Different knife grinds & performances

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KetchupKing
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Different knife grinds & performances

Post by KetchupKing »

So after seeing this choil shot of this certain knife, it got me wondering.. "is that so thin that it's fragile". My terminology could be very wrong all over this post so sorry about that in advance. Hopefully the main point you understand what I am wondering. If we were to take 4 choil shot pictures, is there a sense of "how the knife performs somewhat?" If a choil shot shows a similar thickness then rapidly gets THHHHHIIINNNN fast, in my head im picturing a high up grind that probably falls through stuff but sticks? Is that better than say a gradual decline in thickness starting from a thicker point say like 4mm, so that would be similar to gradual decline in thickness but say starting from like 2.6mm spine thickness. So these last two options i pointed out are the same, only they are differentiated by the spine thickness. I wanted to leave like 4 pictures down here as an example of what i mean. I guess what I would like to know is how much does something like this effect performance? Is this a big tell tell sign? Or there is so much more to the picture that you couldn't really tell what would perform not well, but "how it would perform" based on choil shots. There is a picture down below of a tall grind as I describe where it gets stupid paper thin at the edge, and to me right away slightly over exaggerating of course I say to myself, " that is so fragile, looks like any wrong pressing motion and that whole edge is gonna break :lol: :lol: .

***How much of an effect does this have really on performance or can you tell what characteristics you would get based on choil shot?
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jmcnelly85
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Re: Different knife grinds & performances

Post by jmcnelly85 »

A choil shot isn’t unlike reading about a cars horsepower. It’ll give an idea of what’s going on, but is only part of an equation. Some very high end knives like Shigefusa’s and Kato’s might have a choil shot that visually looks less dramatic as some knives at much lower price points, but that doesn’t always mean the one more impressive in pictures will be more impressive on the board. Some
Information can be taken from a choil shot, but once the knife starts seeing food the full story unfolds.
salemj
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Re: Different knife grinds & performances

Post by salemj »

I like choil shots a lot, but I don't think they tell you much about performance without other information. What they do hint at is the overall grind type. You can usually tell form the choil 1) how tall the grind is, and 2) how convex versus concave the edge grind is (versus the upper geometry as provided by the smith, not the sharpener), which includes how the blade transfers from the bladeroad through the shoulder. Based on these features, if you have other knowledge about the makers of the knife or the region, you can sometimes guess at performance. I can't think of that many blade that feature such a transition that is in conflict with the choil shot, even if the choil shot itself doesn't quite match the elegance of the grind or geometry of the blade as a whole.

In terms of fragile or not, I think this is not really something to talk about without using the knife and knowing your audience. There are way too many variables here, and the choil does NOT tell you much about the edge. You can only get limited information based on the shot (some shots make the edge look much thinner than it is, other much thicker), but far more important is the fact that the edge at the heel is not indicative of the edge further up. In fact, I think several makers purposely provide a slightly thicker heel while really thinning out the edge further up the blade. In my own experience, I've come to realize that what I really value us how thick a blade is behind the edge rather than how thin the apex itself appears to be.

Again, I think you can guess a lot from a choil shot, but only if you have a lot of other amassed knowledge.
~Joe

Comments: I'm short, a home cook, prefer lighter, thinner blades, and own mostly Konosukes but have used over a dozen brands.
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