Trying to get used to ..chisel grind.

L

Lavan

Joined
Nov 8, 2000
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OK, I got my Benchmade 910 chisel grind. Now I find it ...different...to cut with from a V grind. It seems very sharp out of the box, but does not really slit an envelope. It cuts 1/2" sisal rope like it was string. Ditto clean slicing through multiple layers of newsprint. The edge cuts paper edges well (but differently) as it wants to go deep rather than slice along the edge.
Is this from the grind? The edge is "toothier" than most of my knives. That could also be the thing. Cuts into meat very well. Strange (or different) performance.

????????? :confused:
 
A chisel grind will tend to slide away from the side that is ground. Since yours is ground properly for a right-hander, it will slide to the left, that is, in toward what you are cutting. That's why it tries to cut deeper in paper, instead of shaving off the edge of the sheet.

If you are holding it correctly, it will slice straight down. This is what chisel-ground Japanese kitchen knives are designed to do.

It may be toothier because of the factory sharpening job. You can polish the edge. Then try push cutting with it. You may have more control in delicate materials this way.
 
The bevel will push the edge away from itself as you cut. If you cut in the middle of a stiff material like cardboard it will try and cut in a circle. You have a chisel grind that is best for work similar to a chisel. If you try and shave or whittle material off of a surface the bevel will tend to dig in some and keep the edge from skating off the surface. It is at its best taking slices off the surface or end of something such as slices off the end of a carrot. That is it is at its best if the bevel is on the right side (for a right-hander). If the bevel is on the right side and you are a left-hander you are screwed and it won't work well on anything that is really thick and stiff.

A chisel grind is also structurally weak. If you impact something hard the edge will fold over towards the flat side. A V-grind or a convex V-grind is much stronger.

What did you think that you were getting with your chisel grind?
 
Chisel grinds will usually have a bit more "teeth" wether they are or are not visible to the naked eye. It is similar to sharpening only one side of your knife, you will notice more teeth because the other side has not been counter balanced by sharpening. However, because the second side is flat it has much better cutting power that a v grind if it were to only have one side re sharpened. I have found chisel grinds dont stay as staight when cutting thin paper and I beleive it is due to the lack of equaily angled edges. Finaly, because of the "very small teeth" it will probably be better for cutting flesh like materials such as meat. When I was a kid I would sharpen my knives and often times get very smalls burrs on them and when I would run my finger across them to see how sharp they were, unexpectedly it would draw blood, after a few times of that, I realised it is not a great idea to run knives across you fingers and burrs seem to cut my skin better than a well sharpened knife (like tiny serations).
 
Lavan said:
A bad-ass mean cuttin an fightin save-the-day all purpose mayhem tool.

:eek:

for opening envelopes
Click to expand...

I love you, Lavan. Keep it up.

I tend to love Elishewitz designs, I really wish Benchmade would make the drop-point Auto-Stryker blade available in the manual version.

In both sizes.

Then add the Axis. ;)

OK, that would be awful close to the Ares. But the Stryker handle is so damn comfortable.

I've been getting used to chisel ground again in my BM Snody Juju. It certainly does have those "Hey, stop cutting away to the left!" moments when the single bevel pushes the cut. But it's insanely solid and hits like hell on a chop - I think, with all respects to Buck, the Juju is about as close to a Strider as inexpensive knives get right now. I'd never call a knife indestructible, but I have beaten the living crap out of the Juju and - except for the silly menuki disappearing in the woods - it just sneers at the abuse.
 
A chisel grind is also structurally weak. If you impact something hard the edge will fold over towards the flat side. A V-grind or a convex V-grind is much stronger.
Click to expand...

Chisel grinds are only known for being weaker at the edge and even that is debateable depending on the knife you are comparing it to and the angle of the bevel it has. They are also known for slicing better due to that thinness and lack of any drag points from the flat side of the blade inherent with the grind. The chisel grind blade (not the edge) on knives like the Emerson folders are stronger due to the greater cross sectional mass of the blade being thicker in the middle. The middle of these knives is just as thick as the rest of the spine unlike a conventional V grind knife where it is thinner in the middle due to being ground thinner on both sides of the blade. The only part that is thin on a chisel grind is the part that cuts really. Typically a chisel grind is easier to sharpen also since you only have to deal with one side really.

For things like emergency cutting of seatbelts, or bands that hold boxes shut or just general utility slicing the chisel works well. I like it for my carving knives with the right hand grind. But I have left hand grind knives also and both have their place. Hope that helps.
 
I learned what I got with the chisel grind AFTER I got it. Fortunately (?) it had a problem with the lock engaging WAAAAAY too deep making it hard to unlock.
So I returned it to Benchmade via the warranty and also mentioned that I would much prefer the V-grind and they REPLACED the knife. Yeh, I know that the New Old Stock chisel grind FIRST PRODUCTION RUN is on a rarity par with the Bowie Sandbar knife, but I like the new one better.

So, the original thread title is moot.

Now....How do I get used to a neato V-grind knife???

:D :D :D

M-m-m-m-m-m-m-mmmmm

stryker6ox.jpg
 
i wouldnt say the 910CG is in any way a rare knife, i have had 3 of 'em myself.

nor would it being a prepro matter either imho. one of mine was a proto,
 
This a very easy problem to solve with a Spyderco Sharpmaker. For years Spyderco has made serrated chisel ground knives. There own sharpener instructions say to sharpen both micro-bevels using the 40 degrees rod setting (20 degrees per side). You will still have a chisel primary bevel but a regular ground micro-bevel. This eliminates a lot of the directional tendencies when cutting with a chisel ground blade (and is recommended by Spyderco!).

Just don't do this to your chisels!
 
STR said:
The chisel grind blade (not the edge) on knives like the Emerson folders are stronger due to the greater cross sectional mass of the blade being thicker in the middle.
Click to expand...

A chisel grind and v grind of the same height are the same cross sectional area. Of course a low sabre chisel grind is stronger than a high flat grind but it is the height of the grinds making the difference not chisel vs flat.

-Cliff
 
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