Asymmetric grinds...Execution, usefulness, critiques

[nine9jack9]

When I started making small utility and neck knives for co-workers, friends, etc. I almost always executed chisel grinds, acknowledging their limitations. These days most everything I do is full flat, that said; the fascination with the chisel grind never went away. I blame the late Phil Hartsfield for this. Some years ago I ran into some makers that were executing asymmetric grinds, i.e. Flat on one side, chisel on the other and this seemingly addressed the one major drawback to chisel grinds which is their inability to track a straight line. I know that some Japanese kitchen knives come this way. Outside of the kitchen environment, how useful are they? Are they suitable for a general use outdoors knife? hunting knife? Anybody here make one? Thoughts on the matter most welcome and thank you for your indulgence.

 

[KDX]

I had a MSC (Mick Strider Custom) folder that had a flat ground blade with an asymmetric secondary bevel. He uses some type of nitride blade coating that is somewhere around 80-90Rc, so I guess in theory the edge should last longer. I'm not a fan of coated blades so I ended up selling that one.

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

You see a lot of makers these day create asymmetrical grinds, particularly within the tactial arena. While you might hear all kinds of claims about how great an asymmetrical grind is, in reality, its all about the "cool factor", and not about usability. We're currently in a era of custom knifemaking where "Cool Factor" trumps usability and/or performance in the eyes of many knife buyers.

That being said, I don't make those statements without a degree of person experience. Over my career, I've built and tested just about every type of grind, including many varieties of asymmetrical grinds. For outdoors/hunting knives, those grinds fall way short when compared to blades with the more traditional flat, hollows, etc. grinds for "field" uses. My personal favorite for a hunter is a flat grind, with a convex edge. Over the years that particual type of grind has consistently proven more effective in outdoors and hunting uses.

 

[steelerfan88]

^^^^^What he said ! ^^^^^^

 

[nine9jack9]

I want to thank you gentlemen for taking the time to answer my questions. The late Phil Hartsfield was able to successfully market and sell his chisel grind designs in my neck of the woods. That said, I have to wonder how many of those Kozukas and tantos were using/field knives. Those knives were distinctive and visually striking. Mr. Caffrey; I hear and for the most part agree with the "cool" factor versus usability comments. I come from the firearms industry and know full well about what you talk about. If I never hear the term "tactical" used in reference to a knife or a gun again; I would be very happy. Much the same would apply to anything Zombie related. My interest in chisel and asymmetric grinds is in the interest of turning out something that is usable and maintain-able by the end user in the field, a la sharpening. Thank you very much for the useful comments.