I want an Emerson, BUT. . .

J

Jamesh Bond

Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
1,760
Hello
I have never owned an emerson, but would really like to because of the reputation. But I have qualms with the chisel grind, and recurved blades. I realize that the annoyances of chisel grind would be minimal with the right edge geometry.
Does anyone use their chisels for preparing food, whilttling, dressing game, and other things that conventionally use a V grind?
Please explain your uses and thoughts on this.

ps.
Any thoughts on sharpening recurved chisel grinds would be helpful!
 
Why Emerson? They're not exactly designed for preparing food and the other tasks mentioned. I'm sure they would perform adequetly, but there are many other knives out there which are geared more for those tasks. I am not exactly the best sharpener so I can't really comment about the recurved chisel grinds, but if you're comfortable with tradditional grinds there's really no reason to stray away from what you're use to. IMO Emersons are nice in their own sense but I wouldn't purchase one with your interests in mind.
Overall I dont think emersons would be the best choice, unless you just like them for whatever reason.

Good luck.
 
I have five of his knives including one custome. They are my favorite folding knives by far in every aspect. They are hard to sharpen until you find your own way to do it on a good stone and finish with a leather peice on a block of wood. You can get these knive very sharp but it will not happen the first time you try with the chisel grind.
 
i carried a SOCFK tanto edc for several yrs and it did everyhting i asked of it.

same with my CQC8, '6 &'12.
 
I might suggest a '10 for such utilitarian use. It may have the most utilitarian blade profile.
 
I am a major self confessed Emerson fanboy so I would recommend them for any task!
 
Irezumi said:
I am a major self confessed Emerson fanboy so I would recommend them for any task!
Click to expand...

So do you use them for what I was reffering to?
personally, when I use a chisel ground blade for most things a knife was intended, I have the common problem of the knife guiding itself sideways or just being hard to control a slicing cut or whittling cut.
 
Vaako said:
Ernest Emerson has a tutorial on how to sharpen his chisel edged knives. The knife he uses for the demonstration is the recurved Commander.

http://www.emersonknives.com/HardWear_index.html

Click "knife sharpening" on the left info bar. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link.
However, I had prieviously check uot that tutorial and fournd it useful. I have never been able to sharpen a knife with a fine ceramic like the gatco tri seps Emerson was using. I always get a microscopic wire edge with those, no matter what the metal or grind. I think they are just too fine to remove much metal, and just refine the fine edge into a scary sharp, but fragile burr.

Thanks for the responses. Keep em coming.
 
BTW, I have owned an Emerson Hard Wear knife, and it was a decent knife, but nowhere near the legendary quality I hear about Emerson, especially for the price. It was basically a more expensive version of a cold steel voyager, kabar dozier, spyderco delica or, and other Polymer handled, aus-8 lockbacks.
Good knife, but not for 80 bucks!
 
Get a CQC-10. It will give you more versitility than many of the others in the Emerson line-up. It has a nice size blade, a great hand-fitting handle and is razor sharp. I cut a bunch of coated copper wire with mine and it sliced through no problem. Didn't even need sharpening.

MPE
 
Jamesh Bond said:
Thanks for the link.
However, I had prieviously check uot that tutorial and fournd it useful. I have never been able to sharpen a knife with a fine ceramic like the gatco tri seps Emerson was using. I always get a microscopic wire edge with those, no matter what the metal or grind. I think they are just too fine to remove much metal, and just refine the fine edge into a scary sharp, but fragile burr.

Thanks for the responses. Keep em coming.
Click to expand...

That link shows about the most half a**ed way to sharpen these knives. Just get a good set of stones and it will be just as easy as any other knives. The recurves just take a bit more patience. But trust me the end result is worth it. By the way if you are looking at the "hard wear" knives there is no point. Buy an emerson original.
 
I'd recommend staying away from the chisel grind blades for any food prep or other such tasks. The V grind blades would be better suited for this but even those in any Emerson are thick and not very effective slicers. You can do what some have done and thin them down or send one off to someone like Tom Krein to do it for you for a fee and make it more of a slicer. Of course you could just opt for a Kershaw Junk Yard Dog II and get something that is on similar lines to the Emersons, made in the USA and less money, but already thin enough to do the food prep and other such things.

I have a JYD II and JYD and while the JYD is a bit small for me I do love the JYDII. I love my Emerson knives also though. I don't think the Emersons are going to be as smooth out of the box as this JYDII is though. They will get that way once you use them and break them in good.

STR
 
Jamesh Bond said:
So do you use them for what I was reffering to?
personally, when I use a chisel ground blade for most things a knife was intended, I have the common problem of the knife guiding itself sideways or just being hard to control a slicing cut or whittling cut.
Click to expand...

to be honest mate..no I wouldnt use them for food because my kitchen knives are constantly razor sharp (I am kinda keen on sharpening anything I can find around the house). However, if I had to, I would feel very comfortable using my emersons for food prep. Btw, the emerson hardwear knives are in a different class altogether than the normal emersons (they are still good but nowhere near as good). Wait till you get the wave feature worked out..faster than an auto plus you dont have to pull it out first to disengage the safety like an auto. Pull the handle out and WHACk! Out pops your blade. Bloody superb!
 
Yup, yup. Get a V grind Emerson. May I recommend a 7A? Perfect size, utilitarian blade shape, handle grips well in any position. And you get the joy that can only be had from holding perfection in your hand.

Was that a bit too much? Sorry.
 
The JYD is a Tim Galyean design. For the money the thing costs the smoothness of it will blow your mind. I think it is a fine second choice for anyone wanting an Emerson but not able to justify the cost of one. The JYD is made in the USA and quality all the way. One of the nicer knives I've handled so far this year from Kershaw and I've got a lot of Kershaw products.

STR
 
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