Thick/Beefy or Thin/Slicey?

[Dean C.]

How much of a taper does your Medford have? 0.260" thick at the spine, but how thick just behind the edge?

.260 thick at the spine tapering to .040 right behind the edge.

Strider SMF .187 at the spine and .040 at the edge

Spyderco Manix 2 .120 at the spine and .036 at the edge

Microtech Scarab .125 at the spine and .030 at the edge

Surprising results aren't they? And all knives were sharpened to exactly a 40 degree inclusive angle as well.

 

[rhino]

I like thicker knives also. They can be made to slice pretty well, but hair shaving sharp is good enough.

In my experience, shaving hair isn't always a great predictor of slicing ability. A lot of thick blades will pop hair, but can't cut an apple with breaking it apart. On a related note, some knives with really polished edges will shave like there's no tomorrow and push cut paper like it's not there, yet fail to cut real life fibrous materials like rope or even 550 cord without a lot of effort.

Really good slicing requires three things:

1. Thin blade
2. Properly beveled or convexed edge
3. Microserrations (which arise during sharpening unless they are polished away)

I don't refute that some thick knives can do some good slicing, but I will maintain that the exact same knife and sharpening, but made from thinner stock, will slice better.

Why does this matter to me? Because that's the kind of cutting tasks I encounter every day. If I were a woodworker, I'd prepare my tools differently. If I were chopping big pieces of wood into small pieces of wood, I'd select and prepare my tools differently. I'm more likely to face plastic packaging, corrugated paper board, cloth, cordage, fruit, meat, etc.

 

[danielocean03]

In my experience, shaving hair isn't always a great predictor of slicing ability. A lot of thick blades will pop hair, but can't cut an apple with breaking it apart. On a related note, some knives with really polished edges will shave like there's no tomorrow and push cut paper like it's not there, yet fail to cut real life fibrous materials like rope or even 550 cord without a lot of effort.

Really good slicing requires three things:

1. Thin blade
2. Properly beveled or convexed edge
3. Microserrations (which arise during sharpening unless they are polished away)

I don't refute that some thick knives can do some good slicing, but I will maintain that the exact same knife and sharpening, but made from thinner stock, will slice better.

Why does this matter to me? Because that's the kind of cutting tasks I encounter every day. If I were a woodworker, I'd prepare my tools differently. If I were chopping big pieces of wood into small pieces of wood, I'd select and prepare my tools differently. I'm more likely to face plastic packaging, corrugated paper board, cloth, cordage, fruit, meat, etc.

Rhino meat?

 

[Woobie]

Rhino meat?

Yeah, I was gonna say he has an impressive resume with regards to testing various knives on flesh.

 

[lovemachine]

Yeah, I was gonna say he has an impressive resume with regards to testing various knives on his own flesh.

FTFY.

 

[ghuns]

Anyone else concerned that we have two votes for, "My name is Rhino and they both injure me equally"?

 

[rhino]

Rhino meat?

Yeah, I was gonna say he has an impressive resume with regards to testing various knives on flesh.

FTFY.

Okay, I earned that.

Anyone else concerned that we have two votes for, "My name is Rhino and they both injure me equally"?

Here's the troubling part: neither of them were me!

 

[ghuns]

Here's the troubling part: neither of them were me!

Wow. Sketchy.

 

[grunt soldier]

the correct answer is both!