Bevels! Primary and Secondary

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Eamon Burke

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Assuming there are no wierd or extra microbevels, and it is a standard 2-bevel v-grind: Which way do you use these terms for bevels:

1. The primary bevel is the bevel on the cutting edge, the secondary bevel is the next one up(closer to the spine).

2. The secondary bevel is the cutting edge, the primary bevel is the next one up(closer to the spine).

Are you in camp one or two? Whatever is the consensus will be reflected in the Glossary.:jumpy:

*edit* NO DISCUSSION! JUST SHUT UP AND VOTE!


Ok I"m only kidding, don't get offended. But seriously, I am just trying to discover the community consensus. I changed the name of hte post, if you guys wanna discuss(cause I do), you can start a new thread! It'll be easier that way.
 
i would say that the primary is always the cutting edge. makes it easy to keep things straight.
 
I'd refer to the larger of the bevels as the primary and the microbevel as the secondary, but it can be very confusing and the lack of one general definition is pretty frustrating
 
You cut the primary bevel first, then your micro bevel is the secondary bevel.
 
You cut the primary bevel first, then your micro bevel is the secondary bevel.

see, i think the primary should always be the one that cuts the food, regardless of what order they are cut. i don't use microbevels (i find the absolute steepest grind that doesn't need one and then stick to it), so maybe i'm looking at this differently than most people.
 
I feel that the first bevel ground is the primary, and the second bevel ground is the secondary. This is how the wood working people view it.
 
I am in camp #2, the micro bevel is the secondary bevel for me.
 
I feel that the first bevel ground is the primary, and the second bevel ground is the secondary. This is how the wood working people view it.

but wood working people also sometimes feel that the wire edge is the working edge because it's the sharpest possible edge (until it fails, anyway). ;)
 
I'm in camp 2 but a long time back, I was told to move to camp 1 or shut up, lol. I've been using camp 1 terminology since.
 
I'm in camp 2 but a long time back, I was told to move to camp 1 or shut up, lol. I've been using camp 1 terminology since.

heh. i just think that it makes the most sense to call the edge that cuts the primary, since these are tools that cut.
 
Bevels? We don't need no stinkin' bevels! Everyone should convex with sandpaper on a mousepad, right?

i've been known to do that (well, actually large micro-mesh pads, but it's very similar), though i finish on stones and then strops.
 
Bevels? We don't need no stinkin' bevels! Everyone should convex with sandpaper on a mousepad, right?
OK camp 3: Infinite bevels, together as one. It's very meta.


just kidding

THERE IS NO CAMP THREE!! GET IN LINE! :pirate2:
 
honestly, i find using a soft pad for final edges to be difficult.
 
Camp 3, l prefer a fully convex final bevel, I find they hold a finer end angle better. Bound to really as the curve gives the edge more support.
 
So by that, #2 I origanally thought #1 :thumbsup2:
 
I like group #1, but group #2 sounds nice also. So put me down for both
 
"Primary" has both meanings, so your glossary would be incomplete and incorrect if you only sited one definition.

Primary: First in order of creation
Primary: First in order of rank
 
okay, the whole argument of primary being the first ground edge on a blade is easily defeatable. some people grind an edge and put a microbevel on it, but whats to say someone ground the cutting edge, then put a back edge on it for easier cutting? so it could really go either way. but id say the Primary is the cutting edge.
 
secondary is the sharpening bevel.

Hoss
 
I'm a #1 person. I feel this way because every pro sharpener in the US talks this way and this is where I picked it up. I then had it cemented by reading the first book on knife sharpening ever written - John Juranitch's "The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening" and then also Leonard Lee's (of Lee Valley fame) book "The Complete Guide to Sharpening" where they both cite the cutting edge as the primary bevel.
 
It is interesting that for every one that uses the terms one way that there are another that uses it the other way.
I'm with Hoss for what that is worth.
 
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