Swivel Knife Questions

[KHARNS]

Hello! I am rather new to Leatherworking and was wondering if all swivel knives have multiple "faces" on the edge of the blade. I have sharpened many knives and I know it should have 1 face. Is this normal? If not what degree angle should I put upon it? Also, should it be sharp enough to cut like a normal knife or just enough to "gouge" the leather. Sorry for so many questions on my first post.

KHARNS

[Chief31794]

Kharns,

I'm not an expert on Swivel knives, maybe someone else will pile on, however, I have used and sharpened them for over 45 years so here's my $.02, only one face and the traditional wisdom is that it should be 30 degrees. There are jigs for sharpening swivel knife blades ( a really good one is the Big Red), they are adjustable as to angle however, the Big Red comes with a jig for setting the angle and it is set to 30 degrees. The blade should be very sharp, it should easily "slice" the leather, it should not gouge the leather.

Hope that helps,

Chief

[KHARNS]

Chief,

Thank you so much yes that does help tremendously. I actually just went full site mode (using an IPhone) and found the search feature. I am sure this will help with using the swivel knife. Currently, my cuts look like a kindergartner did it.

KHARNS

[Art]

By "faces" I am assuming you mean facets. There should be two facets or planes that come together to form the edge, a theoretical one dimensional line at the intersection of the planes or facets. Sometimes the facets are not equal to the centerline of the blade as in a chisel. Sometimes these are facets theoretically equal in angle that intersect the centerline. Your blade should have two planes or facets, they will intersect and form an angle that is called the included angle. On a swivel knife blade these facets usually have an included angle of about 55 degrees. This can be accomplished with one bevel on each side of 55/2 or 27.5 degrees on either side. Close, like in horseshoes works here, but they should be equal. Sometimes there is more than one bevel to a side, they are commonly called the primary bevel and the secondary bevel. For example, I have a Robert Beard blade that has an included angle of 55 degrees, two bevels of 27.5 degrees each. I also have a Barry King blade that has an included angle of 55 degrees, but accomplishes it with a 25 degree and a 2.5 degree larger than the 25 degree for you guessed it 27.5 degree bevel on each side. Reason, this leaves more steel behind the edge (this may or may not be necessary depending on the properties of the steel) for strength, but most often so you don't have to polish the big primary bevel, only the secondary.

Art