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Bevel Choices For Bowie Knives
By: Blake Benson
When sharpening a knife, you might be concerned about the bevel of the blade. However, if you are new to the world of knife sharpening, you might wonder exactly what a bevel is. How do bevels apply to a Bowie knife? What should you know about them? Actually, bevels are relatively simple to understand. They are nothing more than the profile of the cutting edge on your blade. You will find that there are several different types of bevel that can be used, though.
Flat Bevel: The flat bevel is the slimmest of all the bevel types. It is also probably the most easily produced. However, just because it can be produced simply, that does not meant they are right for all situations. Take stock of your cutting and usage needs to determine if this type of bevel will be right for you. A flat bevel is simply a straight angle that runs directly from the edge of the blade to the cutting edge, with no curvature in either direction.
Flat ground knives and chisel ground knives have the simplest blades. The latter are more common with outdoor knives. Chisel ground knives are sharpened only on one side. Though this may seem primitive, it has distinct advantages. It's very easy to sharpen the blade, obviously, as it has only one edge. These edges can also be extremely sharp. They were even used on swords, in some cases. These edges, however, tend to be a bit brittle, as there's little support for the edge.
Double bevel edges are very popular. These have two separate angles: one from the flat of the blade to the edge and one from bevel of the edge itself. These edges are excellent for all-around use. They're tough, hold and edge and can get very sharp, though chisel and flat grinds are sometimes easier to get to a very impressive edge. Still other grinds are available for Bowie Knives.
There are other grinds available for Bowie knives, such as saber grinds, that are rarer. They have their own characteristics but, largely, chisel and double bevels are the most common that you'll see. Some collectors find the chisel ground blade a bit too utilitarian to be beautiful and some outdoors enthusiasts find double bevels to be too finicky for the great outdoors.
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