Does a V edge work on a chisel ground blade?

[DanR217]

I was under the impression that if you have a blade that is completely flat on one side and beveled on the other(chisel grind), that you have to use a chisel edge.

I bring this up because I bought a custom knife from a new knife maker that was chisel ground with a V edge. I chopped lightly into a 2"x2" block of very light wood (my usual testing block) and the edge folded all the way back to the main bevel.

I contacted the maker and he said he thought it was the heat treat, but to me it seems like an improper edge grind.

Maybe someone who payed attention in physics class could help me understand.

 

[RevDevil]

Pictures of the edge would really be helpful if nothing else. The edge angle was probably too acute for the material in combination with a odd HT. My chisel ground knives only get sharpened on 1 edge, the opposite edge gets nothing except the burr removed. It's also a good idea to convex a chisel grind. It will make the edge much stronger.

 

[richard j]

i make chisel grind knives and it sounds like he is right. take a coarse file and see if it cuts the blade. i use a file to test mine but i can get them rc tested if i want.

 

[sambo.]

the only real use of a single bevel knife blade is as a Sushi knife. when you really want wafer thin slices of fish, a single bevel chefs knife is the way to get it.

i use single bevel, 2-blade broadheads for hunting as the single bevel design is far better at splitting bone and getting good penetration than a double bevel.

a single bevel knife for chopping duties? strikes me as not using the best tool for the job, if you know what i mean.

 

[richard j]

sambo, i have a knife that i chop with for fun and it chops like crazy for its size. i made it for a kitchen knife but chopped down a tree one night with it at a buddys campsite. i had so much fun i chopped down a few others. check out the pictures i posted at my website of the tree i cut down with it. there are 3 other trees in the picturs that i cut down also.

 

[nevermind35]

Sounds to me like a poor heat treat. Putting a V edge on a chisel ground blade would only make the cutting edge more obtuse therefore stronger and less prone to damage. However I agree that although it can definately be done, a chisel grind isn't the best choice on a chopper.

 

[marcinek]

A bad heat treat will cause any grind to fail. So will no heat treat.

Maybe your knife maker "forgot."

 

[Joshua J.]

I like to think of a chisel grind as a half zero edge V grind that got stuck on the handle at a funny angle.
You can sharpen it the same as any other knife, but sharpening that way will reduce the one sided wedging effect that a chisel grind gives you (which could be good or bad depending on what you are doing), and you could potentially double your edge angle very quickly.

Some people like the chisel grind because if you apply a normal 15 degree edge bevel to only one side of the blade, your inclusive edge angle is still... 15 degrees. Really you have a V edge at 7.5 degrees per side. At 15 degrees inclusive you have an incredibly thin (sharp) edge, but durability will be an issue no matter what steel you use. In that case a micro bevel will keep most of the awesome cutting ability without rolling your edge all the time. If they sharpen at 20 or 30 degrees, that's more in the range for normal knives, and shouldn't need any adjustments.

If the one sided wedge effect is desirable (it can be nice for some things), as mentioned, do all your sharpening on the side with the edge bevel and just remove the burr as necessary from the flat side.