Function vs Cosmetics

Snecx wrote:

Do you mean pretty by having a scratch-less mirror polish? For some knives I really like mirror polish, so I’ll go through the pain.

I too have a couple of knives with a cosmetically pleasant look (mirrored) but I have not yet done an edge that is completely blemish free. Minor blemishes that are not necessarily visible to the naked eye unless you play with the lighting to find them, IE moving the knife under a fluorescent light looking for imperfections or with 10-14 x triplet. For me an edge can look good without being mirrored, consistent, even scratching but if the knife is sharp with a few noticeable imperfections I call it good in most cases.

I was curious if the look of the edge was more or as important to many of us as the sharpness and cutting ability of the knife. I’ve sharpened for a dozen or so people now and have not had one of them say anything but how good they look even though there are imperfections that I have noticed and all of them love the way the knives perform. I have on occasion went through the pain to put the best looking edge I could do, but those knives are basically for show more than for every day use as I’ve found they are very time consuming to maintain. Cut anything harder than soft vegetables or paper and they don’t look nearly as good as before.

I’m not looking for absolutes, just for insight as to how some of you out there determine what the best edge for a particular knife should be. We seem to talk a lot about “mirroring” and less it seems to me about techniques for putting purpose edges on knives. Less refined edges left with more teeth seem to do a much better job on say meats and tougher materials than a more refined mirrored edge, it seems to me, so that is how I sharpen them with the purpose and user in mind. If a knife is going to be used by anyone but myself I want to put a durable and sharp edge on because I know that they most likely will not be maintained the same way I would.

I do understand wanting a knife to look good especially for more expensive EDC’s and kitchen knives. In a few instances I have sharpened them with the look of the edge in mind from the beginning but I’m still up in the air if the “edge” is any better and in some cases I’m sure they would work better for there intended purpose without the mirrored edge. The 8″ chefs knife in my kitchen that I use 75% of the time is not remarkable looking but is my go to knife in the kitchen. The EDC that I prefer to carry, Buck Vantage Force Pro, with S30V steal is also not a remarkable looking edge but I promise you it does what I want it to do.

These are just some of the thoughts that roll around in my pea brain and was curious as to the thought process of you folks on how you determine an edge for certain knives.

Thanks Guys

I couldn’t agree more TC. For hunting knives the 600 diamond or 400 wet stone edge is a great edge and seems to hold up real well. Thanks TC

Thanks Snecx good stuff. When you do get the lapping films and get a chance to use them I’ll be interested to hear what you think of them.