How To Find Your Angle and Sweet Spot

Finding your blade's angle and sweet spot can be the difficult part of sharpening a blade for the first time, but luckily we have some tips and tricks to make it easier for you!

The angle of the blade is what degree your bevels are currently set at. Most pocket knives will sit around the 20-degree range, while kitchen knives can range from sub-10 degrees for Japanese blades up to 25+ for cleavers. It's important that you find the factory angle so you can determine the best course of action for sharpening your blade. The sweet spot is simply where in the vise you clamp your blade and how far forward or backward it wants to be.

You can also check out this video to watch a more detailed explanation of how to find your angle and sweet spot:

First, we'll go over some knife terminology:

A visual guide to knife blade anatomy covering the shoulder, bevel, edge, tip and heel

Tip: This is the pointed part at the end of the blade
Edge: This is the part of the blade that cuts
Bevel: This is the section of the blade that your stones interact with to form the edge
Heel: The section of the blade closest to the handle
Shoulder: This is where the body of the blade starts to transition into the bevel

To begin this process, you'll take a Sharpie, place it down directly on the edge of the blade, and run it down the length of the blade so both bevels are colored in.

using a marker to color in the knife bevel to aid in visualizing the knife's angles

Next, you'll take your highest grit Diamond Stone and lay it against the knife, adjusting the angle until the stone appears to lay flat against the bevel of the blade. Increase your angle by 2 degrees. It's always better to start at a slightly wider angle than you need to prevent scratching the body of your blade. Do several passes with your stone on one side of the blade to see where the marker is being removed. We are only looking to find the angle at the moment, not the sweet spot. You'll find that you will most likely bounce back and forth between finding these during this process, but the first order of business is the angle. When finding the angle, simply focus on just the section of the blade that sits directly above the vise itself.

If you're seeing the marker only being removed at the edge of the bevel, but not lower on the shoulder, it means your angle is too wide and you need to lower it. Do this in 1-2 degree increments to prevent scratching the body of your blade.

the marker is only removed from the edge showing that the sharpener's angle needs to be decreased

If you see the marker only being removed at the shoulder, but not the edge, your angle is too narrow and you need to increase it. Again, do this in 1-2 degree increments to ensure you get the correct angle.

marker is only removed on the shoulder of the bevel showing that the sharpener angle needs to be increased

Repeat this process on the other side of the blade. Once you found the angle and have removed all the marker from the section above the top of the vise, you can move on to finding the sweet spot. To find the sweet spot, you'll want to look at how the marker is being removed along the entire length of the blade, not just a single section. When thinking about how to move your blade when finding the sweet spot, you'll want to think about moving the knife toward where the stone is hitting the edge. If the marker remains on a section of the edge, it means the stone cannot reach it and you have to bring the knife to where the stone can reach.

If you're finding that you're removing all the marker from the blade except for on the shoulder at the tip of the blade, that means your knife is clamped too far back and you need to move your knife forward in the vise.

marker is only removed from the edge at the blade belly and tip showing that the knife needs to be moved forward in the sharpener

If you see that the marker is remaining at the edge at the very tip, your knife is too far forward.

marker is only removed at the shoulder of the belly and tip showing that the knife needs to be moved backwards in the sharpener

For most knives, the first time you sharpen them you'll have to move them several times and adjust the angle as you move the blade until the majority of the marker is removed. Very rarely is the angle consistent along the length of the blade and even more rare will you find that you remove all the marker from the edge on a new knife, even if you have found the correct angle and sweet spot. The trick is to find the positioning and angle where the most marker is being removed. Once you find that, you can use a coarser grit to reprofile and even everything out.

Something else to note is that you will most likely find that the angles are different from one side to the other. Again, this is is normal and you have a few options if this happens.

You can leave the angles where they are. This is the best option if you've used the knife before and like how it cuts and/or want to preserve as much metal on your blade as possible, extending its life.
You can meet in the middle and reprofile both sides. For example, if one side is 18 and the other is 22, set both sides to 20 degrees and use a coarse stone to reprofile. If the angle difference from one side to the other is larger than 5 degrees, you may want to just keep the factory angles as this amount of reprofiling takes significant work and will remove a lot of metal.
The last option, which we don't recommend but is doable, is to simply pick the angle you want your blade to be at and reprofile it to that angle. For instance, if your knife is around 20 degrees on each side but want a more acute angle, you can set your sharpener to a lower angle and reprofile the edge to that angle. This option can take a significant amount of time, remove a lot of metal, and possible lead to less than stellar results. If you decide to go this route, it's imperative that you make sure you're taking the knife's usage and steel hardness into consideration to ensure your blade will still perform the way you want it to.

Things to remember:

All Wicked Edge systems are calibrate for the edge of the knife to sit 5/8" above the top of the vise. If your knife sits higher or lower than this, the degree markings on your system will be off. If your sharpening a cleaver, your angles will be lower than the system is reading. If you're sharpening a smaller blade, the angles will be higher.
Softer metals are often more flexible, but less durable meaning they will require a wider angle to keep the edge. Save very low angles for blade steels that are hard and can hold that edge.
It's common for a factory edge to have two different angels per side and that angle to change along the length of the blade. Find the position and angle where the majority of the marker is removed and reprofile as needed from there.
Some knives need to be tilted in the vise to ensure the stone follows the entire bevel evenly.

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So far so good let you know

Will let you know on my next hunt if it can keep it sharp in the field It looks good so far

Great help for my kitchen knives

Nice sharpener but I am skeptical about the life of the grit on the stones. I've about 10 knives so far with light passes and the stone already seems to wearing slick, even after a good cleaning with soap and water. The 800 grit works better to put on an edge at this point.

we need more free shipping give me a break

we need more free shipping ,your killing me with the shipping charges
your products are good ,and expensive enough so give us guys that are just trying to keep our knives sharp a break !
sometimes it takes you awhile to get an order right like with the race package i ordered but i understand sometimes **** happens and you made it right ... with no shipping thank you

Works good on one knife but not so good on

Works good on one knife but not so good on others

Hi Derek,

Thank you for your review. I'm sorry to hear that only one of your knives was getting sharp. Can you share the make/models of the other knives? Also, here is a tip to help with a common issue that people find when using the sharpener for the first time:

Troubleshooting Your Venture Sharpener: Reaching the Edge
Having trouble getting your knife razor-sharp with your new Venture Sharpener? Don't worry—this is a common experience when you are first learning to sharpen.
Whether your knife is incredibly dull or was manufactured with a wider angle, the core issue is exactly the same: your sharpening stones are not reaching the actual cutting edge.
The knife is very dull: When a knife is dull, the very tip of the blade is rounded off. You need to remove a little more metal from the angled sides of the blade (called the bevels) until they finally meet at a fine, sharp point (called the apex).
The knife's factory angle is wider than 20°: Your Venture Sharpener is set to sharpen at a 20° angle. If your knife was manufactured with a wider angle, your sharpening stones are only rubbing against the top portion of the bevel (the 'shoulder') and completely missing the actual cutting edge.
The Marker Test: How to diagnose the issue
Fortunately, the way to figure out exactly what is happening is the same for both issues. We call it 'The Marker Test.' Here is how to do it:
Color the entire angled edge of your blade (the bevel) on both sides using a dark permanent marker.
Make a few normal sharpening strokes on each side of the knife using your Venture Sharpener.
Look closely at the blade to see where the marker was rubbed off.
Understanding your results: If the marker is completely gone, you are hitting the edge perfectly! However, if you still see marker remaining right at the very edge of the blade, your stones aren't reaching the apex yet, which means the knife won't be sharp.
Pro-Tips for the Marker Test:
Grab a magnifying glass or use your phone's camera zoom! It makes it much easier to see if there is a tiny line of marker left at the edge.
You might find that the marker is fully removed on one side of the blade, but not the other. This is completely normal; just focus on the side with the remaining marker until it is gone.

Three ways to fix the issue and get your knife sharp
If your marker test showed that the stones aren't reaching the very edge of your blade, you have three options to fix it:
1. Keep Sharpening (The Patient Route) You don't necessarily need new equipment. You can simply continue sharpening with your current diamond stone until enough metal is removed and all the marker is gone from the edge. It just takes a little extra time and patience!
2. Speed up the process with a coarser stone If you want to save time, using a rougher (coarser) stone will remove metal much faster. We recommend our Dual-Sided 100/200 Grit Diamond Stones to speed up the early stages of sharpening.
3. Adjust to a wider angle If your knife has a naturally wider angle, you can adjust your sharpener to match it. This allows the stones to reach the edge immediately. We offer a 25° Precision Knife Guide specifically designed for Venture Series sharpeners to handle these wider-angled blades.
The Good News: It's a One-Time Fix
Getting your bevels perfectly shaped so that they meet at the apex takes a bit of effort the first time you sharpen a knife. However, this is a one-time activity.
Once you have formed that perfect edge with your Venture Sharpener, future maintenance is incredibly easy. The next time your knife gets dull, your stones will already match the bevels you created, meaning it will only take a few quick passes to bring the blade right back to a razor-sharp finish.

If you are running into some other issue, please let us know and we'll work to help you get the results you're looking for.

Excellent field sharpener

Excellent field sharpener. Very lightweight and easy to maintain a great edge with. I can’t wait for the thumbscrew friendly guides!

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Finding Your Angle - Angle Guided Sharpeners

How To Find Your Angle and Sweet Spot

First, we'll go over some knife terminology:

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