Been playing around with the BESH Wedge® geometry lately, and thought I'd share.
I've posted these before, but never discussed them. These are the first two knives I tried using the BESH Wedge. The top one is ground at 32º and the bottom one at 42º. The 32º one is paper thin at the tip, due to the straight edges I calculate the angle of the square edge at the tip to be around 7º. The edge cuts pretty well, I was worried that it wouldn't be very durable (thus negating the purpose of the grind) and I thought the tip was too broad for my taste, so I made another tool rest and ground the second one. 42º makes a very nice tip, but the edge is just too obtuse to cut well (though, when sharpened, it still shaves the hair on my arm). The blades on these are about 3".
Next, I wanted a mid-point between my two previous angles, and also wanted to try curved blades that would make the tip angle steeper and more reinforced. I shot for 37º and nailed it my first try. Made two with this new tool rest. Blade on the top is about 3.5" and the one on the bottom is about 5.5":
37º seems to give a very good happy medium between cutting ability and tip geometry, but I still wanted something that would cut better. I made a new tool rest, shooting for around 25º this time (I overshot slightly and got 23º, but it was good enough). The next knife is ground at 37º near the tip and 23º closer to the handle. It has about a 3.5" blade:
It cuts quite well with the base of the blade, and still has a narrow, but strong tip for stabbing. I want to work a little more on getting the two grind angles to intersect more cleanly, but I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.
My latest one uses two different grind angles asymmetrically. I ground the curved edge to 32º and the straight edge to 42º. This gives a pointier tip than is typical of the BESH Wedge, but it is still pretty strong (I haven't tested just how strong it is yet):
I'd like to work more on this asymmetric grind with different angles.
I haven't tested these knives as thoroughly as I'd like to, but so far I'm pretty pleased. I have to give Brent Beshara serious props for this truly innovative and functional grind.
- Chris
I've posted these before, but never discussed them. These are the first two knives I tried using the BESH Wedge. The top one is ground at 32º and the bottom one at 42º. The 32º one is paper thin at the tip, due to the straight edges I calculate the angle of the square edge at the tip to be around 7º. The edge cuts pretty well, I was worried that it wouldn't be very durable (thus negating the purpose of the grind) and I thought the tip was too broad for my taste, so I made another tool rest and ground the second one. 42º makes a very nice tip, but the edge is just too obtuse to cut well (though, when sharpened, it still shaves the hair on my arm). The blades on these are about 3".
Next, I wanted a mid-point between my two previous angles, and also wanted to try curved blades that would make the tip angle steeper and more reinforced. I shot for 37º and nailed it my first try. Made two with this new tool rest. Blade on the top is about 3.5" and the one on the bottom is about 5.5":
37º seems to give a very good happy medium between cutting ability and tip geometry, but I still wanted something that would cut better. I made a new tool rest, shooting for around 25º this time (I overshot slightly and got 23º, but it was good enough). The next knife is ground at 37º near the tip and 23º closer to the handle. It has about a 3.5" blade:
It cuts quite well with the base of the blade, and still has a narrow, but strong tip for stabbing. I want to work a little more on getting the two grind angles to intersect more cleanly, but I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.
My latest one uses two different grind angles asymmetrically. I ground the curved edge to 32º and the straight edge to 42º. This gives a pointier tip than is typical of the BESH Wedge, but it is still pretty strong (I haven't tested just how strong it is yet):
I'd like to work more on this asymmetric grind with different angles.
I haven't tested these knives as thoroughly as I'd like to, but so far I'm pretty pleased. I have to give Brent Beshara serious props for this truly innovative and functional grind.
- Chris
