Single Bevel Knife vs Double Bevel: What the Edge Grind Means for You

A single bevel knife is ground to its edge on one side only; the other side stays flat or very slightly hollow. A double bevel knife is ground on both sides, meeting in a V. The single bevel takes a thinner, more acute edge and makes very clean, straight slices through fish and vegetables, but it steers to one side, is made for one hand and is sharpened differently. For most kitchen work a double bevel is the simpler choice; for sashimi-style slicing and fish breakdown a single bevel is the traditional one.

Below: what the two grinds look like, how they behave on the board, which SAMURA knives are single bevel (only two shapes), what left-handed cooks need to know and how to sharpen each at home.

What is a single bevel knife?

Look at the edge of a kitchen knife end-on. On a double-bevel blade, both faces slope down to the cutting edge, so the edge sits in the middle of the blade's thickness. On a single bevel knife, only one face slopes (the bevel); the other face runs straight down and stays flat, so the edge sits at the very side of the blade. The flat back is often lightly hollowed, which in Japanese-style knives is called the ura.

That asymmetry is the whole point. Because only one side is ground, the edge angle can be much smaller for the same blade thickness, which gives a finer edge, and the flat back lets the cut face of the food separate from the blade cleanly instead of being pushed sideways. It also means the knife is handed: the bevel sits on the right of the blade for a right-handed cook and on the left for a left-handed one.

Single bevel vs double bevel at a glance

How a single bevel knife cuts differently

Thinner slices. With one flat face and one steep bevel, the edge can be ground finer than a V edge of the same thickness. On a long slicer that is what lets you draw a yanagiba through a fillet in one pull and get a slice that is glossy and unbroken rather than torn.

Food release. Air gets between the flat (or hollowed) back and the cut surface, so a slice of fish or a sheet of cucumber falls away from the blade instead of sticking.

Steering. Because the edge is off-centre, the blade wants to drift towards the flat side as it goes through dense food. Experienced users exploit this (it is how a deba follows a fish's backbone), but on a thick carrot or a cabbage it is a nuisance.

Wedging. A single-bevel blade is often thicker at the spine and wedges in tall, hard produce; a double-bevel gyuto or santoku goes through an onion or a squash with less resistance. Our overview of Japanese-style knives shows the shapes side by side.

Which SAMURA knives are single bevel?

Only two shapes in SAMURA's range have a single-bevel edge, and both are in the Okinawa series:

• Samura Okinawa yanagiba 270 mm (and the 240 mm version): a long Japanese-style slicer with a single-layer AUS-8 blade at 58–59 HRC, 33 mm high on the 270 mm model and 40 mm on the 240 mm model, rosewood handle with a nylon bolster, 226 g and 133 g respectively. SAMURA's product description puts it plainly: the edge is ground on one side only, and the other side is flat.
• Samura Okinawa deba 170 mm: the fish-prep knife, with a tall 54 mm blade, 201 g, same AUS-8 steel and rosewood handle, single-bevel edge.

The Okinawa Stonewash yanagiba and deba share the same single-bevel grind with a stonewashed blade finish. Both shapes have their own collection pages: yanagiba knives and deba knives.

Everything else SAMURA sells is double bevel, and this includes some knives you might expect to be single bevel. The Okinawa gyuto 170 mm, santoku 175 mm and nakiri 172 mm are ground on both sides. So is the Kaiju yanagiba 240 mm with its hammered AUS-8 blade and Pakka wood handle: it has the yanagiba shape and length but a double-bevel edge, which makes it the easier slicer to live with if you don't want to learn single-bevel sharpening. The Okinawa tanto slicing knife 230 mm is double bevel as well. Mo-V, Pro-S, Harakiri, Damascus and the rest of the range are all double bevel; the Meteora and Super 5 lines go a step further with a convex edge, where the sides curve into the edge rather than meeting in a flat V. Our Samura Okinawa review lists the edge type of every knife in that series.

Single bevel knives and left-handed cooks

A single bevel knife is ground for one hand. Hold a right-handed yanagiba in your left hand and the bevel is on the wrong side: the blade steers away from the fish instead of into it and the slice curls. Left-handed cooks therefore need a left-handed grind, as our articles on the yanagiba knife for sushi and the deba knife for fish explain.

SAMURA's store lists one version of each Okinawa yanagiba and deba, so if you cut with your left hand, check the grind side before you buy. If it doesn't suit you, a double-bevel slicer such as the Kaiju yanagiba or the Okinawa tanto slicer gives you the length for long, clean strokes and works in either hand.

How to sharpen a single bevel knife

Sharpening is where the two grinds differ most, and it is the reason to think twice before buying a single bevel. The method below follows the care instructions SAMURA gives for the Okinawa yanagiba and deba.

1. Soak and set up the stone. Use a whetstone on a non-slip base. A medium grit (around 1000) handles routine sharpening; follow with a finer stone if you want a polished edge for sashimi-style slicing. See our guide to how to sharpen kitchen knives for the basics.
2. Lay the bevel flat on the stone. The single bevel is wide, so you can feel it sit flat. Keep the original factory angle (15–17° on the Okinawa knives) rather than inventing a new one; on a wide bevel the angle is set by the bevel itself.
3. Work the bevelled side only. Move the blade along the stone with light, even pressure, edge leading on the push stroke and trailing on the pull, section by section along the blade. Keep going until a uniform burr forms along the whole edge on the flat side. That burr tells you the bevel has reached the edge everywhere.
4. Pass the flat side lightly. Lay the back of the blade completely flat on the stone and make a few very light strokes, just enough to remove the burr. Never lift the spine to put an angle on the flat side: that would turn your single bevel into a clumsy double bevel and ruin the food release.
5. Check and finish. The edge should bite a sheet of paper cleanly along its full length; rinse, dry and store the knife away from metal.

Between sharpenings, a honing rod keeps the edge aligned; SAMURA's care instructions recommend one for the Okinawa knives, as for the rest of the range. Pull-through sharpeners are a poor match for a single bevel because they grind both sides equally. Our round-up of whetstones covers grits and sizes.

And a double bevel, for comparison

On a double-bevel knife such as a Mo-V chef's knife you sharpen one side at the factory angle until a burr appears, then the other side the same way, and finish with light alternating strokes. Both faces get equal work: a faster, more forgiving routine.

Do you need a single bevel knife?

Buy a single bevel when the job calls for it: you slice raw fish for sashimi or sushi at home, you break down whole fish and want the deba's controlled, bone-following cut, or you want the traditional experience and are happy to learn stone sharpening. In those cases nothing double-bevelled gives quite the same slice.

Stay with a double bevel if you want one knife for everything, you share knives between right- and left-handed cooks, or you sharpen with a pull-through or a guided sharpener. A double-bevel gyuto, santoku or nakiri does most kitchen work with far less fuss, and a double-bevel slicer handles roasts, brisket and the occasional side of salmon perfectly well.

FAQ: single bevel knives

What is a single bevel knife?

A knife whose cutting edge is ground on one side of the blade only, while the other side stays flat. Japanese-style yanagiba, deba and usuba knives are the classic examples. The grind gives a finer edge and cleaner food release, at the cost of being handed and harder to sharpen.

Single vs double bevel knife: which is better?

Neither is better in general. A double bevel cuts straight, suits either hand and is easy to sharpen, which is why chef's knives, santokus and nakiris use it. A single bevel makes thinner, cleaner slices in fish and vegetables and is the traditional choice for sashimi and fish prep.

How do you sharpen a single bevel knife?

Lay the wide bevel flat on a whetstone and work only that side at the factory angle until a burr forms along the whole edge, then lay the back completely flat and make a few light strokes to remove the burr. Never angle the flat side.

What angle is a single bevel knife?

On SAMURA's Okinawa yanagiba and deba the factory bevel angle is 15–17°, the same figure as the double-bevel knives in the range, but it is all on one side of the blade. In practice you don't measure it: you lay the bevel flat on the stone and the bevel sets the angle for you.

What is the advantage of a single bevel knife?

A finer edge for the same blade thickness, slices that come away from the blade instead of sticking, and a controllable steer that lets a deba follow bones. The disadvantages are handedness, drift in thick vegetables and a more demanding sharpening routine.

Are all Japanese single bevel knives the same?

No. The grind is traditional for yanagiba, deba and usuba shapes, but a Japanese-style knife is not automatically single bevel: gyuto, santoku and nakiri are double bevel, and so are some yanagiba-shaped slicers such as SAMURA's Kaiju yanagiba. Check the product description, not just the shape.

Can a left-handed person use a single bevel knife?

Yes, with a left-handed grind, where the bevel sits on the left side of the blade. A right-handed single bevel steers the wrong way in the left hand. If no left-handed version is available, a double-bevel slicer of the same length is the practical alternative.