Opening the floor to debate or confirmation...factory edge vs yours?
Easy. Mine.
I’m a bit of a sharpening geek, but I can honestly say that I’ve never gotten a factory edge (including Guy’s) that I couldn’t improve. The reason is simple...I’m the only one that has to be happy with my edge, the factory is trying to please everyone.
I personally like an outdoor knife with a lot of bite. I want it to dive in when I need to do some real work removing material in order to make something. That means I have to try harder to make really fine feathers for ignition of fires, but can make traps, tent stakes, weenie roasters, and notches for shelters more easily (fewer passes). I pay for it while trying to make fine feathers, but I can compensate for that with technique, and if I blow it and end up with a bunch of thicker feathers while marking the fine ones, I have to gather less of the pencil lead thin sticks that go on the fire next anyway.
Some guys really like an edge that skates across the wood and gives them fine feathers with little to no effort at all. My prference is the opposite, and because I’m the only one I need to please, I can improve the knife’s bite without any alternate consequences.
The other consideration for me is durability of the edge. This is often at odds with my efforts to increase the bite of the edge. I have begun going with convex edges because they are more durable, perform well in wood, and have less drag than a factory V edge. By decreasing the drag, I can increase the bite without compromising the angle and reducing the durability. Just this last weekend, I took my Cruforge 4.7 and moved the angle to 21 degrees using the work sharp grinder attachment and leaving the top wheels in the most distant positions in order to increase the slack in the belt. Then, with a very light touch, polished the edge to a near mirror. I used it for all the wood splitting (through some of the twistiest cedar I’ve ever encountered) and feathers for the family fires all weekend long with no touching up. The results were truly impressive. There was no visible edge damage and the cutting efficiency was much better. Fine feathers took more effort, but overall, I was very happy with the results.
Guy’s factory edges are great, but he’s trying to balance durability (reduces the number of customer complaints for jacking up the edges when they do something stupid, and reduces resharpening requests from the rest of his customers), with keenness of edge (why chiral can give himself a shave with his new aquisitions), with speed of sharpening (which is what all of us here care about most b/c that means we’re getting shipping notices). In my estimation, he’s doing a great job of it. His factory edges are wonderful at achieving this balance. However, my personal preferences (and sought after balance) are slightly different. If he tried to please me, others would be unhappy. If he optimized his edges for wood or cordage, or food prep, or plastics cutting, he would likely go more toothy or fine than a lot of people want. If he mirrored out every edge, or decreased his angle, or went convex he would have to compromise the preferences of others or slow the pace of throughput (please no).
I’m pleasing myself and can dial in on my preferred geometry with each sharpening. Factory edges are essencially a “one and done” solution that is attempting to please everyone all at once. Good luck with that.
