Stig,
I notice in your video with Stumpy and Mike a short scene where a chef's knife effortlessly slices a micro thin slice out of a tomato. The tomato is just sitting on a cutting board with no other support. That's pretty fancy shootin', partner.
I know that cutting things like tomatoes benefit from having a bit of tooth on the blade. Did you polish that blade on the leather honing wheel? Japanese wheel?
Ken
Ken, while not answering your question to Stig and not trying to hijack this thread , I thought you might be interested in some testing I did cutting tomatoes with knives sharpened with more and less coarse abrasives, producing a more or less "toothy" edge. As I recall, I had 4 or 5 knives sharpened ranging from right off the Tormek with a coarse stone, to very highly polished blades produced using 3M Microfinishing Film and super fine polishing abrasives to about 12,000 grit.
A couple of years ago we had a very hot, dry summer. For whatever reason, it was not a good year for tomatoes. They didn't ripen well, and would start to rot from the inside out, leaving a thin, smooth but tough skin, with very soft, watery, rotten guck in the middle. Sounds delicious, doesn't it?
While they tasted like crap, they were excellent specimens for testing knife sharpness and edge grinds from rough to polished.
The most excellent and telling subjects were tomatoes that were just starting to collapse, leaking rotten yuck, but were still more or less round without skin degradation. When attempting to cut these stinking blobs, it took very little pressure to squish the tomato while trying to penetrate the skin with the knife. So I picked up a bunch that were decomposing on the ground and proceeded to test.
What I found was that a polished edge can cut even a very soft in the middle, basically rotten tomato with a smooth, tough skin. But..., it had to be really, really, sharp. I emphasize; really, very sharp. Approaching razor blade sharpness. I used a new safety razor blade for comparison. If the knife was not super sharp, even with a careful sawing motion the blade would ride on the skin and the tomato would collapse and ooze out its insides before cutting the skin. If however there was even a tiny break in the skin, the blade would slice most excellently. These blades were so sharp, that even gently bumping against the finger would cause epidermal leaking. They were most excellent at slicing human skin! They would work great for sashimi or any other raw flesh, leaving a very clean cut. I actually shaved with one and was surprised how well it worked. (Not recommended).
While the Tormek can produce knives that sharp, I found that degree of sharpness didn't last long with normal use. As soon as the super sharpness was history, the polished blades became generally less useful. The still performed well for chop cutting, but anything with a smooth surface became problematic. It was evident even on vegetables like broccoli with a hard, smooth skin.
Without wishing to entertain the argument of longevity vs toothy/smooth edges, from my experience at least, a moderately toothy blade is generally more useful in the kitchen, and the edge lasts longer for all around, general, cutting.
I would be interested to know if anyone else has conducted the same tests, and how those results compare.
Outstanding post, Grepper. Scholarly, practical, and not without a dose of humor.
Your "epidermal leaking" reminds me of something I have observed with Tormek sharpened knives: When dropped, they always land on the tips and stick into the kitchen laminate or dinette hardwood....oops....Fortunately this has never happened when my wife is around. I have also experience epidermal leakage. As an old first aid instructor, I know that such a clean incision tends to be self cleaning with the leaking.
Ken
Thanks Grepper,
I have seen the same results. I used to give every knife a polished edge until a customer showed me that while it shaved it slid on a tomato skin. I gave that knife a couple of swipes on a ceramic steel and it sliced like it was meant to. We use that same ceramic steel in our kitchen to touch up between sharpenings and I now finish 90% of my knives with a 1500 grit ceramic wheel. High-end Japanese knives with 15% bevels I still polish.
Thanks for posting your tomato experience Steve! Those pesky tomato skins, especially with a nice squishy tomato, are great for demonstrating what a little "tooth" can do for you. Oddly, hard, shiny broccoli skin does it to.
I find it interesting that you don't have the same problem @ 1500 grit. I would think that still would produce a pretty polished edge.
Just for grins, the other day I sharpened a knife on a 150 grit belt. The belt was not new, so I suspect it was more like 200 grit, but still pretty coarse. After stropping, it was very sharp. It chopped cut paper against the grain easily and shaved hair. You know... sharp. It's winter so I didn't happen to have any tomatoes, especially gushy ones, but it hung nicely on the edge of onion skin and garlic, and produced clean, thin cuts. It seemed a perfect amount of tooth for a kitchen knife.
I should have taken the time to pitch the thing under the microscope to check out exactly what the edge was like, and I'm interested in how it will hold up. I'm not fully convinced that for general purpose kitchen knives, anything over about 225-325 grit is really advantageous. Note "general purpose". Obviously there are times when a polished edge is preferable.
Have you every experimented with edges sharpened with a fairly coarse grit? It's a big time saver, and I found the results somewhat surprising.
I'll have to do the same thing again and have a little look-see at the edge right after sharpening and then again after some use.
Anyone else do some experimenting along these lines?
At the risk of being boringly practical, all the gee wiz micro slices of tomatoes were stunning, however, for a sandwich, I prefer just an ordinary slice, which can be cut with a reasonably sharp knife by holding the tomato. ???
Ken
There you go again Ken, being practical! :)
Sorry, Grepper. It may be a genetic problem. I am half New England Yankee and three percent Neanderthal. (The Neanderthal heritage was confirmed in a DNA test..........And :D, I have had a lifelong partiality to swiss cheese and tomato sandwiches.
Ken
And with your history of phone installs Ken, I'm sure that you will appreciate that I think your advice about holding the tomato is a good tip and rings true. :D
Interesting take on the durability of the edge.
This one upmanship over tomato microtomes reminds me of the comment Jeff and I bounced back and forth, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"
Ken
ps At one time, answering this question incorrectly could get a person in serious trouble with the Inquisition!
Ever since I was a kid, I've labored under the impression that slicing tomatoes was only impressive if the knife was first used to cut through a tail pipe.
(For those outside the U.S., we had a famously annoying infomercial for "Japanese Ginsu knives" wherein the knife was used to cut an exhaust system in two, followed by slicing a tomato with scalpel-like ease. Realistically, the Pocket Fisherman was probably more useful, even today, as part of a prepper's go-kit.)
Hi,
I did polish the edge, as I always do, but a little burr would have made it even easier. I did not use the japanese wheel on that knife.
But!! A polished edge will stay sharp longer than if the burr is left on the edge.
I always polish with the honing wheel and it get´s as sharp as a new knife, sometimes I get even a sharper knife then it was new.
Once in a while I do even use the Japanese stone even If I know that I really don´t need to. But my knifes get´s unnecessary sharp and good looking then :D
But I do know that most knife users gets really impressed by the sharpness the regular stone and honingwheel give.
Stig
Stig,
My wife has the strangest ideas. She even suggested that I might actuall use my beautifully razor sharpened knives in the kitchen where they might become dull. Perish the thought! :)
Ken
ps Mike, maybe that is the secret of the smoky flavor in sandwiches.........
OK, Gentlemen,
what are you all polishing the edge with? Steve referred to a 1500 grit wheel. What else? Being a 'newbie' I know I am probably asking repetative and stupid questions, but.....
As they say in the demotivators " there are no stupid questions, but there are plenty of inquisitive idiots".
T
Great quote, Tyler.
As a traditional telephone man in a mostly rural area, I climbed many poles installing and restoring service. However, I never did, nor had any desire to do, the showy trick climbing the lumberjacks do. I guess I'm the same way with the Tormek. Tyler, I recommend you work with the tried and true Tormek wheel graded coarse, when appropriate, then graded fine, followed by the Tormek Honing compound. Once you have become very fluent (keywords "very fluent") with this basic combination you may wish to experiment. Being proficient with the basic combination will give you a solid basis and good point of reference to begin your experiments. Don't get me wrong; I think expanding our knowledge base is a very good thing. I just think we need the base first.
I would describe Steve as more than "very fluent".
Ken
Ken
Quote from: tylers on March 06, 2015, 02:56:14 AM
OK, Gentlemen,
what are you all polishing the edge with? Steve referred to a 1500 grit wheel. What else?
The leather honing wheel. It removes the burr and polishes the bevel.
Quote from: tylers on March 06, 2015, 02:56:14 AM
I know I am probably asking repetative and stupid questions, but.....
T
And in the rare case you ever discover you have actually asked an insanely stupid question,
or even blurted out a profoundly ridiculous utterance,
(http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y441/grepper00/Dumb_zps3tcpqnhl.png)
And, really!
(http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y441/grepper00/Bro_zpsnvjcxmow.png)
:)
Hopefully on a less comical and more actually helpful note... if you ever want to really polish the edge, after taking it as far as you can with the Tormek, you can always:
https://www.econabrasives.com/products.php?id=273&size=1X42
I have found that if you work your way through the grits with these things, you can get a polished edge where scratches are barely visible even under a microscope.
Well, there we have the graduate level polishing answer. I trust that when you have achieved that level that you do not degrade the edge by actually using it. :)
One of my favorite sharpening books is Leonard Lee's book. I like his DVD, too. I have both in my personal library and have often recommended them for your personal libraries. At a bare minimum, please check your local library or interlibrary loan.
Leonard Lee has a practicality based on many years experience. I believe him when he states that for most woodworking when an edge has been honed to 4000 (Japanese scale), that edge has reached the practical sharpness for almost all woodworking. For those of you interested in competitive wood planing or other trick shows, that is not enough. For those who are interested in building furniture or letting in hinges, 4000 is plenty.
Incidentally, Leonard Lee's book is not a Tormek specific book. However, in recent years, his company, Lee Valley, has become a Tormek dealer. The information is solid and very readable.
Ken
It is interesting to note that the Tormek honing compound is supposed to be comprised of equal amounts of 1,2 and 3 micron abrasives in suspension with mostly oil and ammonia. As that application of compound is used, the larger particles break down and the smaller particles become more significant. In theory at least, toward the end of an application's usefulness, only 1 micron abrasives would be left.
Consider the following:
http://www.gessweincanada.com/category-s/11328.htm
The finest grit super fine polishing belt I linked to, is about equal to a fresh application of the Tormek honing compound @ ~2 to3 micron. Therefore, after exhausting the finest grit belt, the edge could be further polished with the wonderful Tormek honing compound.
So to achieve a super polished edge, why bother with the belts at all? Why not just sharpen with the Tormek wheel as smooth as possible, about 1,000 grit, and then hone? The answer is that right off the 1,000 grit wheel, the bevel still has pretty deep, (comparatively), scratches. Additionally, because of the nature of the stone grader and the grinding wheel, even when the wheel is graded to 1,000 grit, the abrasive surface is not consistently even compared to micro finishing belts.
When that edge is then honed on the leather wheel with compound, the areas between the scratches become nicely polished and shiny, but the scratches remain even though to the naked eye the edge has a mirror surface. In theory the scratches could be completely removed and the bevel polished to the limit of the compound without the belts, but one would have to have a LOT of spare time and a good supply of honing compound on hand to pull off such a feat.
So to get a very highly polished edge in a reasonable time, sharpen to 1,000 grit on the Tormek, then work through the grit levels of belts, then hone with the Tormek compound.
I photographed this process some time ago so you can actually see it rather than just accept the idea. In this instance I stopped sharpening @1,200 grit and then honed with compound. As you can see, even though the bevel is highly polished and extremely sharp, scratches are still plainly visible. Sharpening to 1,000 grit on the wheel, and then through several grit levels up to 12,000 grit with belts, followed by honing with compound would, for all intents and purposes, completely remove the scratches. It would be a nice, very shiny bevel.
I mention in the post magnification of 200x, but looking at it now, I believe it's more like 50x – 100x:
http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1689.msg7998#msg7998
I agree completely, Mark. I can see the scratches left by the Tormek grindstone with my 40X microscope, and after polishing on the leather wheel the scratches remain, but the spaces in between the scratches have a mirror finish.
This got me thinking about the magnitudes. If we have a 0.5 micrometer abrasive, that will leave scratches of roughly the same size, 0.5 μm. That's equivalent to 500 nm, which is the wavelength of visible light. So essentially scratches of this size will not be visible at any magnification. You'd need an electron microscope to see them. That would be the definition of a mirror finish.
If the Tormek grindstone could be prepared to 1000 grit it would leave scratches on the order of 20 μm. This is about 40 times larger than the wavelength of visible and is clearly observed to not be a mirror finish, even with the naked eye. And that's easily confirmed with a 40X dissecting microscope or the like.
Sure is fun having a microscope, isn't it Herman!
It's cool to be able to actually see exactly what's happening during sharpening and honing. I've found it invaluable for understanding abrasives, edges and sharpening.
For me, a microscope ended that frustration that occurs when you just don't seem to be able to raise a burr and get a sharp edge. If could be because the grinding hasn't yet reached the edge, that the steel is so hard it doesn't make a burr, or both. But you just don't know. Without a microscope you can't tell, but with a microscope you can.
I have two related questions for the microscope people on the forum (I use the term "microscope people" as a compliment.):
1) Does the amount of time spent on the honing wheel improve the smoothness of the edge? If so, what kind of time are we talking?
(Does five minutes honing produce a noticeable improvement over one minute?)
2) How does the amount of time spent refining the edge relate to the endurance of the edge? In other words, does spending an extra minute translate to the longevity of the edge? (Does that minute spent on refining the edge mean an extra minute; five extra minutes, or how many minutes of keenness?)
Ken
Quote from: Ken S on March 07, 2015, 04:25:57 PM
1) Does the amount of time spent on the honing wheel improve the smoothness of the edge? If so, what kind of time are we talking?
(Does five minutes honing produce a noticeable improvement over one minute?)
Once I get a polished bevel and can see the mirror finish I stop. This takes probably a minute or two as long as the leather has been properly prepared. That is clean and impregnated with compound. I doubt that further honing would make any difference.
Quote2) How does the amount of time spent refining the edge relate to the endurance of the edge? In other words, does spending an extra minute translate to the longevity of the edge? (Does that minute spent on refining the edge mean an extra minute; five extra minutes, or how many minutes of keenness?)
I don't know about this. I haven't noticed any difference and wouldn't know how to tell. The knife is going to get dull faster depending on what tasks or abuses its been exposed to, and I don't how to isolate these variables from the one you're asking about.
First to All,
Thanks very much for the help and advice. I suspect that my life span is not long enough to get on par with Steve B.
Grepper - love your sense of humor; made me chuckle for a while.
I have read Leonard Lee's book also. Don't have his DVD yet though.....
I must not have the leather honing wheel properly prepared, as I am not happy with the finished product. Maybe too much oil?
On to more practice!
T ;)
Also,
does anyone (Herman?) make and sell Herman's extended jig/plate?
I'd rather buy one than take the time to make on, as I have plenty of other items to attend to.
T
They are not sold anywhere that I know of, and I was told it's not appropriate to offer them for sale here on this forum.
Quote from: Ken S on March 07, 2015, 04:25:57 PM
I have two related questions for the microscope people on the forum (I use the term "microscope people" as a compliment.):
1) Does the amount of time spent on the honing wheel improve the smoothness of the edge? If so, what kind of time are we talking?
(Does five minutes honing produce a noticeable improvement over one minute?)
How long should you hone? It depends.
Honing accomplishes two things; it removes the burr and abrades away or "polishes" out micro scratches on the cutting edge and the bevel. Check out the last two blade images here: http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1689.msg7998#msg7998
That is the blade before and after honing with compound. The micro burr and scratching has been removed by the compound.
Burr construction, shape and amount vary due to the hardness of the steel and how brittle it is, and forms differently depending on the coarseness of the abrasive used when sharpening. Ever hear of a burr referred to as a "wire edge"? That happens when the steel is pliable enough to actually roll over along the edge. Here's a textbook example:
(http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y441/grepper00/burr1_zpsscicyfw5.png)
Not all burrs are the same. Here's one where the burr material was extremely thin, and stood straight out from the edge. It was so fine simply blowing on it caused it to wave around on the edge like little flags.
(http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y441/grepper00/burr2_zps1ldhunzo.png)
Honing with compound wears away the burr making it thinner and bends it back and forth causing metal fatigue until breaks and/or is torn off by the compound and wheel. The time it takes to accomplish this depends on how hard and brittle the steel is, and how much burr material exists.
So, sorry, but the real answer to how long you should hone is; hone until you are satisfied that the burr has been removed to your satisfaction. You can check for burr a bunch of different ways: You can inspect the edge under a good, directional light and look for aberrations in reflection. Use magnification. Slice your finger perpendicularly over the edge and feel for it. Drag the edge of your fingernail VERY gently along the edge and feel for resistance, or lack thereof. Pull the edge across a cotton ball or some soft, easily snagged material. Try the edges of different types of paper. Be creative. Try a bunch of methods and see what works for you.
Honing is most important at the cutting edge. A beautiful shiny bevel isn't good for much more than a case of the grins if there is still burr on the edge. There is a big difference between a "toothy" edge and a rough edge caused by random piles of burr packed along the edge of the blade.
Burr removal is important, and you can imagine what happens if it's not removed. The first cut with the blade will tear away some of the burr leaving it in the material being cut, but the rest will smash down and bend around the edge causing the knife to appear dull. The idea of broccoli and burr has never sounded that tasty to me, even with added truffles and a mild, creamy Béchamel sauce.
Honing compound is actually an abrasive and cuts steel. Honing longer will further polish the bevel by removing micro scratches, but further work on deeper scratches would be of diminishing returns. I'm not really sure you can actually remove enough material to make the blade sharper, especially considering the leather is soft and may actually bend a little around the edge possibly dulling it if you hone too long. Maybe somebody else has a better idea about that.
I'm not saying overkill here. but as a noob and a person that "just" want good sharp kitchen knifes, this seems way overkill ;)
I'm kinda getting that a knife can be to sharp to be good in normal use in kitchen, or am i getting it completely wrong?. I'm not in the game of operating on anyone so scalpel sharpness is not needed, but would be nice if there is a use for it.
well spotted...sometimes the lengths people go to on this forum are far beyond those necessary to achieve a simple, practical edge that works just fine for every day use....important safety tip when reading posts here :-)
You can get a knife too sharp. In simplest terms, you get the two edges of the knife, to such a THIN point, that the edge disintegrates, while you use it.
There have been several posts on this, via trial by Tomato's (something that shouldn't really wear out a knifes edge).
http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1588.msg6595#msg6595
The smaller the bevel angle, the weaker the edge, but assuming the steel can hold the edge, it's also the sharper the edge. Razor blades are made this way, but not kitchen knives. A kitchen knife is not a good instrument for shaving, and a razor blade is not a good instrument for preparing food. Used in a kitchen, a razor blade-like knife would quickly dull and have to be discarded as it can't be sharpened.
The other thing you often want in the edge on a kitchen knife is a "tooth", or a roughness to the edge. It makes the knife work more like a saw than a slicer. But in other applications, like for a sushi chef, a smoother edge is desired. The beauty of the Tormek is that with practice you can control all these variables and get the edge you desire.
So Herman.
The ideal thing for me is the Tormek with the "normal" grindstone" ending with grid 1000 and honing it on the leather wheel. i'll get a good nice fihish but not a very polished one (Compared) but for the kind of work i'm talking about it is the ideal result, a good bevel with "teeth" that insn't to fine or week?.
Quote from: Jimmy R Jørgensen on May 17, 2015, 09:28:55 AM
The ideal thing for me is the Tormek with the "normal" grindstone" ending with grid 1000 and honing it on the leather wheel. i'll get a good nice fihish but not a very polished one (Compared) but for the kind of work i'm talking about it is the ideal result, a good bevel with "teeth" that insn't to fine or week?.
If you carefully go through these steps you'll have a polished edge with a mirror finish that would make any sushi chef proud. Most critical is preparation of the grindstone in the fine 1000-grit state. You have to spend a lot of time on this step to get the surface of the grindstone feeling smooth as glass.
If you want more of a tooth you can use less care preparing the grindstone in the fine state.
You really need hands-on practice to learn this stuff. Going back and forth between the workshop and the kitchen, you can become a connoisseur of the edge.
Quote from: grepper on February 15, 2015, 01:48:05 AM
Ken, while not answering your question to Stig and not trying to hijack this thread , I thought you might be interested in some testing I did cutting tomatoes with knives sharpened with more and less coarse abrasives, producing a more or less "toothy" edge. As I recall, I had 4 or 5 knives sharpened ranging from right off the Tormek with a coarse stone, to very highly polished blades produced using 3M Microfinishing Film and super fine polishing abrasives to about 12,000 grit.
A couple of years ago we had a very hot, dry summer. For whatever reason, it was not a good year for tomatoes. They didn't ripen well, and would start to rot from the inside out, leaving a thin, smooth but tough skin, with very soft, watery, rotten guck in the middle. Sounds delicious, doesn't it?
While they tasted like crap, they were excellent specimens for testing knife sharpness and edge grinds from rough to polished.
The most excellent and telling subjects were tomatoes that were just starting to collapse, leaking rotten yuck, but were still more or less round without skin degradation. When attempting to cut these stinking blobs, it took very little pressure to squish the tomato while trying to penetrate the skin with the knife. So I picked up a bunch that were decomposing on the ground and proceeded to test.
What I found was that a polished edge can cut even a very soft in the middle, basically rotten tomato with a smooth, tough skin. But..., it had to be really, really, sharp. I emphasize; really, very sharp. Approaching razor blade sharpness. I used a new safety razor blade for comparison. If the knife was not super sharp, even with a careful sawing motion the blade would ride on the skin and the tomato would collapse and ooze out its insides before cutting the skin. If however there was even a tiny break in the skin, the blade would slice most excellently. These blades were so sharp, that even gently bumping against the finger would cause epidermal leaking. They were most excellent at slicing human skin! They would work great for sashimi or any other raw flesh, leaving a very clean cut. I actually shaved with one and was surprised how well it worked. (Not recommended).
While the Tormek can produce knives that sharp, I found that degree of sharpness didn't last long with normal use. As soon as the super sharpness was history, the polished blades became generally less useful. The still performed well for chop cutting, but anything with a smooth surface became problematic. It was evident even on vegetables like broccoli with a hard, smooth skin.
Without wishing to entertain the argument of longevity vs toothy/smooth edges, from my experience at least, a moderately toothy blade is generally more useful in the kitchen, and the edge lasts longer for all around, general, cutting.
I would be interested to know if anyone else has conducted the same tests, and how those results compare.
Quote from: Ken S on February 14, 2015, 03:43:41 PM
Stig,
I notice in your video with Stumpy and Mike a short scene where a chef's knife effortlessly slices a micro thin slice out of a tomato. The tomato is just sitting on a cutting board with no other support. That's pretty fancy shootin', partner.
I know that cutting things like tomatoes benefit from having a bit of tooth on the blade. Did you polish that blade on the leather honing wheel? Japanese wheel?
Ken
Ref this sharpness of blade - from Bob The Knife Grinder.
Yes this sharpness is very impressive to the chef you have just left. However as you have said, the sharpness of this kind of edge does not last for long and is impossible for the chef to tickle up on his steel. First impressions are great, but longevity is short lived.
Standard sharpening on the T7 wheel supplied is more than good enough for chefs knives.
You will get happy chefs and repeat business with no quibbles.
Cheers.
Bob
Quote from: bobl on June 05, 2015, 09:33:37 PM
Yes this sharpness is very impressive to the chef you have just left. However as you have said, the sharpness of this kind of edge does not last for long and is impossible for the chef to tickle up on his steel. First impressions are great, but longevity is short lived.
Standard sharpening on the T7 wheel supplied is more than good enough for chefs knives.
You will get happy chefs and repeat business with no quibbles.
Bob,
What bevel angle do you use most commonly? I have seen mention of thinner bevel angles here on the forum. From your above stated perspective, are you using 15° or 20° bevel or do you take the time to match the existing bevel? Do you take time to do a double bevel?
Your perspective on retension of sharpness is in accord with my thinking.
Thanks
Quote from: grepper on March 07, 2015, 11:48:34 PM
Honing accomplishes two things; it removes the burr and abrades away or "polishes" out micro scratches on the cutting edge and the bevel. Check out the last two blade images here: http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1689.msg7998#msg7998
That is the blade before and after honing with compound. The micro burr and scratching has been removed by the compound.
Mark, I am not seeing your pictures.
Eldon,
Whenever I think of "matching the bevel", usually a good idea, I wonder what the last guy was thinking. Somewhere in the past bevels there might have been a truly expert sharpener or a truly inexpert sharpener. Who knows??????
Ken
Look at the edge with a magnifier, Ken. You'll see clues about the level of expertise of the previous sharpeners.
Ken,
If the bevel is like the one on my Buck hunting knife which I had hand honed throughout the years, a guided sharpening system showed a very inconsistent bevel. It had been sharp, just not consistent on the bevel. As I was the one who sharpened it, I can say the last guy was thinking about getting it sharp enough to field dress a deer or to butcher. It didn't have to be a perfect job to work. As it is now, the primary bevel is too acute to be a long lasting edge for hunting knife duty. I plan to put a fairly heavy secondary bevel on it.
Good comments, guys.
Ken