Edge Retention/Rolling Test Stand

[subwoofer]

Here's how the tests came out:

A began at 180 and rolled to 300
B began at 172 and rolled to 295
C began at 239 and rolled to 301

After rolling, the edge tested 440, 458, 449 or an average of 449. That compared to the average 300 of the Henkel chef's knife which we assume is somewhere around HRC 55-57.

Just to play devil's advocate, is it possible from these test results we are effectively seeing another type of hardness testing, but instead of being an indent in the side of the blade, it is the actual edge hardness we are seeing?

My concern there would be that rather than actually see a different between steels, we will only see the actual edge hardness.

With the first test ending up at the same BESS score regardless of the starting condition, and the lower hardness steel ending up at a higher BESS for the same test conditions, it feels as if what is happening is that the steel is becoming deformed until the pressure applied can be supported by that deformed, widened pad of steel.

I'm very interested in this test, but this is what stands out to me from those results.