Why I feel highly polished edges are superior to toothy.

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yepimonfire

Joined
Nov 7, 2013
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Because you can slice bread with a meat cleaver polished down to .1 micron diamond paste. :D Not even hard french bread, relatively soft sub bread. Works the same way with manilla rope too. My bread knives never see use.

[video=youtube;u5aADdpj5Sw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5aADdpj5Sw[/video]
 
I think many can agree that a polished edge excels at certain tasks while a toothy edge has its own qualities. For me the toothy edge can do its own tasks, yet can do many of the polished edge tasks better than a polished edge can do toothy edge tasks. That said, I keep my edc knife polished. I enjoy push cuts and light slicing cuts above all else if I have a choice.
 
I think superiority of either is relative to the task and many other variables. I dont believe in absolution in most cases.
 
I usually stop at the DMT Coarse or maybe Fine, whatever grit they may be. Then, I strop to maintain sharpness. As time goes by, the edge goes to the polished side of things. The blades do some things better toothy and somethings better more refined. I can tell you for a fact when I used ONLY my Xtra Coarse stone and no strop on my kitchen knife, it too would cut everything just as well as your video. Upon successful extra toothy cooking, I polished it up after supper! Balance the time spent vs beautiful bevels with the task in mind. OR BUY TWO OF EVERY KNIFE AND DO BOTH! ;)
 
I think toothy edges have their place, i just haven't seen them in my uses for a knife.

If you're only cutting paper and cardboard, like me, polished is superior.
If you're cutting hard plastics all day, i think polished edges would dull quick, but just what I've read on here. I don't cut hard plastics much, at most zip ties.

My work knives are polished daily and rotated. Cutting proteins with a super thin polished edge is heaven.
 
Honed_Edge said:
OR BUY TWO OF EVERY KNIFE AND DO BOTH! ;)
Click to expand...

This is obviously the most logical thing to do :D ion fact, I'd say buy 4 of every knife, that way if you accidentally dull the fine one cutting steel reinforced tubing at work, you'll still have a sharp one for opening your bills and junk mail (and subsequently turning the junk mail into small slivers of paper, can't be wasting trash space) when you get home from work. Of course five would be even smarter if they made a serrated version, that toothy one can only be so toothy. Don't know how many times I've just made a quick run to the post office and found needing to cut some 1" thick ship rope or had to saw off a small branch to beat some sense into the people in line who decide to wait to pack up their shipment at the customer counter, wasting your time that could be spent at home shredding up that new phone book you just got this morning.
 
IMHO. I have tested both and they each have their benefit. I looked at a skinning knife edge that was polished 400 grit and a polished 1200 grit under a microscope. It was interesting to see the teeth on the 400 grit vs that of the 1200 grit. The 1200 grit had a smooth edge, like a razor. I tested it myself and saw a clear difference on paper, c- flute box board, and 1" diameter rope. I'm no well-known knifemaker, but I believe in making the sharpest edge that I can for the application that my knife will be used on by my customer. I would rather have a skinner that does its job with ease like a surgeon with a scalpel. Why not have the sharpest edge possible for the knife you make. I believe in doing that. Test a production knife edge against a custom made polished, sharpened edge. It has made me a better knifemaker.
 
Well, IMO, not all production edges and no all custom edges are the same...
Neither satisfies my qualifications of sharp.
Worst I've seen out of box was crkt, though I haven't seen many knives compared to most here.
 
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