Thin full flat grind (all of these are technically full flat grind, which means the primary bevel goes all the way up to the spine of the knife) with a heat treat finished ricasso (the ricasso is the area right in front of the handle, before the plunges). I do a lot of handles out of Walnut Dymalux for a few reasons: it is a solid handle material that circumnavigates many of the issues that some types of wood have, I have got good deals on it (less expensive), and I and many others think it looks really good. All of these newer Chef knives are sharpened to 15 degrees. $240 w/ free shipping, let me know if you are interested or have any questions!