1/16" Thick Steel for knifemaking

flatgrinder

flatgrinder

Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
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I recently started experimenting with thin stock, took a 1/16" thick piece of S30V and put a 1/2" high convex grind on it leaving the rest flat (basically kind of a convex scandi grind) -and it really works very well!

Anyone else do this?

This knife pretty much outcuts anything else I've ever made slicing paper, cardboard, leather, rope. Why aren't more makers using thin stock -or is it the perception that bigger is better. Thicker stock gives the customer a feeling of quality or security? But isn't it overkill?

I mean, a good utility knife can be made from 1/16" thick steel -the only thing this knife probably can't do is chop, be battoned through wood and pry on things. I'm thinking that when most makers use 1/8" thick steel, they could make use of 1/16" instead and it would probably work better.

I'd like to see some folders in the future utilizing S90V in 1/16" thickness, optimally hardened with a convex grind -as most of us use a folder for cutting paper, cardboard, etc. When would 1/8" thick steel really be better?

Any thoughts on this? :confused:
 
Look to A.G. Russell site and you will see that he has had several of his designs in 3/32 and smaller for a while. For everyday use you are probably right that is all that is needed, but some people like the definition of the plunge line or hollow grind.
 
i have liked using 3/32 for small hunters and what not for its ease of being a slicer
i still dont think i would go 1/16 on anything other then kitchen stuff
my .02
 
I've been using 1/16" stock quite a lot lately, in both O6 and A2. While I still haven't decided whether to bevel or heat treat first, I know that the designs I've been doing (1 1/4" x 6" oal) have been optimized for the steel. That's just what I do, though. I was genuinely concerned having never worked with the thickness, but then I started really looking at what I was using on a daily basis just after I started working the stock, namely my very good kitchen set, and realised they're actually just on the under side of 1/16" except for the Chef's knife. I was also trimming up some cut-offs to help clean out my bandsaw on Thursday, and was using an old linolium knife for the job. 1/32" steel there, and it's been doing just fine for the last fifteen years I've been using it. And none of these are even 'good' knife making steel...
 
Thanks for the replies.

I noticed AG Russell's 4" Deerhunter in D2 is flat ground out of steel between 1/16" and 3/32" -I used to own one of these and found that it worked very well in terms of strength and utility -my own personal gripe with the knife was that it wasn't heat treated optimally (it states HRC 60-62, but the edge retention was horrible compared to some of my own at that same hardness).

I guess I'll be trying some more 1/16" or 3/32" stock in the future. Thanks.

P.S. If you haven't tried it, give it a try -especially with a convex edge. It will cut amazingly well.
 
Where are you getting 1/16" stock? The smallest I've been able to find is 3/32", but I'm trying to make some kitchen/steak knives for the holidays, and 1/16" would be a good start.
 
I've been using 1/16 O1 and .045 used bandsaw steel for some paring knives lately. A local chef thought that the bandsaw steel was just the right thickness for that type of knive. A little more about that is over here.
 
Howdy Ya'll,

40' of '[1/16"]' x 1 1/2" 1095 from Admiral,
was my first order, for store bought pre-annealed blade steel.
For years I used junk steel, and one of my favorites was a small 'skinner' made from used circular saw blade steel, with a 'broken bill dukey' handle.
And by 'broken' I mean the shovel blade!
I always replaced broken handles.
I used to be in irrigation and had a barrel of broken bill dukeys out in the barn. I could always pick up old rusty saw blades around new construction sites. Hey, free knifemaking materials, I thought I had a thing going!
If the handles on those old bill dukeys survived enough work to bend or split the blade on the shovel... but were still unbroken themselves,
thats good knife handle material.
Circular saw blades are 1/16" thick.
Anything thinner would bend, and the 'thinner' the steel the 'sharper' it could be made to be. Like an old pocketknife, thin = sharp.
Being an old houndsman, hunter-trapper, I have been using my home made skinners for 20 + years. The design is my favorite and any time I have a real hard job of cutting to do,
like a hog or a hundred and fifty pounds of catfish to skin before the sun comes up...
me real tired and drunk... well, I always grab a...

Sorry, 'thats my sales pitch', but yes,
now that I have been introduced to annealed steel the whole world,
of knifemaking has opened up.
I can get new pictures made for my web site too!
Ya'll check it out but the third page kinda drags.
All the pictures of me and the dogs are 20+ years old,
and the knife shop pictures are 4-5 years old.
Luck, and use that 1/16" steel ya'll !


J. Knife

jacksknifeshop.tripod.com
 
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