What do you guys think about chisel grind?

My main kitchen knife is chisel, it has an extremely sharp edge, but fragile.

For folders, I dont see why you would want chisel grind.
 
Aside from taking less time to sharpen, I don't care for them for an everyday carry knife... Unless I plan on cutting sushi all day.
 
I like this picture.

IMG_6311_zpsc6b4b13e.jpg


i do love this knife, I let guests cut steak with this and everytime their eyes explode out of their socket and say 'whoa!!' As it sinks into steak without any flexing of meat etc, basically it feels like there is no steak there.

try cutting anything other than soft proteins and you got a chip.
 
For everyday cutting, sd and ease of sharpening, the chisel blade is my favorite.
 
Took me over 5 years to properly sharpen and polish this style of bevel, took me a week to learn folders, so I guess sharpening ease is different from person to knife.
 
Depends on the way they face. I am right handed so the Emerson Chisel is backwards.

The chisel grind is supposed to face outwards if you hold the knife in your dominant hand and point it towards your weak hand. This was done so your fingers could ride along the unground side of the blade while slicing.

Ernie did it the other way around because it looks 'cooler' (not kidding, read his website).
 
I like them for EDC, even though you don't see them on many production knives.

If you're the kind of person who can't get the hang of freehand sharpening, but refuses to give up (like me), then they're great: work up a burr from the bevel side, then strop the flat side. No need to worry about destroying the symmetry of the bevels, and jacking up your edge.

Chisels can also be more resistant to chipping or rolling, because there is more steel behind the edge than there would be in a double bevel.

Heat treat is the key in this case. Kitchen knives are treated to high hardness, even brittle hardness. This makes them less than ideal for general purpose use, but excellent for slicing bread, tomatoes, and other "squishy" foods. Damn good at prepping vegetables and other things, too.

But not so good for cutting wallboard, or situations where it may get knocked against something hard.

Which is why folding knives, hunting knives, and other EDC blades are hot treated to their optimal hardness, but rather for a balance between hard and tough. Ideally, anyway.

Given proper heat treat, a chisel grind should be less prone to chipping.

Just don't EDC you chef's knives, boys.
 
I feel like it takes the maker half the time to grind the blade, and you get half the potential performance. It's also more difficult for precise cutting because the edge is offcenter, which takes it out of the edc category for me.
 
Scurvy092 said:
Depends on the way they face. I am right handed so the Emerson Chisel is backwards.

The chisel grind is supposed to face outwards if you hold the knife in your dominant hand and point it towards your weak hand. This was done so your fingers could ride along the unground side of the blade while slicing.

Ernie did it the other way around because it looks 'cooler' (not kidding, read his website).
Click to expand...

I've always heard that but what I don't understand is how it makes it look cooler. It looks like you could just flip the knife over to see the 'cool' side.
 
I do not see a point in that grind, even after reading various explanations why they should cut better and how overall superior they are. I never had a knife with chisel grind and this is the way how I intend to keep it.
 
I think they are silly, at least for an EDC blade.

Easier to sharpen, they say. Are regular grinds really that difficult? (No. No they are not.)

Tougher, due to increased sectional density, they say. No, I'd say not.

As a matter of fact, if a chisel edge grind was superior in any way, wouldn't they have found their way onto at least SOME other knife manufacturers outside of the obvious Emerson, CRKT, and Chinese gas station Spyderco-styled knives out of a plastic tub?


Far as I can tell, they exist for a few reasons. One, to be different for the sake of being different. To stand out. Two, to be easier to make.


I'm sure someone will be along to ramble on about increased cutting efficiency, "parasitic drag", how they sharpen in half the time, "never not none been able to cut nothin' that didn't need cuttin'", and so forth. That's fine. Buy what you like.
 
I was never a fan until recently. Got 4 emersons now and a handful of crkt m16 14sfa's. At first I found it annoying across the board...much like those who dont like 'em. Now I like them. Especially on my emersons. Too each their own though.
 
For me, it's the cool factor on my mini CQC7. I have learned to get it reasonably sharp on the SM, but it's no match to my Spyderco and Benchmade "V" grinds. My particular Emerson is very well made and I enjoy owning it, but I do understand why so many don't care for the grind.
 
I had a couple of Emersons. Didn't mind the chisel grind, but Ernie's 154cm got old pretty quickly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top