Use of microbevels

Do you use microbevels on all your knives, including single bevels? If not, which ones?

Or do you use them sometimes for whatever reason? When i sharpen I put them on sometimes, sometimes I don't. To be honest I don't really notice a difference but maybe I'm just not good at remembering exactly when I do as I don't have a "sharpening log" (and my memory sucks sometimes).

I don't put one on my yanagiba as there isn't much board contact. On my deba I put one on the heel for bones. On my Usuba I put a microbevel only on the tip area, since I use the lower part of the blade for katsuramuki but mostly the tip when chopping stuff. Again...I do this out of theory however I don't really notice a drastic difference if I don't.

Also, how steep is your microbevel compared to the regular edge?

I bet others will chime in here but I tend to use microbevels on knives that tend to be used more robustly and also on knives that tend to be more "chippy".

I don't use microbevels, in general unless I get chipping. Then I add a microbevel to one side only at around 20-30 deg, I'd say. If that doesn't do it, I will increase the angle somewhat. If I still get chips (which I don't) I would put micros on both sides.

I recently put microbevels on my Carter "honesuki" and I haven't had chipping issues while breaking down chickens since.

i use them more nowadays because i dont have as much time to spend on the stones as i used to. sharpening my stuff a few times a week was no problem but now i just do once every 1-2 weeks. granted i dont do as much prep as i used to.

the thing is with microbevels is use them when you think they are appropriate for the particular knife that you use for particular tasks. i personally enjoy having a really sharp gyuto and a microbeveled gyuto for different occasions and needs.

i find that you can still get a super sharp edge even with a microbevel.

I don't use them much, but it is nice if you know you are going to be working a knife extra hard and want it to hold up a little bit better. I sometimes will on my Kono HD if i have a long day of prep that way i know i won't have to touch it up the next day. I find it will plateau the edge but it twill still hold at about 80% for a while. instead of gradually degrading more and more.

I bought the Edge Pro Apex about a year ago and then learned how to use it over the next few months. Once I developed a repeatable technique, all of my knives were flat double bevels. I even thinned a few knives down to 10 degrees a side. Although sharp, the edges would often times roll. So I decided to add a MB on each side of the blade that is usually five to eight degrees higher than the primary (now secondary) bevel. For chunky knives like Chef Choice Trizor 8" Chef knife (60 rockwell) I set the primary to 23 degrees a side with a 30 degree a side MB.

After initial sharpening, will sill hold a grape tomato dropped from 10 inches.

Good rule of thumb, use MB of about 5 to 8 degrees higher than the primary bevel on knives that will make hard board contact.

I will sometimes use a one side micro bevel if I am having a hard time removing a burr.

I have very acute edges on the majority of my knives and don't really ever need to use micro-bevels; however, I will be using on my yanagi.

+1 on the yanagiba microbevel.
If you really put this knife to work, you will allways loose parts of the edge in the process, I dont talk chips. And I set microbevel closer to 40 degrees, didnt noticed any big sharpness difference.

Deba I do microbevel along edge and I dont break stuff just with the heel.

On the rest I dont use microbevel and sometimes see something missing in edge on chefs knife, but nothing that wouldnt get lost in one regular sharpening session. I checked with Tormek and I use just under 15 degrees per side.

For me it's all about burr removal. I do it about 40 degrees and I do it JUST ENOUGH to thoroughly deburr my knife and make sure there's no wire edge. That way I get a clean edge that's not chippy but still F'n sharp. My motion for this is more like I'm stropping on a stone rather than sharpening, using only light edge trailing strokes. Just my way of doing it...

phan1 said:

For me it's all about burr removal. I do it about 40 degrees and I do it JUST ENOUGH to thoroughly deburr my knife and make sure there's no wire edge. That way I get a clean edge that's not chippy but still F'n sharp. My motion for this is more like I'm stropping on a stone rather than sharpening, using only light edge trailing strokes. Just my way of doing it...

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I do something similar sometimes, although I've never thought of it as adding a micro-bevel.

When I'm on my 5K polishing stone and feel my sharpening is complete, I will then strop gently at about 30 degree angle on both sides to insure no wire edge, but then I will go back and re-refine the edge at my regular angle to make sure any possible rounding with the previous higher angle is eliminated. Edge lasts longer when doing this as well.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give it a try.

Cadillac J said:

...then I will go back and re-refine the edge at my regular angle to make sure any possible rounding with the previous higher angle is eliminated. Edge lasts longer when doing this as well.

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+1. I learned this one from memorael. The jump in edge retention is significant.