doing a chisel grind on a kitchen knife

chknifemaker

chknifemaker

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Jun 30, 2013
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I want to do a chisel l grind on a chef knife and I wanted to know if the user is a right hander what side of the blade should the flats side be on?(out side or inside)
Thanks
 
If right handled the grind goes on the right side and the flat on the left
 
Correct...the flat back sits on the guide fingers and the bevel pushes the slice away from the knife. If it was the other way, the item being cut would stay in place and the knife would try to deflect as it cut.
 
I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I'm also experimenting with chisel grinds on kitchen knives, but for some reason they're proving to be more difficult than flat grinds. Does anybody have any pointers?
 
The hollow covers all of the blade. There should be no more than 1/16th of an inch honed flat all around the blade on the hollow side.
 
while not a pro single bevel grinder i feel i do ok. i ll shot a video orf some of the big points so you can see what all you are looking at
 
If I could give credit for this picture I would, however I saved it to my kitchen knife folder without any info to relocate.

1212468034-kataba_edge_4_zps0e149535.jpg


While the grind is hamaguriba, it shows the urasuki well. I hope to be able to achieve this some day.
 
Wow, that is a far more complicated grind than it would appear to the naked eye; flat, concave, and convex grinds all on one blade.
 
In doing togi on a blade with this grind, you set the urasuki first. There are lots of ways to get the hollow back made, but Nathan's curved platen is surely one of the best. Grind it until it reaches the edge and spine. The urasuki only needs to be smoothly curved and about 400 grit. Once the back hollow is created, you are ready to make the bevels.

Now, on an arato stone ( coarse) start the bevels to make the shinogi line. ( While stones are superb for finishing these type knives, belts on a grinder will work. If using belts, just substitute "belt" for "stone" and use a flat platen. Use slow speed and avoid heat. Very sharp knives and moving belts do not mix well, so use extreme caution if doing this grind on a belt grinder!)

First, flatten the hira - the area on the front between the spine and the shinogi ( ridge line). If desired, this step can be skipped and the hira can be left as-forged for a classic look. Some knives have had hammer/tooling marks added during profiling to make the hira even rougher.
Once the hira is done, start the main bevel.

The main bevel (kireha) is ground at an angle to establish the shinogi line. Keeping the shinogi straight is what is important at this step. Once the kireha is flat and angled toward the edge (ha), it should leave an edge that is about .040-.060" wide. Clean things up now and make sure everything is right. Switch to finer stones and clean these places up to about 400 grit or a medium-fine stone. The bevel should be smooth and flat, with an edge about .020-.030" wide. If the hira has been sanded, it should be a nice satin. It is often left at this finish.

Flip the knife over to the back side and use the stones to establish the small flat perimeter around the hollow (uraoshi). It only needs to be about 1/8" wide at the bottom, and no more than 1/4" wide at the top when fully finished, so don't make it very wide to start with. Take this down to 400/medium-fine finish.

This point is where HT is done in most cases. Some folks just profile the blade, grind a very basic bevel and do the HT, and do the above steps hardened. Both work.

Once the blade is hardened and tempered...and straightened if needed,.... all that is left is to refine the smoothness of the cutting areas. I have a curved leather covered sanding pad that matches the curve of my curved platen to give the urasuki a final sanding. I leave it satin finish.
All previous steps are quickly gone through again on a medium-fine stone, and then on a fine stone. As said before, the hira can be left in any state from rough forged to satin to polished.....your choice.

Once all is cleaned up, start doing the final shaping ( shiagi togi) on the kireha using a slightly rocking motion. Still using the medium-fine stone, take the bevel down to a zero edge. This will create a slightly convex bevel toward the ha. Be careful, as it will get sharp. Once the edge is sharp from heel to tip, go through the stones on the kireha to as fine a stone as you have.

Flip the blade over on the back and hone the back up to your finest stone to make a very smooth edge flat. Again, the knife is getting very sharp...so be careful.

Give the ura ( back side) a stropping on a flat leather strop to polish the flat edge areas around the urasuki. Charge the strop with very fine compound or diamond paste.

The last step is optional, but many togishi ( polishers) give the kireha a minute secondary bevel at about 10-15 degrees. It only takes one or two strokes on a extra fine stone to establish this tiny angle, and one or two strokes on a strop. This micro-bevel should be nearly invisible.
 
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^ All great advice and information!

I have used all sorts of different kitchen knife grinds and blade geometries... there are a few ways to do it well. Here are a few options to consider.

- chisel with ura as described above... this will "float" through food, requires skill to use but slices with little friction

- single bevel or chisel - this is left at full thickness besides the main grind. These are great for splitting, slicing and often provide great food release and strength.

- "hybrid grind" - I like to do a plungeless grind but leave the edge very thick and then add the obvious single bevel. The performance is great all around..

Try a single bevel hollow grind... try a main grind then a second and third bevel and blend them together... lots will work and testing will show. With any kitchen knife grind nailing the geometry is tricky and can take time to get right.
 
on the last few sushi knives i have been using the 48" platen for both the back and the front grind then one layer of tape and hand hone the edge close then microbevel it
 
I tape off the places I don't want messed up in final togi, too. It sure keeps the cuss words down. It is especially good for keeping the hira rough and black when shaping the kireha. Duct tape works great. I also have this stainless steel tape for HVAC work that is really hard stuff ( it will also cut you like a razor if you aren't careful).
 
Good info , saving that.!
I had some table knives that had a "chisel " grind , they drove me crazy so I changed them !
A real chisel grind with proper usage is great for slicing very thin veggies or meat or fish . Stacy should make a video !
 
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