Custom-made kitchen knives question

[Daniel Koster]

For your larger (6-10" blade) kitchen knives, do you prefer a single grind (chisel), or a small micro bevel?

I'm speaking mostly of custom knives....but go ahead and chime in if you've got a nice production kitchen knife.

Tell me what grind you prefer and why (hopefully based on a knife that gets used a lot) and what you use it for (mostly).




Personally, I prefer a full flat grind with a small micro-bevel. But I'm starting to warm up to the idea of using a single chisel-grind bevel (don't know what height yet) and maybe even with a micro-bevel.

I'm sorry if this sounds confusing....here's a pic...

(this drawing has been done to scale using a 1/8" thick blade that is 2" tall)


#1 - what I use now = flat grind to ~.030" near the edge, then 20 deg micro-bevel

#2 - what I'm considering = single flat grind to ~0.030" near the edge, then a single 20 deg micro-bevel

#3 - what I don't want (makes the blade too heavy/thick, imho)



Got any ideas? suggestions? pics?

Let's hear 'em.

 

[s0rce]

I prefer a flat grind, although I don't have any customs my Tojiro DP have a flat grind and I love them. I'd like to pick up a Misono UX-10 or a Matsumoto VG-10 but I can't spend that much more money at the moment.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

For your larger (6-10" blade) kitchen knives, do you prefer a single grind (chisel), or a small micro bevel?

Dual v-grind with similar edge. One chisel grind means the same profile has to determine the edge durablity and overall cutting ability this isn't a good idea. A secondary edge allows a much greater flexibility, you could put a 40 degree included micro edge on it to handle bone contacts for example while the same primary chisel profile would cut like a spoon.

~0.030" near the edge, then a single 20 deg micro-bevel

That edge is *way* too thick. I run large choppers that way if I want to be able to pound them through heavy knots. The only reason you would want to have a kitchen knife that thick at the edge would be if you wanted someone to be able to hack through frozen meats.

For normal cutting I would grind it all the way down and then sharpen back like Boye does. This leaves a barely visible edge which is trivial to sharpen. If that angle is included as in chisel ground on one side that is about where I would put it.

-Cliff

 

[Jeff Clark]

I have a lot of kitchen knives and have samples of all three types of blade. Most of my knives would fit pattern #1, several would fit pattern #2, and a few would fit pattern #3. I use type-1 for 99% of my kitchen work. My wife will generally grab a type-1 as well. The symmetrical grind gives the edge better support and allows a very thin edge to be relatively resistant to rolling over. Type-2 blades have no latteral support on the flat side and will roll to that side if you use them on hard material. It the steel is hard they chip.

I use type-2 blades to make thin slices of crisp vegetables. The flat side makes straight cuts as your slices fall off the end of the vegie. On the other hand many of my type-1 blades are so thin and flat that they perform just as well in practice for this specialized application and give me straighter cuts for other uses. For example I have usuba style blades with type-1 and type-2 grinds. I don't spend much time looking for the type-2 version if I have my type-1 handy. Since she likes the handle on the type-1 better, my wife usually picks that one. Come to think of it, since she is left-handed the type-2 is ground wrong for her. That is another point, the advantages of a type-2 blade depend on whether it is ground on the right side for you handedness.

The only type-3 blade that I use with any frequency is my ulu. It works fairly well for specialized tasks due to its configuration. I don't scrape hides with it so a symmetrical grind would probably work better for me. Used with a wooden bowl it lets me chop nuts.

The other uses for type-2 and type-3 blades is for skinning or boning fish. For operations that are rather like planing wood, the flat side lets you skim a surface and peel away skin or flesh. Since the japanese do many things like this their sushi knives make sense for them. I don't do much of that style of cooking so I seldom even think of using my sushi knives.