What ever happened to chisel ground blades?

WillB

WillB

Joined
Feb 3, 2007
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492
I recall the chisel ground knife was made popular by Emerson via the CQC7 and 6, and some other makers followed. They were popular, then just as fast seemed to disappear. Various claims were made abut the superiority of the chisel grind. Why did they lose popularity? On testing did they just not hold up to the wonder claims made? Other reasons?

I still have an early CQC7 when they were made by BM, which some felt was better knife than what Emerson produced, but I have no experiences with the Emerson product.
 
Mostly, people eventually came to realize that the hype was...hype. There's nothing wrong with chisel grinds, really, but they have advantages and disadvantages to them, and they're ultimately best suited for fairly narrow contexts of use rather than being a general application grind type. As such, the fad passed and those who produced them for actual good reasons were mostly the ones who continued offering them.
 
Were there wonder claims made about them? I wasn't around for that. To me they seem just like any other grind in that they come with advantages and disadvantages for any specific task.

I'll say that as a right-handed person, I prefer them ground like the one CM pictured above.
 
I've seen some absolutely insane chisel grinds on kitchen knives - but, for an EDC knife, it's of dubious utility unless you typically cut only in one direction.

It's very much a niche preference, and, as such, isn't particularly common. The market just isn't there for it to be a common grind.
 
Comeuppance said:
I've seen some absolutely insane chisel grinds on kitchen knives - but, for an EDC knife, it's of dubious utility unless you typically cut only in one direction.

It's very much a niche preference, and, as such, isn't particularly common. The market just isn't there for it to be a common grind.
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That reflects my thoughts on a chisel grind in general. The cutting aspect is why I generally don't buy knives with chisel grinds.

I believe the last one was a CRKT Razel (actually three of them in different sizes) which I use primarily for detailed scraping on the job where a sharp edge is important to accomplish the task at hand. Otherwise... putty knife which you can sharpen if you like. ;)

Would I buy an Emerson with a chisel grind? No.
 
SpySmasher said:
Were there wonder claims made about them? I wasn't around for that. To me they seem just like any other grind in that they come with advantages and disadvantages for any specific task.

I'll say that as a right-handed person, I prefer them ground like the one CM pictured above.
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Yup. Lots of claims about them somehow being stronger than double bevel grinds and tactical knives making wounds that can't close and stuff like that. Real head-scratcher stuff.
 
SpySmasher said:
Were there wonder claims made about them? I wasn't around for that. To me they seem just like any other grind in that they come with advantages and disadvantages for any specific task.

I'll say that as a right-handed person, I prefer them ground like the one CM pictured above.
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I seem to recall that, years ago, Ernest Emerson described chisel grinds as having almost 'magical properties' in regards to cutting.

Jim
 
The maker who made chisel grinds popular was Phil Hartsfield. There is nothing wrong with a chisel grind, if that is what you prefer. I carried a folding knife with a chisel grind on multiple deployments and they worked fine for the tasks I needed.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Mostly, people eventually came to realize that the hype was...hype. There's nothing wrong with chisel grinds, really, but they have advantages and disadvantages to them, and they're ultimately best suited for fairly narrow contexts of use rather than being a general application grind type. As such, the fad passed and those who produced them for actual good reasons were mostly the ones who continued offering them.
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Can you give a brief run down on that?
 
SpySmasher said:
Were there wonder claims made about them? I wasn't around for that. To me they seem just like any other grind in that they come with advantages and disadvantages for any specific task.

I'll say that as a right-handed person, I prefer them ground like the one CM pictured above.
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More durable, easier to sharpen, and cut better, are a few that come to mind but it's been a long time.
 
SpySmasher said:
Were there wonder claims made about them? I wasn't around for that. To me they seem just like any other grind in that they come with advantages and disadvantages for any specific task.

I'll say that as a right-handed person, I prefer them ground like the one CM pictured above.
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That's one of the issues with them, the differences in how they perform in one hand versus the other. I have the same CQC 7 as the OP, a Benchmade version, and I have used the Grayman chisel grinds. They work great in my right hand, but I am ambidextrous and would want them ground the other way for use in my left hand after spending time trying them in both hands.
 
mistwalker said:
That's one of the issues with them, the differences in how they perform in one hand versus the other. I have the same CQC 7 as the OP, a Benchmade version, and I have used the Grayman chisel grinds. They work great in my right hand, but I am ambidextrous and would want them ground the other way for use in my left hand after spending time trying them in both hands.
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I right hand vs left hand effect of a chisel grind never occurred to me. Makes sense.
 
WillB said:
Can you give a brief run down on that?
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Namely the effect it has on the minimum angle of approach. For a given edge angle, you're able to initiate a cut at any angle (up to 90°, after which you're using the other face of the blade) greater than the edge angle. Below that angle and you're riding the shoulder on the target instead of cutting it. So if you have two knives, each with a 30° total edge angle, a symmetrically ground blade can approach the target material at any angle greater than 15° in either direction. The chisel-ground blade will be able to cut at any angle greater than 0° (parallel with the face of the target material) on one side, but any angle greater than 30° on the other (quite steep!) Furthermore, there'll be no relief angle on that side so deflection forces of the cut material are usually pretty high, and in deep cuts the blade will want to deviate with the flat face to the interior of the curve. Chisel grinds are great for paring/flush cuts, but become much more particular about how they approach materials.
 
WillB said:
So take one! What do you like/prefer about the chisel grind as a maker and or user?
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Can't. Knife is long gone.

What I prefer about chisel is not many people buy them. It allows me to have a turnaround of under a month. I enjoy making knives and don't want to be overwhelmed with orders.
 
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