hollow ground knives

[WolfY]

Why ignore as it is so easy to compensate for it. Just remember if you measure 20 dgrs on the WM-200 it means that the "real" angle is 18.5 if taper is 1.5° (not included).

Two reasons. A difference in angles of only 1.5° is about equal to the limit of precision you can get with the Angle Master. And a difference that small won't have any effect on the performance of the knife.

Why not ignore? Cause it's as easy to set at 18.5 as at 20 and being as close to the desired angle asked. With the in accuracy of all parts it's best to stick to the optimum. 

[Jan]

Herman,
Thanks for your support, appreciated. 

Wolfy,
let me recollect the background of my note. The knowledge how to correct the angle setting for a tapered blade is still not common skill of knife sharpeners. You can ask your customers. Therefore to avoid a mistake in angle setting I suggested to ignore the blade tapering when the angle of the blade is small.

Accuracy should be the very principle of sharpener's life, but as mentioned by Herman, real life is often about conscious compromise. Important is to be aware of the pitfalls.

For experienced sharpeners it is of course recommendable to compensate for the blade tapering even if it is  small.

My older Solingen boning knife has the angle of the blade some 6° and in this case it is necessary to compensate for it because otherwise instead of the intended edge angle of 35° I would get 35° + 6° = 41° and it is of course a not acceptable bias. 

Jan