10-28-2017, 11:58 AM
Hello KnifeGrinders, Grepper, Ken and all other interested parties,
This is a great thread so thank you. If you don't mind we'll chip in with our thoughts here. Instrumentation can be designed to test for very specific parameters and, in the alternative, very general ones. An emergency trip to the doctor might be a good example. If, upon examination, the EKG shows no indication of a heartbeat, the doctor is likely to cancel the patient's blood test. Blood tests can be important but, in the absence of a heartbeat, not really important at all. We look at edges in much the same way. We think that a properly sharpened edge is the heartbeat of a cutting instrument. If the edge on your chef's knife is dull, there's not much point in pondering the other geometric attributes of the blade. At least, not until you've sharpened it.
There is absolutely no doubt that the thinness or thickness of an edge apex (sharpness) is not the sole arbiter of how a cutting instrument will perform in a given task. Anyone who has attempted to chop a tree down with a razor blade can attest to that. In our opinion though, a designed sharpness level is the heartbeat of most any cutting edge. Designed sharpness level? Yes, an apex radius/width that has been designed for the task to be accomplished. The axe and the razor blade might be two good examples. One good and one bad for chopping wood and one good and one bad for shaving.
We're (EOU) believers in toothy edges but that was not always the case. We used to say "What do you want, a saw or a knife?" Toothy versus polished is a different discussion but still germane to this thread in this vein "Would you rather be working with a sharp saw or a dull saw?" Once again we find ourselves back at edge sharpness.
Now, after all this waxing, we'll finally attempt to contribute something here. We make a big deal in describing our products as being "a pure edge apex measuring system, independent of blade geometry". We're going to have to stick with that because that's just the way our stuff was designed. Our current mission is to answer one question, "how thick or thin (sharp) is the edge apex?" We're going to assume that a 4mm thick blade sharpened at 22 degrees is going to require more force to push through a pork loin than a 3mm blade sharpened at 15 degrees. We just don't know how much more. So, does our system answer all the relevant questions? Of course not. We do think that we provide a pure and non-obfuscated indication of the most important and the most relevant question, edge sharpness.
We've got some very smart and knowledgeable customers out there though and it wouldn't surprise us one bit if somebody devises a test that squeezes more info out of our systems.
Like we said, great thread and thanks for beginning it. Never hesitate to disagree in part or whole with EOU. We haven't thrown a tantrum for almost two weeks now. We've learned far more from our customers than our customers have from us.
This is a great thread so thank you. If you don't mind we'll chip in with our thoughts here. Instrumentation can be designed to test for very specific parameters and, in the alternative, very general ones. An emergency trip to the doctor might be a good example. If, upon examination, the EKG shows no indication of a heartbeat, the doctor is likely to cancel the patient's blood test. Blood tests can be important but, in the absence of a heartbeat, not really important at all. We look at edges in much the same way. We think that a properly sharpened edge is the heartbeat of a cutting instrument. If the edge on your chef's knife is dull, there's not much point in pondering the other geometric attributes of the blade. At least, not until you've sharpened it.
There is absolutely no doubt that the thinness or thickness of an edge apex (sharpness) is not the sole arbiter of how a cutting instrument will perform in a given task. Anyone who has attempted to chop a tree down with a razor blade can attest to that. In our opinion though, a designed sharpness level is the heartbeat of most any cutting edge. Designed sharpness level? Yes, an apex radius/width that has been designed for the task to be accomplished. The axe and the razor blade might be two good examples. One good and one bad for chopping wood and one good and one bad for shaving.
We're (EOU) believers in toothy edges but that was not always the case. We used to say "What do you want, a saw or a knife?" Toothy versus polished is a different discussion but still germane to this thread in this vein "Would you rather be working with a sharp saw or a dull saw?" Once again we find ourselves back at edge sharpness.
Now, after all this waxing, we'll finally attempt to contribute something here. We make a big deal in describing our products as being "a pure edge apex measuring system, independent of blade geometry". We're going to have to stick with that because that's just the way our stuff was designed. Our current mission is to answer one question, "how thick or thin (sharp) is the edge apex?" We're going to assume that a 4mm thick blade sharpened at 22 degrees is going to require more force to push through a pork loin than a 3mm blade sharpened at 15 degrees. We just don't know how much more. So, does our system answer all the relevant questions? Of course not. We do think that we provide a pure and non-obfuscated indication of the most important and the most relevant question, edge sharpness.
We've got some very smart and knowledgeable customers out there though and it wouldn't surprise us one bit if somebody devises a test that squeezes more info out of our systems.
Like we said, great thread and thanks for beginning it. Never hesitate to disagree in part or whole with EOU. We haven't thrown a tantrum for almost two weeks now. We've learned far more from our customers than our customers have from us.