Originally Posted by
Russel Baldridge
The angle isn't a hard and fast number, and 22.5 deg. per side is pretty steep in my book.
Set your hone up so that the edge facing you is on the table, then set some kind of block under the other end, so that it is angled up toward the back. Then make a slicing motion away from you with the blade as close to horizontal as possible, so that the angle is set by the block and not by your eye judging that angle (it's easier to visualize a level surface than an angled one).