Grind Copying and Calipers

I have been seeing some posts about copying grinds and measuring to do so. I am confused by this. Most high end kitchen knives are assymetric in their grinds. To me this would mean that to get a measurement for the grind at any given point on the blade face you would have to measure from the exact center of the blade. That doesn't seem to be how calipers work in my experience.

Am I missing something here?

It seems to me that exactly copying a makers grind would be more complicated than simply measuring its width and recreating the measurements. When comparing multiple examples of any single makers work in detail I find differences in the geometries and grinds. I assume a knife maker is attempting to create their ideal knife geometry every time they make a knife. It can't be as easy to copy as many seem to think or all Takedas, Mizunos, Carters, Markos, Shigs, Devins, Katos etc would be exactly consistent to their makers ideal specs.

Again, am I missing something?

At this point when I see two Japanese knives of different brands with extremely similar geometries, grinds, and profiles I get very suspicious that they are actually being made by the same person and I rarely if ever suspect that someone is stealing a grind.

I hope this makes sense. Let me know what you think.

The grinds are on a simple curve usually. So knowing the general asymmetry - 30/70 lets say you will need 3 points per section and probably 10-15 sections.

Of course going with a mold, splitting in 2, taking points and CAD/CAM is a better way to get the proper grind. But it is a pointless exercise IMO. Putting that grind into production will cost you a lot more than just buying the blanks from the maker you like so much. I am willing to bet that any custom maker will consider making them for the right price and contract clause.

To be able to say its ground like this or that knife you have to be able to understand the affects of it to cutting , copying numbers doesnt always translate to the same feeling of cutting with that said knife

chefcomesback said:

To be able to say its ground like this or that knife you have to be able to understand the affects of it to cutting , copying numbers doesnt always translate to the same feeling of cutting with that said knife

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Putting my nerd hat on but 2 exact geometries will cut exactly the same. If there is difference it means you did not copy true to the original enough.

I would look at subtle differences and/or handle differences.

I am talking from experience ,someone copying grind of a knife (not very accuratley )makes it look the same , not cut the same