The world of knife sharpening is full of anecdotal evidence.
As the saying goes, “Give ten different people the same job and they’ll do it
in ten different” ways. Go onto any knife forum and start asking questions and
you’ll get dozens of different perspectives, opinions, and assurances that THIS is absolutely the best way to
sharpen a knife. There’s a lot of great advice out there from very experienced
people but the sheer amount of it can be overwhelming. Plus, anecdotes can only
go so far; as sharpening itself becomes more and more advanced, so does the
need for more scientific and precise information.
There are hundreds of different kinds of knives and their
uses are just as numerous. At Wicked Edge, we want to determine the best angles
and finishes for the most common types and uses. We’ve done some research already
on the importance of having a clean, sharp edge when preparing food, but we
want to expand our research to other uses as well. For example, what is the
best angle for cutting tomatoes as opposed to cutting sisal rope? Is it better
to have a toothier edge when cutting food? What about just opening boxes? What’s
the best angle and finish for a long-lasting edge when you use your knife all
day long?
These are the kinds of questions we want to find clear-cut,
empirically tested answers for. Our plan is to build an apparatus that will
hold a knife and cut through any given material with a slicing motion. We will
measure the force needed to cut through the material so that we can get an
accurate picture of which angles and finishes require the least amount of force
to cut a given material. We also want to see how the amount of force needed
changes over a number of uses so we can see what angles and finishes last the
longest as well.
This is where our customers come in. What do you use your
knives for the most? What kind of knives are they? Do you already have a
preferred angle and finish for certain knives or do you just do all your knives
the same? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Clay: Looking forward to this blog. I'm particularly interested in the needs of butchers, in terms of finnish and edge for trimmers and cleavers. Also, does metallurgy impact finishing decisions on toothiness versus polish, for cutting meats.
ReplyDeleteHi Patrick,
DeleteIn re-reading your comment, I just realized you were asking a question. Sorry for the slow response. Metallurgy mostly impacts how fine an edge can be attained on a blade and how long it will last, so it does inform the decision making process. Steels with a large grain structure won't form as fine an edge without chipping. Hardness and grain structure influence what happens when the blade is used; too soft a steel might roll at a fine angle and too brittle a steel might chip. I'm an advocate for creating a fairly acute primary bevel and then using the blade for a while to see how it holds up. From there, I will add a micro-bevel if needed for durability. The toothiness relates because it can be used in lieu of a more acute angle to improve cutting performance. Sushi purists argue that you should have a higher polish, therefore a better steel that will take a very acute angle because a toothy edge does more tearing and rupturing of the tissue, releasing toxins and damaging cell structure. The same would apply to other meats. So, to sum up: For lesser quality stainless steels, go with a polished lower angle like 15 degrees per side first, then add a micro-bevel at 18-20 degrees per side with a little more tooth, like 600#-1000#. For high quality stainless allows and high carbon blades, just go with a polished edge at as low an angle as the knife can support. I hope that's helpful.
--Clay
Hi Clay: Is this not similar to what Cliff Stamp's been doing for sometime now? Would you be duplicating results or pulling your resources on this?
ReplyDeleteIt's very similar to the great work Cliff Stamp has been doing. We've worked with him a fair amount and our original sharpness testing machine was partly his design. We're hoping to take the research even farther and collect very detailed data of force/edge requirements for cutting all kinds of materials.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear that, Clay. Look forward to seeing some results. Also looking forward to hearing about the kickstarter sometime.
ReplyDelete