steeper, and therefore cutting through more steel.

This is totally ok--preferable even. Knives typically come ootb with a rather obtuse edge, for many reasons.


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## ColinCB (Jan 20, 2012)

JBroida said:


> your bevel will be larger for sure when you sharpen it... nothing wrong with that... pick an angle somewhere between 15-20 degrees and just be consistent... that will be a good middle of the road grind... not too thick, not too thin.



Ah, thanks!

Do you have a keyword alert or something? Every time I mention Gesshin or Ginga or something along those lines, your head pops into the thread near instantly.




BurkeCutlery said:


> The wider bevel is because the angle you put on it is steeper, and therefore cutting through more steel.
> 
> This is totally ok--preferable even. Knives typically come ootb with a rather obtuse edge, for many reasons.



Gotcha!


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## SpikeC (Jan 20, 2012)

Also, the thicker the knife just about the edge, the wider the primary bevel will be. If your beaters are like most, a wide bevel is inevitable. A well ground blade will have a narrow bevel.


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## Benuser (Jan 20, 2012)

Another approach: the bevel will be larger as the blade has not been thinned enough behind the edge.


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## Andrew H (Jan 20, 2012)

SpikeC said:


> Also, the thicker the knife just about the edge, the wider the primary bevel will be. If your beaters are like most, a wide bevel is inevitable. A well ground blade will have a narrow bevel.





Benuser said:


> Another approach: the bevel will be larger as the blade has not been thinned enough behind the edge.



This is probably the main reason why. The thicker your knife is behind the edge the larger your bevel will be. You can also have a large bevel if you are sharpening at a very acute angle, like Eamon said.


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## zitangy (Jan 24, 2012)

1. as above.

2. some people have the propensity to sharpen at a lower angle. Naturally this is good for primary bevel. IF this is the case, for robustness..consciously raise the angle a tad after doing the primary level and that is your secondary or micro bevel. ON teh other hand, some people naturally have a higher angle and have to consciously lower it. Just be aware of your " natural " angle". ... In brief... know your natural starting angle..

3. IF you are "in touch" with the stones.. you have have a few bevels sort of " pseudo" convex sharpening

have fun...


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