Question: What is a microbevel?
A: Most knife edges terminate in a simple V shape. A Microbevel is a tiny, barely visible "bevel" that is more obtuse than the V, and applied to the very, very edge.
Question: Why use a microbevel?
A: There are many reasons.
1. They significantly reduce the time it takes to sharpen a knife
2. They strengthen the edge while having negligible effects on cutting ability
3. They let you grind the edge bevel at a much more acute angle, while maintaining enough edge integrity to not damage the knife when using it, which can dramatically increase how well a knife can cut
Elaboration
Point #1
Typically when a person goes to sharpen a knife, they try to match the edge bevel angle to the stone they are using, and grind at the entire bevel. When using microbevels, at most you will only be grinding at the last .1mm of steel, the very edge itself. If you consider that many knives have edge bevels that are 1/8 inch thick, or even larger, it is obvious to anyone with elementary mathematical reasoning that microbevels grant you significantly shorter sharpening sessions. When you cut with a knife, there is only one part that gets dull. Not the edge bevel, just the very edge. There is no need to sharpen the entire bevel, because that 1/8 inch wide bevel did not all go dull, and it will not all get sharp after you sharpen. Only the very edge, so why not sharpen just the part that needs sharpening and quit wasting time?
Point #2
Typically when a knife edge is damaged, it is not catastrophic damage that renders the knife useless. It is generally edge deformation, which can be further divided into chipping, rolling, or dulling from abrasion. If you have a knife with a very thin edge, sometimes normal use can cause the edge to damage. The edge damage typically only occurs in the very edge, it is extremely rare to see an edge damaged as deep as the entire edge bevel, or even half of it, unless severe chipping occurs. For example, today I used a knife with an edge ground at 8 degrees per side to baton some frozen wood for a fire. This is fairly rough use, and a pretty thin edge, but the steel was tough so the only damage was some very light flattening or parts of the edge. It was still sharp and usable, but not as sharp as when I left the house earlier in the day. If I use a 15 degree per side microbevel on the knife, I can repeat what I did today in otherwise similar conditions and complete the work without any edge damage.
Point #3
Tying into point #2, microbevels let you use a thinner edge than you would otherwise be able to use without sacrificing edge stability.
Knives are extremely simple tools. Their job is to separate one piece of matter into two. Anyone with common sense can tell you, that to separate one thing into two things using physical force, the thinnest edge will do the best. However, if you go too thin with your edge, it could sustain damage from the cutting.
This is the beauty of microbevels.
Let's say you have a folder than you normally sharpen at 20 degrees per side. You use it for day to day things, like cutting cardboard, opening packages, carving a hot dog stick and slicing rope. Let's say you have two of these knives, the second is a beat-up one that you use for experimenting with different sharpening techniques. You tried sharpening it to 15 degrees per side and found that while it cut better, when you carved hardwood sometimes the edge would roll a bit and dull quicker than it would with a thick edge. Out of curiosity, you ground it down to 10 degrees per side. Now the knife cut extremely well, much better than at 20 degrees per side, but it would chip out at the edge when cutting hardwood.
Then you came here, and read about microbevels, and got a crazy idea in your head. That 10 degree per side edge cuts so well that you never want to go back to the 20 degree per side edge that cuts like an axe, not a knife. But you don't want edge damage. Well, you know 20 degrees per side is a stable range for your knife edge to be ground at.
So you take the knife you have ground at 10 degrees per side, and give it a microbevel of 20 degrees per side. Now you have a knife that slices better than anything else you own, and does not receive edge damage either. You have just achieved the best edge geometry you can, based on your observations.*
If you look closely at this knife, you will see light reflecting off the very edge (especially towards the tip). That's the microbevel. The edge bevel is the entire saber grind down to the microbevel. That's a very, very acute edge, and without the microbevel the edge was not stable during certain rough cutting chores. After adding the microbevel, the knife edge could carve hardwood, be used to split wood with a baton, cut various cables like CAT5 and slice extra thick cardboard. The edge would not receive any damage in this configuartion, despite the extremely thin edge bevel behind the microbevel. During certain cutting chores, the knife cut up to 3 or 4 times better than it did with the original factory edge configuration.
*The angles mentioned in my story are thicker than what I use / recommend.
A: Most knife edges terminate in a simple V shape. A Microbevel is a tiny, barely visible "bevel" that is more obtuse than the V, and applied to the very, very edge.
Question: Why use a microbevel?
A: There are many reasons.
1. They significantly reduce the time it takes to sharpen a knife
2. They strengthen the edge while having negligible effects on cutting ability
3. They let you grind the edge bevel at a much more acute angle, while maintaining enough edge integrity to not damage the knife when using it, which can dramatically increase how well a knife can cut
Elaboration
Point #1
Typically when a person goes to sharpen a knife, they try to match the edge bevel angle to the stone they are using, and grind at the entire bevel. When using microbevels, at most you will only be grinding at the last .1mm of steel, the very edge itself. If you consider that many knives have edge bevels that are 1/8 inch thick, or even larger, it is obvious to anyone with elementary mathematical reasoning that microbevels grant you significantly shorter sharpening sessions. When you cut with a knife, there is only one part that gets dull. Not the edge bevel, just the very edge. There is no need to sharpen the entire bevel, because that 1/8 inch wide bevel did not all go dull, and it will not all get sharp after you sharpen. Only the very edge, so why not sharpen just the part that needs sharpening and quit wasting time?
Point #2
Typically when a knife edge is damaged, it is not catastrophic damage that renders the knife useless. It is generally edge deformation, which can be further divided into chipping, rolling, or dulling from abrasion. If you have a knife with a very thin edge, sometimes normal use can cause the edge to damage. The edge damage typically only occurs in the very edge, it is extremely rare to see an edge damaged as deep as the entire edge bevel, or even half of it, unless severe chipping occurs. For example, today I used a knife with an edge ground at 8 degrees per side to baton some frozen wood for a fire. This is fairly rough use, and a pretty thin edge, but the steel was tough so the only damage was some very light flattening or parts of the edge. It was still sharp and usable, but not as sharp as when I left the house earlier in the day. If I use a 15 degree per side microbevel on the knife, I can repeat what I did today in otherwise similar conditions and complete the work without any edge damage.
Point #3
Tying into point #2, microbevels let you use a thinner edge than you would otherwise be able to use without sacrificing edge stability.
Knives are extremely simple tools. Their job is to separate one piece of matter into two. Anyone with common sense can tell you, that to separate one thing into two things using physical force, the thinnest edge will do the best. However, if you go too thin with your edge, it could sustain damage from the cutting.
This is the beauty of microbevels.
Let's say you have a folder than you normally sharpen at 20 degrees per side. You use it for day to day things, like cutting cardboard, opening packages, carving a hot dog stick and slicing rope. Let's say you have two of these knives, the second is a beat-up one that you use for experimenting with different sharpening techniques. You tried sharpening it to 15 degrees per side and found that while it cut better, when you carved hardwood sometimes the edge would roll a bit and dull quicker than it would with a thick edge. Out of curiosity, you ground it down to 10 degrees per side. Now the knife cut extremely well, much better than at 20 degrees per side, but it would chip out at the edge when cutting hardwood.
Then you came here, and read about microbevels, and got a crazy idea in your head. That 10 degree per side edge cuts so well that you never want to go back to the 20 degree per side edge that cuts like an axe, not a knife. But you don't want edge damage. Well, you know 20 degrees per side is a stable range for your knife edge to be ground at.
So you take the knife you have ground at 10 degrees per side, and give it a microbevel of 20 degrees per side. Now you have a knife that slices better than anything else you own, and does not receive edge damage either. You have just achieved the best edge geometry you can, based on your observations.*
If you look closely at this knife, you will see light reflecting off the very edge (especially towards the tip). That's the microbevel. The edge bevel is the entire saber grind down to the microbevel. That's a very, very acute edge, and without the microbevel the edge was not stable during certain rough cutting chores. After adding the microbevel, the knife edge could carve hardwood, be used to split wood with a baton, cut various cables like CAT5 and slice extra thick cardboard. The edge would not receive any damage in this configuartion, despite the extremely thin edge bevel behind the microbevel. During certain cutting chores, the knife cut up to 3 or 4 times better than it did with the original factory edge configuration.
*The angles mentioned in my story are thicker than what I use / recommend.
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