I've been asked often (a lot lately) about how the Japanese shape the sides of their knives. I usually explain it by saying something like, "they use multiple bevels along the length, sometimes two or three or even four bevels".
Below is a knife that I got in for thinning the blade that shows my first pass on the belt down the length of the knife. I laid the knife down flat on a dead flat platen (that's 9" long) and you can clearly see that the belt only touches in a 1" (or less) section along it's length.
These pictures demonstrate how this knife is ground with multiple bevels along the blade. I hit the middle bevel but there are still two below and one above plus the edge bevel also.
I hope this helps some of you more clearly see how these knives are ground.
Below is a knife that I got in for thinning the blade that shows my first pass on the belt down the length of the knife. I laid the knife down flat on a dead flat platen (that's 9" long) and you can clearly see that the belt only touches in a 1" (or less) section along it's length.
These pictures demonstrate how this knife is ground with multiple bevels along the blade. I hit the middle bevel but there are still two below and one above plus the edge bevel also.
I hope this helps some of you more clearly see how these knives are ground.