Chisel edge

[The Government]

Sir? Why do I need to stop calling them Right or Left handed"

When people order a chisel grind from me I ask them if they are right or left handed and make the knife accordingly.

Laurence, I have seen some of your knives on the forum and they look amazing.:thumbup:

Maybe what was said is confusing. I see that I had a few typos, and that never helps.

Please hear me out..

My previous response was concerning broad generalizations about chisel grinds, not how they are referred to within well defined purposes.

To define a particular chisel grind as right handed, there has to be a known reason, otherwise we are making a broad statement that any chisel grind on "the other side" has no value in the right hand. If everything is defined, then by all means call the knife what it is. Please allow me an example...

When you make a kitchen knife for a specific role in the kitchen, and the knife has a chisel grind that is intended to be used with the right hand, then by all means you made a right handed knife. Now, what if someone makes a different knife with an entirely different purpose that is not related to kitchen work at all and it is just as defined in its role as a right handed knife, only in this instance the grind is on the opposite side as the previously mentioned kitchen knife. Both knives are right handed but the chisel grinds are on different sides. So we see it is fair to say a particular chisel grind is right handed when we have defined its intended use, however, to say that ALL right handed knives with chisel grinds should have the grind on the same side is to say that the second knife in my example is void of having a purpose, and I would like to think that is not true.

Now, because there are many knives that are not so defined in their purpose, and some of them have chisel grinds ( let us call them general use knives with chisel grinds), who is to say what side the grind should be on? Is there a wrong side? In my view the deciding factor is always the thing that needs to be cut, and since we are now talking about "general use," there will be some instances where the grind is more useful than others, but before that use is defined we cannot say that the grind is or is not on the side that will be most benificial.

I hope that all makes sense, and I applaud anyone who has made it this far.

Thanks for reading.

 

[mainaman]

japanese have been using them for fine cutlery work for centuries.

They are not chisel grinds in the sense we understand chisel, they are hollow on the back side (Ura) and convex on the front side (Omote).
Even their chisel are hollow ground on the Ura side, and inevitably will convex on the Omote side after some sharpening.

 

[Lycosa]

I like the history and simplicity of the chisel ground knife.
And, this knife will do all I need it to do, cut things. That's all I need to know.
rolf

 

[Rhinoknives1]

I am with FortyTwoBlades on this one 100%. We need to stop calling them "right" or "left" handed as a general blanket statement. There is no "backwards grind."

The side that the grind needs to be on is entirely dependent on what we are cutting, and for either side that the grind is on -there will be a use in either hand.

If you are right handed, you can make full use out of knives with the grinds on either side, and the same rule applies if you are left handed.

The thing that is needs to be cut is the deciding factor.

They are not chisel grinds in the sense we understand chisel, they are hollow on the back side (Ura) and convex on the front side (Omote).
Even their chisel are hollow ground on the Ura side, and inevitably will convex on the Omote side after some sharpening.

What this man has said is 100% correct regarding culinary "Chisel Grinds" Since most here don't speak Japanese Culinary lingo the lay man's term of Chisel Grind, Right or left has been used by myself & others. And I even called the Ura side the flat.
"I don't speak Japanese other than some rudimentary counting and about maybe 10-30 words.
Mostly food!

I have used the Tacicool chisel grind knives and there in a rolling tendency when you put the edge on the viewing or presentation side for a right handed person. If you have some tactical need for the edge to be on this side? Go for it.