(08-17-2017, 12:08 PM)Work Sharp Culinary Wrote: The E5 and E3 use the same abrasives and belt technology as the standard Work Sharp line but were designed specifically for use in the kitchen. The guides are set to accommodate smaller angles (17 degrees comes standard, there is an optional expansion to 15 and 20 degrees for the E5) that are leather-lined to help keep grit from marring the edge of your knives. The angle is also built to remove the rounding of tips some inexperienced users have with our standard line. They also feature an internal vacuum system with magnets to pull any material and grit into the machine instead of on your counter. The E3 runs at two speeds (Shape and Refine). The E5 has three timed stages to entirely remove the guesswork for "am I sharp", and includes MicroForge.

The M3 also has MicroForge.

MicroForge is achieved by running the blade across a proprietary stationary wheel in the handle of the rod. It applies tiny facets to one side of the blade, giving you a straight edge on one side and a faceted edge on the other. 

Here's a photo of an 8' chef's knife we applied MicroForge to the bottom half of the blade-






Close up

While we have a complete battery of tests to perform with different edges and steels before we would make official claims, one of our engineers ran six identical 154CM blades with a 15 degree angle through a CATRA tester at the Benchmade engineering office with no MicroForge, light MicroForge (gentle pressure used in the MicroForge process), and heavy MicroForge (assertive pressure used in MicroForge process). 

The results revealed slightly less sharpness in the first couple of cuts with the MicroForged knives, but by the third test cycle the lightly MicroForged knife was at equal sharpness with the original edge and by the fifth test cycle the MicroForged edge was actually sharper. By the 20th test cycle the MicroForged edge was significantly sharper than the original edge in all cases. The heavily MicroForged knives started out slightly less sharp than the straight and light MicroForge but tested sharper than the straight edge by the sixth test cycle and sharper than the lightly MicroForged edges by the 10th test cycle and ended the sharpest of the blades. 

So what does all that mean? In this test, MicroForge stayed sharp for longer than a straight edge. All knives passed the paper cutting test at the beginning of the trial, so the difference in sharpness at the beginning wasn't  enough for most users to notice, but by the 20th cycle the heavily MicroForge edge tested sharper than the straight edge was in the 11th test cycle.

How does MicroForge feel? In a paper test, there is a slightly "zippery" feel but it doesn't snag nor perform worse than a straight edge.

MicroForge excels at cutting fibrous foods like peppers, meats, and especially useful for people who don't want to regularly upkeep their knives.

(08-17-2017, 04:10 PM)Work Sharp Culinary Wrote:

(08-17-2017, 01:02 PM)grepper Wrote: How does this perform on harder steels RHC 60+ that are prone to chipping?  What was the hardness of the blades that you tested?

Let me talk to engineering and get back to you on that...

(08-17-2017, 01:02 PM)grepper Wrote: Are the facets just on one side of the blade?  

 
Correct. It appears to be on both sides (it's difficult to convey the three dimensions of the facets), but in the most close up picture you can see the light reflecting within the facet all the way to the edge
 

(08-17-2017, 01:02 PM)grepper Wrote: Do you have any microscopy of the edge?  

 
I suspect we do... I'll see what I can round up.

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(08-17-2017, 03:28 PM)Rupert Lucius Wrote: At this time I am sold -

And thanks to Mr/Mrs WorkSharp Culinary for their post.

Hope this is that "holy grail" edge.

Rupert

Thank you, and please let me know if you have any additional questions we can answer!

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(08-17-2017, 09:46 AM)grepper Wrote: Interesting that even Work Sharp is bailing on a smooth edge.

Not quite! The MicroForge is an optional edge... we still love hair-splitting straight edges as well!