Factory micro bevel

[dulledge]

Question to people who have microscopes. Do you know if some factory edges have a micro bevel? I am curious if manufacturers employ micro bevel technique too. I read somewhere that many manufacturers lowered factory angle in a last few years. Like Henckels and others. It would be logical if they put micro bevel on low angle edge. Maybe they all use micro bevel and always used it? I am just curious.

[cbwx34]

My experience is no,,,, they’ll often sharpen both sides, then buff one side at a high angle to remove the burr.  (So, technically a mocrobevel on one side… but probably not the type you’re thinking of).

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dulledge

[dulledge]

Thank you Curtis! This whole microbevel thing is totally new to me. I have least experience with sharpening on this forum though. Once I started to apply microbevel, my knives suddenly were able to slice paper and cut tomatos. It never happened to me before. I over eat tomatoes    last month, now slicing paper like crazy. It feels good!  Thank you all in this forum!

[Mark76]

I’ve had a Japanese knife with a microbevel out of the box. But that was the only one. So in general, no.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

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dulledge

[Gregg776]

I have a Tojiro Flash hook bladed peeler that came with a micro bevel on one side; the other side was polished.  Whoever did the final hand finish may have been allowed to use their own method to obtain a good edge.  I bought it about 4 years ago, I use it quite a lot and haven’t sharpened it yet.

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dulledge

[dulledge]

Gregg776 wrote:

I bought it about 4 years ago, I use it quite a lot and haven’t sharpened it yet.

Wow! Very impressive! I looked up these Tojiro Flash knives. “VG-10 Japanese steel blade, Rockwell rating of 61 with 63 layers of forged alternating high & low carbon stainless steel”. They should be better than Henckels, hence more expensive.

[Gregg776]

I only use the Tojiro on vegetables and wash & dry it after every use.  Almost all mass produced or semi mass produced knives will vary a little on their heat treating and final finish.  Getting a superb one is the luck of the draw;  it seems that the Japanese take a little more pride and diligence in their craftsmanship than some.

Some of the knife forums are crazy with opinions of all sorts of knife metallurgy real and imagined; I’m glad this forum doesn’t stoop that low.

To me most Henckels seem soft like it is purposely heat treated not to chip or perhaps to have the edge roll so that users could take full advantage of steeling the blade; not my idea of ideal but some think they can’t cut anything without first picking up a steel and running it over the blade.

For the money, it is hard to beat Victorinox; the lower cost knives seem as good as their more expensive models, just not as fancy and they keep an edge at least as well as the Henckels.  They are good knives to leave in a knife block on the counter when you have house guests or other help in the kitchen for when you have to hide your good knives.

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Organic, dulledge

[M1rrorEdge]

I would say No!  If you find a true micro bevel on a production knife,  it was probably a accident.  Some of the higher end knife makers are using them now because of the recent exposure and customer demand.  It’s a unique technique that serves a specific purpose but may not be necessary for every knife or customer need.  The manufactures have improved the steel chemistry to a point where the angles are getting smaller because the steel and the hardening of that steel is getting more consistent.  Basically, edges are able to take more abuse these days so the sharper angles are more possible for more cutting tasks.

Eddie Kinlen
M1rror Edge Sharpening Service, LLC
+1(682)777-1622

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dulledge

[dulledge]

I got Victorinox 8 inch Chief’s knife for Christmas. It has micro bevel on factory edge on both sides.

I am surprised that if slicing paper fast, it is OK, but slicing slower, then it catches pretty often. It is great on tomatos though. I guess that for kitchen knifes the toothier edge is better and testing on tomato is better than testing by slicing paper.

[tcmeyer]

In their comparison tests, America’s Test Kitchen picks the Victorinox chef’s knife as their favorite every time.

Cutting paper with a rapid stroke is always easier than doing it slowly.  It also tends to use less of the blade’s length to do so.  When I saw one of our fellow forum haunters chop a section on paper which had been creased (folded) and stood up on a table, I was really impressed.  Then I tried it myself  and thought, “Well, maybe not so impressive.”  If you want to test an edge, go slow.  It’s those tiny little flaws that are revealed.

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Organic, Alan, dulledge

[dulledge]

tcmeyer wrote:

It’s those tiny little flaws that are revealed.

Until recently I too was sure that there were tiny little flaws. Now I am starting to think that these tiny little flaws are for the best. They are just perfect micro serrations that make edge great for kitchen tasks. Such edge could not excel for shaving, but it works the best for food, particularly for tomatoes.

You lose on shaving and paper slicing just a little bit, but you win on durability, retention and crazy sharp biting ability for food preparation. BTW, it still shaves and slices paper, but  it just catches paper sometimes when slow moving. Great thing is that I am not upset about it anymore. 🙂

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Alan, tcmeyer

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