When I was younger

[PWC]

I used a little 3" X 1" X1/4" stone to sharpen my Boy Scout knife a d could het it to shave arm/leg hair. My Uncle Sammy gave me bigger blades, never got them to shave but they were always easy to sharp. I was given a Rapella type fish knife that was very used and very sharp.

I noticed the blade geometry was very different; one side was dead flat, no angle and the other had an edge that in cross section could be described as curving down to the flat edge. It never got dull, infact after cutting up heavy cardboard boxes, it appeared to be "honed".

Now, the question...why couldn't this profile be used on heavier bladed pocket or sheath knives?

 

[rust collector]

My fillet knives tend to have a convex edge, which works better for cleavers and for knives used to remove skin from fillet flesh. Mine are not dead flat on either side, but they likely get that way after many sharpenings. Japanese kitchen knives are beveled on one side only, and handles are usually specific to right hand. Makes a lot of sense, but we like our symmetry.

 

[hso]

why couldn't this profile be used on heavier bladed pocket or sheath knives?

Flat with opposite bevel is referred to as a "chisel" grind. Some larger knives have a chisel grind, but there's a problem with it in that it tends to "steer" the cut off to the side. The angle of the grind is all on the single bevel so a lot of blade material has to be removed to achieve if where you can get the same angle with less work on an opposed bevel grind. All grinds do better at some things than others so there's a place for each.

 

[jmr40]

The early CRKT knives had a chisel grind on them.

 

[hso]

The early CRKT knives had a chisel grind on them.

The KISS did because of the way it folded, but I don't remember any others the first 5 years of CRKT. Doesn't mean there weren't others, but I was a dealer for them and don't remember handling any others than tge KISS.

 

[jmr40]

I had an M16 with the chisel grind. I bought the 1st one I saw. I didn't much care for it and noticed all of the others I saw had a conventional blade. I contacted CRKT about sending it back and having the blade replaced. They said no.

Mine might have been pretty rare. I still don't know nearly as much about knives as some, but I was really young and dumb at the time. I thought that was an expensive knife at the time.