Micro Commander Chisel Grind??

[ndeezl]

Hey All,
I picked up my first Emerson from a prominent online vendor and it arrived this past weekend. Overall I like the knife quite a bit. It's very aesthetically pleasing, locks up solid as a vault, and the finish is good; what I expected from my research of Emerson knives. I picked it up because I wanted something smaller I could just drop in my pocket when I didnt want a knife clipped on somewhere. The wave feature seems pretty neat, although I'm not sure how often I would actually use it (oh and it's important to practice a few times before getting all gung ho with it boys and girls. I decided to just whip it out of my pocket and put a nice slice on my pointer finger ) The one thing that is throwing me off is that the blade appears to have a chisel grind, when it was marketed by the company and sold to me by the vendor with the claim of a traditional "V" grind. However I believe Emerson predominantly used chisel grinds in the past. So I'm just curious as to whether anyone else has picket up one of these and if they have a chisel ground blade as well. I don't necessarily mind it, it is one of the sharpest blades I've ever held straight out of the box. At the same time I don't know the advantages/disavantages of a chisel grind. What are they? Here are a few pics. What do y'all think? Has anyone noticed the same thing, or did I get one that slipped out of the shop with half a grind?

Edge/Bevel

No Edge/Bevel

 

[Apec]

It's double ground alright (which is what they were referring to), but there's only one edge bevel. Same as it was on my CQC-11.

Advantages: Cheaper to grind
Disadvantages: Chisel grinds will cut differently in the hands of a right or lefty user, depending on which side it was sharpened on. If you plan on making neat cuts in something, or handling a knife ambidextrously, stick with a double beveled edge.

 

[ndeezl]

So you're saying that it has been ground on both sides but only one side has a bevel? How is this possible? And isn't a true chisel grind only supposed to be ground on one side? How can it be a "V" grind if only one side has a bevel? Your "double ground" comment threw me off, just trying to get clarification. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

The zero bevel grind on one side gives it great geometry and having only one bevel to sharpen makes it easy to sharpen as well. I have never seen a knife ground like that but I think it is a cool idea. I grind my kiridashis with a zero bevel chisel on one side and a tiny microbevel on the back, they are versatile that way and easy to sharpen... for such a strong blade they get ridiculously sharp.

 

[cevtv]

All productiuon Emerson knives have a chisel edge, even if the main grind is a "V".


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[ndeezl]

The zero bevel grind on one side gives it great geometry and having only one bevel to sharpen makes it easy to sharpen as well. I have never seen a knife ground like that but I think it is a cool idea. I grind my kiridashis with a zero bevel chisel on one side and a tiny microbevel on the back, they are versatile that way and easy to sharpen... for such a strong blade they get ridiculously sharp.

That's interesting, and it makes sense it would be easier to maintain the edge with only having to sharpen one bevel. But will it get to the point after many sharpenings where you would need to do something to the non beveled side ( I guess it does have a micro bevel)? I also would imagine that after sharpening just the one bevel I would need to strop to remove a wire edge that would build up? Huh, I'm not awful but not great at sharpening and I guess I would just need to figure out the mechanics as I went along.

I also don't know about the strength of having just the one bevel vs two. I would imagine that two would be stronger in terms of chipping or rolling...maybe just chipping...but I'm not sure why I think that. Well it's good to know that this is the way it was supposed to come from Emerson, and like I said that thing is just wickedly sharp and seems extremely tough for a knife of it's size. Now I just need to find someone who can slap some nice micarta scales on it and it should be the tough and classy little pocket folder I'm looking for.

Thanks all for the replies and I'd still be interested in what everyone has to say about the grind on these knives.

 

[cevtv]

That's interesting, and it makes sense it would be easier to maintain the edge with only having to sharpen one bevel. But will it get to the point after many sharpenings where you would need to do something to the non beveled side ( I guess it does have a micro bevel)? I also would imagine that after sharpening just the one bevel I would need to strop to remove a wire edge that would build up? Huh, I'm not awful but not great at sharpening and I guess I would just need to figure out the mechanics as I went along.

http://www.emersonknives.com/ekEK_Sharpening.php

 

[Hammer27]

http://www.emersonknives.com/ekEK_FAQ.php
http://www.emersonknives.com/ekKnifeAnatomy.php
Other good links

"From time to time we get a question like “Hey you forget to grind the other side of my knife! It’s only sharpened on one side!”

Well, the simple answer is this; that’s the way it’s supposed to be. I developed the Emerson single side edge after years of test, evaluation, research and feedback. I’ve been doing this for over thirty years now regardless of what type of level grind is on the knife, double V or chisel, I only grind the edge(the sharpest) of the knife on one side. It produces an extremely sharp; very durable and easy to service (sharpen) edge for hard duty use.

The main difficulty anyone ever has with our grinds is this, “I’m used to knives sharpened on both sides.” I understand, as that is the way most conventional knives are sharpened. However, once you break that mind-set, you will find that the Emerson Edge grind (one side only) cuts like crazy, stays sharp and is much easier to sharpen back to cutting capability. Because, you’re only dealing with one edge, not two. I’ve sharpened these knives on rocks, bricks, pieces of pipe, sandpaper, glass and stones of all types and I’ve never had a problem getting a good using edge. Yes, I admit if I sharpened it on a piece of concrete, I wouldn’t shave with it, but, I have a razor for that. By the way, if you think of the sharpest piece of steel in your house, what is it? No, it is not your kitchen knives; it is not your pocket knife. It is the razor that you shave with every morning. It doesn’t matter of its Schick, Gillette or BIC they are the sharpest blades in your house. Guess how they are sharpened? One side only – exactly like an Emerson Knife."

 

[ndeezl]

Thanks for the info guys :thumbup: I'll assume that you have experience with Emerson knives. How do you feel their edge holds up against something more "traditional" (and I use the phrase loosely) that you would find from other manufacturers? I'll be doing my own "research" soon enough but I'm curious as to your opinions.

 

[Hammer27]

In my experience it wears slightly better but its an insignificant advantage. The advantage is ease of resharpening and achieving a high level of sharpness.

 

[RevDevil]

Thanks for the info guys :thumbup: I'll assume that you have experience with Emerson knives. How do you feel their edge holds up against something more "traditional" (and I use the phrase loosely) that you would find from other manufacturers? I'll be doing my own "research" soon enough but I'm curious as to your opinions.

I had my doubts, but the 154CM is a great steel, and it's very easy to sharpen to razor blade level in no time with just about any flat abrasive. I'm satisfied with the knives I own in that steel. Congrats on a cool knife, need some more pictures though.

 

[powernoodle]

I'm new to Emersons as well, having picked up a CQC-8 last week. And as if by magic, a CQC-7 is now on the way too. Strange how that happens.

I did not think I would dig the grind on the Emersons, and prior to my purchase thought that I would slap a convention v-grind on the secondary bevel. But I sorta dig it the way it is, and do think it will be fun and easy to sharpen. Maybe Brother Ernest knows what he's doing.

 

[ndeezl]

I'm new to Emersons as well, having picked up a CQC-8 last week. And as if by magic, a CQC-7 is now on the way too. Strange how that happens.

I did not think I would dig the grind on the Emersons, and prior to my purchase thought that I would slap a convention v-grind on the secondary bevel. But I sorta dig it the way it is, and do think it will be fun and easy to sharpen. Maybe Brother Ernest knows what he's doing.

This is what I was planning to do when I first saw it after I taking the knife out of the box. But the more I look at it, think about it, understand it, and hear the experiences of others here I'm beginning to dig it as well.

I had my doubts, but the 154CM is a great steel, and it's very easy to sharpen to razor blade level in no time with just about any flat abrasive. I'm satisfied with the knives I own in that steel. Congrats on a cool knife, need some more pictures though.

Thanks :thumbup: I'll have some more pics coming, but I think it will be of a mini commander as opposed to this micro. My plan when I purchased the micro was to have some nice brown micarta scales made for it and use it as a classy but tough pocket folder. So I may have a trade offer for a knife that fits that exact description for my micro. However, if that trade happens my short time with this folder has certainly made me appreciate the Commander series, and I'll pick up a mini as soon as I can find one. I think the slightly larger blade size and thumb disk will allow me to better manipulate the blade as opposed to the opening "hole" on the micro.

In the short time I've spent with this knife I have to say I'm very pleased. I don't want the fact that I may be trading to be a negative mark against it. If it goes, I'll have a larger one following shortly on it's heels :thumbup:

 

[dalefuller]

Not much to add here, but as a new-to-Emerson user, I'll chip in my thoughts on my new mini-15. Mine is ground like yours, a V grind with one sharpened bevel. I knew this about Emersons and I've done a bit of reading and talking to Emerson users before I decided to buy one. I haven't had a chance to use it much, but for one that's new to this unusual edge grind, I gotta say that I like it so far. I've tries following the web site sharpening directions just to see if I could do it. It seems to work well with either a Sharpmaker triangle rod or one of the 804 rods. I've got several of each and I think the edge will be pretty easy to maintain.

I've been looking for a knife that's simple in design philosophy, made of easy to maintain materials, and doesn't mind if you have to get "creative" with your sharpening tools. I've had all kinds of "thoroughbreds" in the past, still have a few, but the older I get the more I appreciate a plain workhorse over a race horse. I thought I'd give Emerson a try when the guy behind the counter pulled out his 11 YO Commander and said "I've beat this thing up on my horse farm since I got it and it's still going strong". So far, so good with the mini-15. I may try a micro-Commander next.