bottom of the fulcrum slot but that is OK. Just make certain that the knife
edge
remains in the slot and
that the sides of the knife blade are held in a vertical position during the measurement process. If the
majority of the edges you measure are thick then you may want to widen the slot in the fulcrum using
an ordinary hand saw blade (i.e. hacksaw blade). Don't let the top side of the knife blade (spine) tip
toward or away from you during the measurement process or it could skew your results slightly. Our
center photo above shows proper positioning of the knife, as viewed from above, during the
measurement process. Blade vertical, fulcrum and test fixture slots aligned and centered.
Remember Slow and Easy!
We're not chopping carrots (at least not yet!) but measuring the sharpness
of an edge. Your downward movement with the knife should be slow and deliberate. Try to find a seated
position with arms resting on the worktop for greater control and stability. If you can clearly see the
increase in force tick upward on the display either in 5 or 25 gram increments (depending on the
instrument you have purchased) then you know that you have taken the measurement correctly. When
the test media severs, the measurement is complete and your BESS score for that edge will be shown on
the display.
