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I am planting some apples tries as cordons against a fence.
The various books recommend planting the trees at 45 degree angle.
Does it have to be 45 degrees or will a different angle still work. I was thinking of positioning them in such a way that the angle works out at 65-degrees.
Any feedback would be welcome.

It's got something to do with the rate of growth of the tree

The closer to vertical - the faster the growth

We espalier our apple trees, and for the first year after planting the two side 'arms' are tied to 45 degree canes which channels the fast growth slightly
At the end of the year, whilst the branches are still springy and bendable, they are tied to horizontal canes which slows any further growth down to a manageable crawl

Also, at 45 degrees you can grow the cordon 'longer' than at 65 degrees (to an ultimate top height of say 6 foot) - longer cordon = more fruit

45 is the norm but you don't need a protactor...  :)

Also, you can start them off at a less acute angle then lower them as they grow......

Thanks for the advise. From this I take it is better to angle the trees as close to 45 degrees if possible.

Thanks

Thomas, like saddad says, it's not critical.  Like dadnlad says, at 45 degrees you get 40% more tree for your vertical height, and at 65 degrees it's just 10% more, but if there's some other design constraint that needs a 65 degree cordon then the tree will still be happy.

You can grow them at angle you want. Putting them at an angle ,as someone has said, is just so you fit more length of tree in before it hits the top of your support. Though if you wanted you could have a very high support and use stepladders to pick the fruit. I have seen some people who grew them up vertically and then over an arch with other trees coming over from the other side.
I am growing double cordons. i started by cutting off the maiden at the height I wanted and then taking two opposite shoots out at 45 degrees and then lowering them to horizontal. I did not lead them straight out at horizontal because there was a risk the soft shoots would snap off if it was too sudden. Eventually each of those horizontal shoots was coaxed to go vertical. Am hoping to get the first crop next summer from the 6 trees.
Using similar techniques you can grow them as fan trained trees where you have multiple shoots all trained out at different angles. You can also have them as completely horizontal ie. stepover trees.
So it is any angle to suit the purpose you have in mind.

different angles also help to control vigour, and productivety. usually, the greater lean, the less vigour

A branch growing at a low angle will often produce fruit rather than growth. One of my apples has a branch which was bent over by the weight of fruit when it was small. It has far more on it every year than the rest of the tree.

The trick might be after blossoming untie the cordons to let the fruit drag down the branches then re tie them at a lower level.

I hope that I am making sense by saying that,  I can draw what I mean but it is hard to word it.

branches on standard  trees can drop a good few feet when they are full of fruit then over winter they go back up again.  But if you retie the cordens as soon as you harvest you can adjust their height that way.

The tree will look a bit hunched but does that matter?

They used to tie the branches down sometimes to increase the crop. It doesn't matter at all unless you have to walk underneath.