Item — HN Reader

These ideas are mistaken.

"Sharpness" is related to the physical size and radius of curvature of the apex of the blade, combined with the angle of the terminal bevel. [1][2][3]

Chipping of any sort almost certainly tends to erode the sharpness for many reasons, not least of which is that a sharp edge is a very low entropy state (compared to a dulled / chipped / etc edge...).

VG-10 steel is considered "entry level" in terms of high end steels. [4] It was first introduced in production knives in the mid-90s, almost thirty years ago! [5] And there has been significant progress in materials since then.

Almost all mid- and high-end knives these days are cut from blanks via an industrial laser or waterjet cutter.

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[1] https://scienceofsharp.com/2014/01/25/quantifying-sharp/

[2] https://scienceofsharp.com/2014/08/18/definitions-of-sharp-a...

[3] https://scienceofsharp.com/2015/03/24/sharp-and-keen-part-2/

[4] https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Best-Knife-Steel-Guide--3368

[5] https://forum.spyderco.com/viewtopic.php?t=87185

1 comments

Interesting - I noticed that the edges of some new knives that are very sharp don't feel or look smooth. I usually sharpen my kitchen knives on a standard stone and get them very smooth, which I like aesthetically but probably not the most efficient for, say, cutting tomatoes.

Could you clarify a little more about what you mean by this? Tomato skins are definitely hard to cut with a dull knife (without crushing the tomato flesh underneath), so many people will default to using a serrated knife for them, hoping that the scalloped edge grabs and tears the skin.

That said, a well sharpened kitchen knife should have no problem at all with tomato skins.

What I mean is that I can sharpen my knives (traditional Zwilling or Wuesthofs) on a stone until they are nice and sharp and when I run them along a towel nothing catches.

I noticed that when I got a new knife recently it didn't feel smooth at all, more like it had lots of microscopic burrs. That knife cut through (thickish garden) tomato skins more readily, even after weeks of knife use. Eventually I had to resharpen that knife and I just find that even though I can get it nice and sharp the type of edge I put on the knife doesn't last as long.

And yes, when I cut a lot of tomatoes I might use a serrated knife but in normal use I don't like to switch so much so I do almost everything with a 8 or 9" chef knife.