Mirrors my experience. The style of cutting you need to use is much different with coarse edges vs a high polish.ZrowsN1s wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 12:14 pmFinally got my mine reprofiled to 12DPS with a 200 Grit edge!
That finish and the DLC make it very hard to get an accurate laser reading of the edge angle. But I used the WE130 fixed angle system and measured the angle with a digital angle cube, an 'analog' angle finder, and a 360° bubble level and I'm confident it's within +/- 0.3 degrees of 12DPS.
The coarse finish also gave some interesting results on the BESS tester. BESS score on the factory edge was about 167. The sharpened edge when taken dead on had a BESS of about 200... but the slightest lateral pressure gave scores of 50. Simultaneously my worst and best BESS scores. I think the take away is that for straight push cutting this finish is sub optimal, but wow is it an aggressive slicer. Which is the results I expected.
The down side here is I don't think I'll be able to use the BESS tester to measure the long term performance of the edge. You'd need something like the Edge-On-Up Edge Lab with a slicing test to really scientifically measure the edge performance over time.
I've only had a chance to cut up a few things, but I like it so far. I'm just having to remind my self to treat it like a serrated and 'pull' not 'push' my cuts.
I like it because it feels very controlled. How much I pull or push into the slice lets me control how aggressive the cut is.
There's also a certain tactile feedback to cutting things with a coarse PE that I enjoy.
I get such clean, controlled cuts. Just got done slicing 80 tomatos with a 200 grit edge, and the last one was just as easy as the first. no slipping on the skin at all.
While I always keep a couple knives in my collection with a polished apex, it's tough going back to them. I don't enjoy the way they cut as much, and they require so much more maintenance. I can go a week without sharpening one of my work chef knives at 300 grit VS having to sharpen once or twice a shift with a 2,000 grit edge.