-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Assymetrical Grind?
- Thread starter jimbowie7
- Start date
I'm not sure I understand what your are talking about or not, but it sounds like this is the way Japanese kitchen knives are usually sharpened. It's easy to do -- spend longer sharpening one side than the other.
The extreme example would be called a single bevel knife. Only one bevel is really sharpened, though the other side is touched just a little. The result, in this case at least, is the cutting edge is much closer to the object being cut.
This little ascii diagram might help:
Double bevel: \/
Single bevel: |/
As you push/slice the blade into some material, the following happens:
Double bevel: |\ \/ /|
Single bevel: || |/ /|
If you are chopping a tree branch in half, I can't see how this would help, but it makes a difference shaving off extremely fine slices of something (like vegetables or fish), because one side of the cut -- the side next to the bevel -- is falling away. Hopefully that makes sense.
Another way to illustrate the difference is to think of what a double bevel chisel would be like trying to shave a thin slice of wood. The blade would be going into the wood at a much deeper angle, and it would be extremely difficult (impossible?) to get as thin a slice as with a single bevel chisel.
I don't think knives sharpened this way are "sharper," but they can be used in a way that makes them appear to be so.
Double bevel Japanese knives are typically also sharpened assymetrically, though I don't know the reasoning behind that. I assume it offers a compromise between the benefits of single bevel and the benefits of double bevel.
The extreme example would be called a single bevel knife. Only one bevel is really sharpened, though the other side is touched just a little. The result, in this case at least, is the cutting edge is much closer to the object being cut.
This little ascii diagram might help:
Double bevel: \/
Single bevel: |/
As you push/slice the blade into some material, the following happens:
Double bevel: |\ \/ /|
Single bevel: || |/ /|
If you are chopping a tree branch in half, I can't see how this would help, but it makes a difference shaving off extremely fine slices of something (like vegetables or fish), because one side of the cut -- the side next to the bevel -- is falling away. Hopefully that makes sense.
Another way to illustrate the difference is to think of what a double bevel chisel would be like trying to shave a thin slice of wood. The blade would be going into the wood at a much deeper angle, and it would be extremely difficult (impossible?) to get as thin a slice as with a single bevel chisel.
I don't think knives sharpened this way are "sharper," but they can be used in a way that makes them appear to be so.
Double bevel Japanese knives are typically also sharpened assymetrically, though I don't know the reasoning behind that. I assume it offers a compromise between the benefits of single bevel and the benefits of double bevel.
I looked it up, it's kinda like this:
http://www.classicgunsandknives.com/knifeinfo.asp?ItemID=101482
Does this cut any better?
http://www.classicgunsandknives.com/knifeinfo.asp?ItemID=101482
Does this cut any better?
I can't tell from the picture what they mean by an asymetrical bevel. I assume, though, that they ground one bevel more acutely than the other, which is what I talked about in my above post.
I found a webpage that explains with diagrams the difference between cutting with a single bevel and a double bevel: http://watanabeblade.com/english/special/hunt.htm.
This can apply to any asymetrical edge. If one bevel is more acutely ground than the other, slicing along that bevel allows you to have a smaller angle between the force of the edge and the material. So it looks as if that knife you linked quite possible makes it easier to slice thin slices when cutting along the more acutely ground bevel, assuming what they meant by asymetrical bevel is that there is a more acutely ground bevel.
It also depends what you mean by "cut better." I wouldn't use a single or asymetrical bevel axe, for example. It would serve no purpose, and would probably make it awkward to use. Furthermore, I don't see that a single/asymetrical bevel is going to allow you to get the edge sharper (although if you don't use angle guides, it is easier to follow the bevels, because it is HUGE, so it might be easier to sharpen in this case). But there are cases where a single/asymetrical bevel would "cut better," yes.
I found a webpage that explains with diagrams the difference between cutting with a single bevel and a double bevel: http://watanabeblade.com/english/special/hunt.htm.
This can apply to any asymetrical edge. If one bevel is more acutely ground than the other, slicing along that bevel allows you to have a smaller angle between the force of the edge and the material. So it looks as if that knife you linked quite possible makes it easier to slice thin slices when cutting along the more acutely ground bevel, assuming what they meant by asymetrical bevel is that there is a more acutely ground bevel.
It also depends what you mean by "cut better." I wouldn't use a single or asymetrical bevel axe, for example. It would serve no purpose, and would probably make it awkward to use. Furthermore, I don't see that a single/asymetrical bevel is going to allow you to get the edge sharper (although if you don't use angle guides, it is easier to follow the bevels, because it is HUGE, so it might be easier to sharpen in this case). But there are cases where a single/asymetrical bevel would "cut better," yes.
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 38,370
Asymmetrical bevel is a partial chisel grind.The bevels aren't the same on each side.I believe this was created by a bad grinder and a good PR man.Seriously,The only advantage is getting a thinner edge (smaller blade angle) without having to try to match up the grinds.The other thing is that you can still slice both ways (a bit better one way than the other).A Japanese grind (chisel grind) is one sided and has to be accounted for in the cut.Thus ,I occasionally make a left handed sushi knife or deba.