Chisel Grinds

C

Cait_Sith

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Oct 5, 2010
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Had a question concerning knives with chisel grinds. If the edge was ground on the left side of the blade and one were to cut straight into a material, would it steer to the left or right?
 
Generally you want the chisel ground on the same side as your dominant hand. So for a right-hander, many of the new "tactical" chisel ground knives are ground on the wrong side. They did that because knife photos typically show the left side of the knife, and they wanted the grind to show. So instead of just shooting the other side, they decided to sacrifice the functionality for most users.
 
Tsujigiri said:
Generally you want the chisel ground on the same side as your dominant hand. So for a right-hander, many of the new "tactical" chisel ground knives are ground on the wrong side. They did that because knife photos typically show the left side of the knife, and they wanted the grind to show. So instead of just shooting the other side, they decided to sacrifice the functionality for most users.
Click to expand...
IMHO it's not the only reason. I used to think the same way, but "wrong" side grind will work well for SD in reverse grip. Perfect for mall ninjas :D
 
ah the one of the few joys of being a leftie in a right handed world. chisel grinds are one of my favorites for folders, cant stand them for fixed blades because they dont baton well in my experience
 
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This whole "wrong side theory" makes very little sense to me. The wrong side for what?

For example, for wood carving, the grind is on the perfect side IMHO. (my experience with Emerson chisel edges and chisel bevels)
 
The Government said:
This whole "wrong side theory" makes very little sense to me. The wrong side for what?

For example, for wood carving, the grind is on the perfect side IMHO. (my experience with Emerson chisel edges and chisel bevels)
Click to expand...

I have no experience with a chisel ground knife but thinking about it logically, if you want to hold the side of the knife parallel to what you are carving, that would be easier with the non-angled side of the knife facing the the object you are carving. If you are looking at the non-angled side of the knife you can't see or judge the angle of the angled edge which is facing the object being carved. That is why a right handed chef uses a knife with the bevel on the right hand side of the knife. He doesn't have to look at the backside of the knife to know he is making a straight cut. ????
 
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I am by no means an expert in chisel grinds.
But as far as I know, that type of griind was in the past mostly used by nothern peoples - long before it was "invented" by new knife self-defence guru. New - as opposit to old, who would use their craft and would pretty much go with the knives available at their time, instead of marketing their own "secrets and improvements"
The general idea for the grind at the time was that it was convenient for cutting fish - along its flat side, sort of holding the fish by the tail and moving the knife in general direction from yourself. With that kind of arrangement the only "correct" side for the grind is sort of self-evident.
Why the modern "tactical" chisel-grind knives have the grind on the same side - just beyond me.
On another hand, hardly anybody selecting such a knife would be particularly concerned how convenient they would be for cutting steak.
And would it matter in general - if you just use it for some time and get used to it.
 
Okay, what about a regular old chisel though? They have been used for years for woodcarving. They still are today. One of the most effective uses of a wood chisel is to place it over and along a piece of wood with the grind facing down. If we apply this type of cutting to a chisel ground knife, there are many reasons to favor it being ground on the left side. For example, if you were carving a stick into a spear or a stake, you would carve with the grind facing down -exactly how you would if you had a regular old wood-chisel.

I carve wood more often than I cut sushi, so for me, the grind is on the right side.
 
In my experience with a Super CQC-7 I have found that cutting with the beveled side down works best which is how the knife is set up for right handed users. When cutting across a piece of wood left handed the bevel facing up forces the edge down into the wood and you must put force on the knife to keep the edge from digging too far down where as if you were cutting from the right handed side this would not be a problem. After having this experience and reading all the remarks on this forum that say Emerson chisel grinds are are the wrong side for right handed users I have for now decided that people who say this have never used an Emerson and are just hating for the sake of hating.
 
The Government said:
This whole "wrong side theory" makes very little sense to me. The wrong side for what?

For example, for wood carving, the grind is on the perfect side IMHO. (my experience with Emerson chisel edges and chisel bevels)
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was going to say
 
GMAHN said:
... After having this experience and reading all the remarks on this forum that say Emerson chisel grinds are are the wrong side for right handed users I have for now decided that people who say this have never used an Emerson and are just hating for the sake of hating.
Click to expand...

Well, I do not think so.
That topick is quite popular - it just goes from one knife forum to another and then again, in circle. And it does not seem to be centered on Emerson at all.

You have just tried it yourself, insead of discussing the theory and building sone experiments in your mind, as it was popular in times of ancient Greece.
Do you know that Aristotle in one of his books has made a mistake, declaring that a regular fly has got 8 legs. That then became a popular believe of "educated" people for a number of centuries... till somebody like yourself has actually made an observation and has proven that it was a mistake by Aristotle. He probably just looked at spyders and decided that if you've seen one insect - you have seen them all...
 
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