06-03-2021, 09:34 PM
Wow… You bring up a bunch of different subjects in one post.
FWIW, I’ll babble my thoughts on sharpness and steel varieties. I’m sure some folks opinion will differ from mine, so like I say FWIW. I look at knives as tools. Tools to use in everyday life. Chasing super sharp is fun and interesting to do. Nothing wrong with having fun! That said, IMHO, it does not buy much for every day use knives. So, it’s two different things… Every day use and having fun seeing just how sharp you can make a blade.
From what I have seen, super sharp edges are a real pleasure to use, but that level of sharpness is ephemeral at best. Chopping a few carrots reduces those edges to 100-150 very quickly and then dulls from there. After all, super sharp means super thin and super thin edges tend to roll and dull quickly. Of course there are situations where the sharpness will endure such as slicing sashimi with no cutting board impact, but in most general use circumstances the extra effort to get super sharp is not worth the effort as it does not last long.
I used to think that super hard steel would, of course, provide more enduring sharpness. However, that does not appear to have panned out. The harder steels seem to dull at about the same rate as “softer” RHC 56-58 steels. When it comes to general use blades the big manufacturers like Henckels, etc., have figured out the best hardness steel of somewhere around HRC 56-58 or maybe just a bit harder. They have been at it for 100 years so it kind of makes sense they have figured something out. The issue is that the expensive super steel blades don’t offer a good ROI. Additionally the harder steels tend to be not only harder to sharpen but also suffer from chipping and edge longevity is not greatly improved.
My theory of this phenomenon is that super sharp edges are so thin that the slightly harder steel can’t compensate for tendency for the edge to roll and dull. It’s the bulldozer and the egg thing… If a bulldozer is lowered onto an egg, it will crush the egg and make an ugly disgusting mess. Even though a dozen eggs would be 12X stronger and support 12x more weight it’s not enough to make a difference. The same with harder steel blades. It’s not harder enough to resist rolling and dulling during every day use of a blade, let alone the other disadvantages of expense of hard steel blades that suffer chipping.
Regardless of the steel, cutting board impact, etc., dulls blades pretty quickly. It’s a fun experiment: With a “normal” blade like a Wusthof, sharpen it until its nice and sharp, measure the sharpness, chop a dozen carrots and then measure the sharpness again. Then do the same with an expensive super hard blade. Please let us know the results!
From my experience thinner blades get sharper than thicker blades. I generally sharpen to 15 degrees per side. But then like I mentioned, I sharpen blades to use and not just to see how sharp I can get them. I’d be interested to hear if you find the same with thinner/thicker blades.
Check out the RHC calculator: http://www.bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=287
I usually get practice blades at the local Salvation Army store for a couple of bucks each.
FWIW, I’ll babble my thoughts on sharpness and steel varieties. I’m sure some folks opinion will differ from mine, so like I say FWIW. I look at knives as tools. Tools to use in everyday life. Chasing super sharp is fun and interesting to do. Nothing wrong with having fun! That said, IMHO, it does not buy much for every day use knives. So, it’s two different things… Every day use and having fun seeing just how sharp you can make a blade.
From what I have seen, super sharp edges are a real pleasure to use, but that level of sharpness is ephemeral at best. Chopping a few carrots reduces those edges to 100-150 very quickly and then dulls from there. After all, super sharp means super thin and super thin edges tend to roll and dull quickly. Of course there are situations where the sharpness will endure such as slicing sashimi with no cutting board impact, but in most general use circumstances the extra effort to get super sharp is not worth the effort as it does not last long.
I used to think that super hard steel would, of course, provide more enduring sharpness. However, that does not appear to have panned out. The harder steels seem to dull at about the same rate as “softer” RHC 56-58 steels. When it comes to general use blades the big manufacturers like Henckels, etc., have figured out the best hardness steel of somewhere around HRC 56-58 or maybe just a bit harder. They have been at it for 100 years so it kind of makes sense they have figured something out. The issue is that the expensive super steel blades don’t offer a good ROI. Additionally the harder steels tend to be not only harder to sharpen but also suffer from chipping and edge longevity is not greatly improved.
My theory of this phenomenon is that super sharp edges are so thin that the slightly harder steel can’t compensate for tendency for the edge to roll and dull. It’s the bulldozer and the egg thing… If a bulldozer is lowered onto an egg, it will crush the egg and make an ugly disgusting mess. Even though a dozen eggs would be 12X stronger and support 12x more weight it’s not enough to make a difference. The same with harder steel blades. It’s not harder enough to resist rolling and dulling during every day use of a blade, let alone the other disadvantages of expense of hard steel blades that suffer chipping.
Regardless of the steel, cutting board impact, etc., dulls blades pretty quickly. It’s a fun experiment: With a “normal” blade like a Wusthof, sharpen it until its nice and sharp, measure the sharpness, chop a dozen carrots and then measure the sharpness again. Then do the same with an expensive super hard blade. Please let us know the results!
From my experience thinner blades get sharper than thicker blades. I generally sharpen to 15 degrees per side. But then like I mentioned, I sharpen blades to use and not just to see how sharp I can get them. I’d be interested to hear if you find the same with thinner/thicker blades.
Check out the RHC calculator: http://www.bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=287
I usually get practice blades at the local Salvation Army store for a couple of bucks each.