03-23-2017, 01:58 PM
I agree. Not only should we ask what group of knives/users are we testing for, but also what questions is the edge tester attempting to resolve. It is difficult to seek answers to unasked or poorly defined questions.
When I first heard of the tester, my initial reaction was that it would just affirm the obvious. As Mr. Soxx stated, hard steel is going to perform better than soft steel. So why bother?
I think one example of a possible answer to that question is that the tester may be able to help answer questions like what the most effective blade hardness, geometry and level of sharpness is for a particular blade in a particular environment. For instance, is paying more for a harder steel blade more cost effective than just replacing it more often? How does that relate to sharpening costs or equipment downtime?
I’ve read that many chefs prefer more ductile, softer steel blades because they are easy to sharpen, take a nice sharp edge and are easy to quickly maintain with just a few masterful swipes on a steel. On the other end of the spectrum is the probably millions of knife steels that sit unused because people don’t understand their purpose.
So I agree. At this point there are far more questions than answers, not only in design and implementation, but also more basic, preliminary questions such as why and what for.
When I first heard of the tester, my initial reaction was that it would just affirm the obvious. As Mr. Soxx stated, hard steel is going to perform better than soft steel. So why bother?
I think one example of a possible answer to that question is that the tester may be able to help answer questions like what the most effective blade hardness, geometry and level of sharpness is for a particular blade in a particular environment. For instance, is paying more for a harder steel blade more cost effective than just replacing it more often? How does that relate to sharpening costs or equipment downtime?
I’ve read that many chefs prefer more ductile, softer steel blades because they are easy to sharpen, take a nice sharp edge and are easy to quickly maintain with just a few masterful swipes on a steel. On the other end of the spectrum is the probably millions of knife steels that sit unused because people don’t understand their purpose.
So I agree. At this point there are far more questions than answers, not only in design and implementation, but also more basic, preliminary questions such as why and what for.