These are the most common types of knife profiles. All but the Convex profile have flat ground bevels.
Note that the Hollow Ground, or Concave bevel is very short. This type of blade produces an extremely sharp edge, since it is so thin at the shoulder. The drawback is that it does not produce a strong edge.
The Single Bevel produces the sharpest edge of all and is simple to re-sharpen. These knives are handed and require practice to use. (The profile shown here is for right-handed use.)
The Compound Double Bevel edge is very versatile (and not handed). It is the most common edge type produced. It is stronger than a Flat Ground bevel, as the primary shoulder is closer to, and supports the edge. Typically, only the primary bevel is sharpened, although some like the secondary edge polished for display.
Convex bevels are very strong and make good pocketknife profiles where efficiency is not so much an issue. They are not as sensitive to bevel angle when re-sharpening for use. They can be a bit tricky when being polished for display purposes.
The edge of a knife is not quite as simple as one might think. All knives need to be sharp, as the saying goes “a sharp knife is safer than a dull one”.
The image to the left demonstrates the Bevel Angle of knife blades. In short, the lesser the bevel angle, the sharper the blade will seem. There are a couple of trade-offs with this. The longer the bevel, the weaker it is at the edge, the faster it wears, and more surface contact is experienced when cutting pliable substances like meat, or cheese. This can cause fatigue of the user, when in constant use.
Whatever the angle, Knyfe’s Edge will do our best to match the existing bevel of a blade. To change it in either direction requires removing quite a bit of steel from the blade, which is almost never a good thing.
One more consideration for the edge of a blade is the Serrated Blade. These are sometimes known as “Bread Knives” and have a wavy bevel. These are used to cut fibrous foods or foods with tough outer surfaces like bread or tomatoes. Serrated knives accomplish this by sawing at the surface in tiny bites as the individual points of the edge make contact. No matter how sharp the edge, a polished Chef’s Knife will not be the best choice for cutting bread (or tomatoes).
Knyfe’s Edge offers “Micro-Serrated” edges. This is a treatment after sharpening, that puts tiny serrations on the edge that work much the same way as the scallops shown. This is a very good option for utility knives that will be used for vegetables. It is also recommended for pocketknives that will be in daily use. It prevents items like rope or nylon straps from slipping off the blade when force is applied. We can, of course polish an edge to be attractive for displays. On multi-blade pocketknives it is even possible to have one blade micro-serrated, and another polished. One for cutting, the other for shaving. If you’re into that kind of thing.
We use the Wicked Edge, Generation 4 Pro, guided sharpener with micro-adjustments. This is the most precise and fastest sharpening tool available today. We use stones ranging from 200 grit to correct an edge, to 3000 grit to polish it sharp, without removing it from the sharpener. We can polish down to .5 micron using leather strops for that Straight Razor edge. When a blade is completed, we take a photo to record the set-up in the sharpener and then note pertinent information. This allows us to quickly set the blade up during follow-up maintenance visits, greatly reducing the time needed to re-sharpen the edge.
Let’s talk about Honing Rods or “Steels”, as they are sometimes called. This is a rod with a handle on one end, used to dress sharp knives. The butcher is often depicted using one. Perhaps the villain slowly drags a knife down the metal rod with a high-pitched scraping sound to add drama to a scene. Yes, that’s a Honing Rod. My family fought over Grandad’s steel for a long time after his passing. I’m proud to say I have it now.
Knyfe’s Edge is old school and knows what a steel is.
When a very sharp knife is forced downward against a cutting surface, the burr on the edge tends to curl a little bit. It doesn’t take too long until that bend is felt in the experienced user’s hand. It forces the knife to favor one side, and slice away from the direction of the bend. It is most noticeable when cutting meats. This makes it difficult to maintain precise straight cuts and begins to cause fatigue in the user. A couple of swipes down a steel will straighten that burr or remove it. That’s all it does! It corrects an already sharp knife. They do not re-sharpen a knife, and that will be required after using a knife for some time, steel or no steel.
While looking at steels to represent Knyfe’s Edge I saw many diamond-coated rods with grits in the 500 and 600 range. The higher the grit number, the finer and more delicate the abrasion. When Knyfe’s Edge is finishing a blade, we are using 2000 or 3000 grit diamond stones, and even finer. A steel should not have a grit applied to it. A steel has linear serrations along the length of the rod to supply mechanical abrasion if you will and not cutting abrasion. To put a fine edge on it, a worn steel is preferred to a new one.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the only proper Honing Rod I have found is Dalstrong’s. I have included a link to it in the Kitchen Knives page.