Abstract
A quantification of the sensuous sharpness and mechanical sharpness of kitchen knives is investigated and the followings are revealed.
(1) The sharpness based on a man's sensibility can be quantified by the method of paired comparison based on the sensuous sharpness evaluated by cutting sweet potatoes.
(2) A significant correlationship is recognized between the sharpness measured by the new sharpness testing device and determined that by the above described sensibility. Therefore, the sharpness measured by the sharpness testing device almost agrees with the sensuous sharpness.
(3) There are two criteria for men to judge the sharpness of any given kitchen knife-one is the initial resistance force to be felt at the time when the kitchen knife is applied to the material to be cut and the other is the resistance force to be felt in cutting through the material.
(4) The mechanical characteristics of the knives that affect the sharpness are the angle of cutting edge, the non-uniformity of thickness and the surface roughness of the cutting edge.
