Thoughts on chisel ground blades?

Lots of misconceptions being stated here. Chisel grinds are no different than conventional grinds, except that they're essentially skewed until one side is brought parallel with the center axis of the blade. Because of this, they actually tend to put a lot of side-load on the edge apex and so tend to roll a bit easier than double-bevel grinds of equal angle. They are best suited to paring tasks, like a...(you guessed it) chisel where the additional deflection caused by the geometry isn't a big issue. There are circumstances where chisel grinds make sense, but they are a specialty grind and not well-suited to general use compared to double bevels. If you're not making flush cuts you're unlikely to see a strong benefit from them.
 
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I had some chisel ground blades... An asymmetrically ground strider SLCC and an emerson. Couldnt stand either so I ground an edge bevel where the manufacturer should have. I felt like it was just laziness. Chisel grinds are for sushi knives and chisels! Just my opinion
 
Sharpens faster just like a Japanese 70/30 bevel

you only have to raise a burr on one side.

I can see the merit to it but I simply prefer double bevels
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Lots of misconceptions being stated here. Chisel grinds are no different than conventional grinds, except that they're essentially skewed until one side is brought parallel with the center axis of the blade. Because of this, they actually tend to put a lot of side-load on the edge apex and so tend to roll a bit easier than double-bevel grinds of equal angle. They are best suited to paring tasks, like a...(you guessed it) chisel where the additional deflection caused by the geometry isn't a big issue. There are circumstances where chisel grinds make sense, but they are a specialty grind and not well-suited to general use compared to double bevels. If you're not making flush cuts you're unlikely to see a strong benefit from them.
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This thread needed this post, thank you.

Does anyone know why Emerson's chisel grind is on the left-handed side?
 
Lycosa said:
It's not laziness. You don't understand the design.
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Not true... I understand the design. Every type of edge geometry has specific uses that they are good for. I said I FELT, keywords there I FELT.
 
ArchVV said:
Does anyone know why Emerson's chisel grind is on the left-handed side?
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The Emersom FAQ used to include this response (I pulled it up with the Wayback Machine): "This is an Emerson signature. Being the knifemaker who brought the chisel grind to worldwide recognition, we are often asked; Why do you put the grind on the opposite side of a traditional Japanese Chef’s knife? The answer is simple….We are not making chef’s knives. Our knives are hard knives meant for hard users. We do not cut many tomatoes. Our tests and those of a major government agency determined that there was no difference between right and left side grinds for use as a tool or weapon. The left side was chosen for purposes of visual cue and reference."

Here's a post from a thread earlier this year about the grind placement having to do with ease of freehand sharpening.
 
It sounds like most people's poor experience with chisel ground blades is trying to use a left hand chisel ground knife while being a right handed individual.
That would be frustrating.
I grind right and left hand chisel ground blades as well as double ground blades.
All things being equal, a chisel ground blade and a double ground blade have the same cross section geometry.

Like stated before, a chisel ground blade will bite/pull into the material being cut, which would be on the flat side of the blade.

People either love or hate that about them. But that is really the main difference between a double and chisel ground blade in regards to performance.

Ease of sharpening is really based on your equipment and experience.

I do mine a little different in that I grind them to a near zero edge, sub .007". And then I put a micro bevel on the flat side of the blade. When sharpening you touch up the flat side micro bevel, which creates a burr on he main bevel side that you simply strop or buff off. This not only makes sharpening easier but it also preserves the geometry and nice finish of the main bevel.


Most people prefer a symmetrical blade for cosmetic and familiarity reasons. And that's totally fine. Just giving my personal experience on the matter.
 
ArchVV said:
This thread needed this post, thank you.

Does anyone know why Emerson's chisel grind is on the left-handed side?
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Because it's the presentation side, so it looks prettier in product photos and display cases. The same reason why serrations are ground on that side 99.99% of the time.

Furthermore, left vs. right handed chisel grinds are something of a misnomer because it depends entirely on the context of what you're cutting. For instance, if making a paring cut from right to left on a horizontal target surface, a "left handed" chisel grind will be oriented with the flat down. Now, when making cuts where you need to be able to break from the cut (such as carving/whittling) you need to have a relief angle to allow the blade to turn, and so you'd want the beveled face down. If using a "left handed" chisel grind in an edge-up thumb anvil grip like a paring knife, the flat side will be against the target material. So it's a matter of what you're cutting and how. Asymmetrical bevels just limit your approach to unidirectional rather than bidirectional like you can with double beveled knives. This is the same reason why you sometimes use an actual woodworking chisel bevel up or bevel down, depending on the context of the cut.

The bevel angle determines the lowest angle of approach you can make to a target and have the edge still bite. If your bevel on the side closest to the target is 15°, you must approach the target at any angle greater than 15° to get the edge to bite or else the bevel is parallel to the target. Say you have two knives with a 30° included angle, but one is symmetrically double beveled and the other is a chisel grind. The double bevel may approach a target in either direction from an angle of 15° or greater. The chisel grind may approach at any angle greater than 30° on the beveled face, and at any angle greater than 0° on the other. Once you cross 90°, of course, your edge would be trailing rather than moving into the cut, however.
 
42 nailed it - it's because the knife industry has decided to show and photograph knives with the "Presentation Side" being the left side.

Unfortunately that pushes the "waste" of whatever you are cutting (salami, sausage, pepperoni, cheese, fruit, etc.) into the remaining material that is abort to be cut - for us right handed folk. Otherwise, to avoid this, you wind up with an awkward angle and a learning curve that is really just a curve even though you are trying to cut straight.

I understand that if you are some super-secret mission doing super-secret stuff and you get separated from your team and all you have is a folder (?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?) then perhaps there very well could be some level, minor though it may be, of benefit, in the aforementioned circumstances - unlikely though they may be, to having a chisel grind or perhaps even a chisel edge. I personally don't buy into that argument and while I would not necessarily call it "lazy" per se, I would attribute it to efficiency/convenience of manufacturing.

Maybe I'm no longer tough enough or high speed/low drag enough to appreciate the nuances of a chisel grind but, for the most part, in the general course of my day I'm finding myself spending less and less of my knife use time in CQC blade-to-blade, silencing sentries or stabbing 55 gallon drums compared to cutting an apple, slicing cheese, pepperoni, sausage, cutting cardboard and other such mundane wuss chores.

NOTE: I own, appreciate and use many Emerson knives - notwithstanding my views as stated above.
 
btw, I think it was Phill Hartsfield who brought the chisel grind interest to knifeland.
rolf
 
I prefer symmetrical ground knives for general utility use because I don't have to approach the material differently from right and left sides. Kudos to 42 Blades for his clear explanation of the dynamics necessitated by different grind geometry. As a woodworker, how chisels work seems obvious, but not every knife enthusiast has that background.
 
Only chisel grind I like is on my Japanese right handed kiridashi for woodworking projects. For other cutting I use regular grinds. I don't feel that I need the "ease of sharpening" either as I can pass my user blades on fine ceramic stone few times to get back to use. That's just me though.
 
I edc an Emerson Super 7... gets sharp as hell, cuts like a laser, and is easy to maintain. I just cut what I need to cut... even wood shavings and feather sticks for getting a fire going, and don't give much thought to the left/right issue. It does the job every time, no problem. You won't really know until you try, OP. Go for it.
 
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