Mr. Mark uttered, “Edge retention really is of much greater significance than initial sharpness, correct?”
I think both are important. After all, who cares about the edge retention of a dull edge?
In fact, the ephemeral useful edge retention of smooth edges is what got me started on the road to toothy edges. I had a couple of experiences trying to cut plastic rope and tomatoes where an only slightly used smooth edged blade just rode on the surface instead of cutting. Really frustrating. It worked great right after sharpening, but dulled so very quickly!
This forum used to be call edge retention, but it never seemed to get any traction or posts. I can understand why because it’s such a difficult subject with many variables. Designing some procedure to produce quantifiable results would no doubt be a bit of a head-scratcher. Not impossible I suppose, but most likely far more involved than it would first appear.
Much easier, albeit more subjective, would be simple real world testing like cutting a given diameter and brand of hemp rope with consistent pressure both on the knife and tension on the rope.
That type of test would shed some light on how well that particular knife, bevel angle, steel composition and edge finish, etc. does for exactly what was done with it, i.e., cutting rope. But what does that mean for something like chopping carrots or other cutting tasks where there is some impact on a cutting surface? The whole edge retention testing thing instantly raises a lot of questions.
That is exactly why I thought it was cool when you said you would post about how your edges did after hunting season. That’s real, real-world testing of a blade used for a variety of tasks in the ways the user naturally uses the knife over a period of time. While not numerically quantifiable data, it is a pretty good overall evaluation of blade performance and edge retention. I could suffix that last sentence with …for a general purpose knife used for all the stuff a hunting/camping knife is used for.
Got any suggestions on conducting edge retention tests?
I think both are important. After all, who cares about the edge retention of a dull edge?
In fact, the ephemeral useful edge retention of smooth edges is what got me started on the road to toothy edges. I had a couple of experiences trying to cut plastic rope and tomatoes where an only slightly used smooth edged blade just rode on the surface instead of cutting. Really frustrating. It worked great right after sharpening, but dulled so very quickly!
This forum used to be call edge retention, but it never seemed to get any traction or posts. I can understand why because it’s such a difficult subject with many variables. Designing some procedure to produce quantifiable results would no doubt be a bit of a head-scratcher. Not impossible I suppose, but most likely far more involved than it would first appear.
Much easier, albeit more subjective, would be simple real world testing like cutting a given diameter and brand of hemp rope with consistent pressure both on the knife and tension on the rope.
That type of test would shed some light on how well that particular knife, bevel angle, steel composition and edge finish, etc. does for exactly what was done with it, i.e., cutting rope. But what does that mean for something like chopping carrots or other cutting tasks where there is some impact on a cutting surface? The whole edge retention testing thing instantly raises a lot of questions.
That is exactly why I thought it was cool when you said you would post about how your edges did after hunting season. That’s real, real-world testing of a blade used for a variety of tasks in the ways the user naturally uses the knife over a period of time. While not numerically quantifiable data, it is a pretty good overall evaluation of blade performance and edge retention. I could suffix that last sentence with …for a general purpose knife used for all the stuff a hunting/camping knife is used for.
Got any suggestions on conducting edge retention tests?