single bevel pros/cons

[jharpphoto]

I'm interested in a Jericoh Blade works knife. In another forum the owner of a Jericoh Blade works knife is questioned about his choice in knives and their ability to easily be sharpened because they have a single bevel edge. Can anyone give me the pros/cons of a single bevel edge and why I might not want this edge configuration?

 

[Leatherface]

pros??

they look awesome

it coerces people to buy them cause they look awesome

they kick serious ass on eels

 

[230grains]

Pros - Sushi

Cons - Everything else.

 

[me2]

I'm making one of my own right now. As soon as it's finished, I'll send some feedback.

 

[goat37]

I own a couple of Jericoh's (the Rage and the Conquest Mk V), Jasun is a really good guy... and came through like a champ when it came to the service end of things.

Many of his knives are a chisel grind.... and the side with the actual grind actually has a double bevel (so you still get the forced patina on the wider bevel). I /personally/ am not a huge fan of chisel grinds, but I wouldn't say that they are hard to deal with or sharpen. If you are not a very skilled sharpener you have to be careful so you don't sharpen off the patina of the second bevel (if you are trying to keep it pretty).
One thing to remember on a chisel grind is that when you sharpen it, the ground side you need to sharpen at a wider angle than what you may think (like 35 or even 40 degrees) because the backside of the blade is not ground and so you have your entire angle on just one side of the blade. If you try to sharpen it narrower than that, you'll wind up with a pretty thin/weak edge on a beast of a knife.

I know Jasun said recently he was going to be doing his knives with the option of a standard double bevel, ground on both sides. I am probably going to get another one with the more standard grind and compare the two...


Just remember not to ask him for serrations!

 

[Knife Outlet]

I'm not familiar with the knives. But there is often a serious issue with American designed knives and the single bevel. That is that most American designed single bevels are left handed. The reason is that they seem to want the bevel to show on the traditional mark side of the blade. You want to check that out. When you hold a single bevel knife the bevel should be on the side away from you and the flat side should be facing you. If it isn't then using it is a pain in the posterior.

Single bevel knives are significantly easier to sharpen than double bevel knives. The reason is that you only have grind one side. The flat side is just placed against the stone and stroked lightly to clean up the burr.

 

[Planterz]

A chisel grind will always have a directional bias during cutting. As Knife Outlet said, the majority of chisel ground knives have the grind on the obverse side. Which looks nice, but in use, faces the wrong direction for the majority (right-handed) of users. When cutting things like cardboard, a chisel ground edge will want to curve in one direction. Having a knife that's ground on the proper side will help to correct that bias, but not 100%, and again, the majority of knives are the opposite of the majority of population.

Simplicity of manufacture and simplicity of maintenance (sharpening) are the positives. You often see chisel ground blades on knives that are intended for self-defense. That's fine. You don't really have to worry about a directional cut bias when it comes to turning flesh into fillets; neatness doesn't count. Just as long as it cuts.

I always have, and still do, wish that companies (like Spyderco) would grind their serrations on the opposite sides.

 

[Timberwolf_71]

Just don't ask for serrations or sawbacks and you'll be fine.

The grinds are set up for righties, but can be done custom for wrong-handed people also, or as a traditional double bevel.

After playing with single bevels and some new double bevel prototypes, I still prefer single bevel, but that is a personal choice, made with an eye towards ease of maintenance in the field and the fact that I'm a basher and not a finesse cutter.

Jasun Cohen
Jericoh Blade Works