back to basics

[bSquirrel]

I'm not sure where to post this, so this seemed as good a place as any (Sorry that I have so many threads going at once)

I am a relative novice in knives and knife terminology, creation, etc. Is there anywhere to find, or anyone who can give me, some basic information about knives?

I dont know alot of the jargon I read here, though I am picking up some. I recently learned what scales are, for instance. The thing is, I still am a little hazy on stuff like the bevel and the tang. Is there somewhere to find just the basic components to a knife and what properties they should have in a good knife? how do they vary? what are their advantages and disadvantages? What are different blade shapes and what are they used for? that kind of thing.

for instance, what is the functional difference between a carbon fiber handle, steel/titanium/aluminum/etc. scales? Balisongs seem to come with skeletonized handles, what does that mean?

I just want to catch up before I get to ahead of myself, since I am looking into better and better products without understanding alot of what I read.

 

[SR_matt]

http://www.agrussell.com/knife_information/knife_encyclopedia/index.html has a glossary of terms and soem people

the differances in the handle materials is just more so going to be a look/weight/other properties of the material reaoning. the skelotionized handles mean there are holes cut into the handles to lighten them and to let you see the blade, more so for a design element and some function.

that glossary has helped me get aquatinted in some kinfe terms, and the articles cover blade shapes, grinds,a dn pretty much everythign else in soem of the first few articles.

-matt

 

[Walking Man]

skeletonized = holey.
Spyderco Q and others have skeletonized blades:
(and handles too in this case)
This is usually done to reduce weight, but sometimes just to make the knife look cool.

 

[Boozoo Chavis]

Here's a site with a glossary of knife terms and lots of illustrations.

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/research/knife_definitions.php

 

[knarfeng]

for instance, what is the functional difference between a carbon fiber handle, steel/titanium/aluminum/etc. scales? Balisongs seem to come with skeletonized handles, what does that mean?

What most folks are looking for is a strong, grippy handle, that will not be so heavy as to throw off the balance of the knife. At the same time there are issues of aesthetics and cost to consider.

Steel - very strong - inexpensive, but it is heavy. Makes the knife heavy and can throw off the balance.

Aluminum - light, stiff, more expensive than steel. Can have issues with corrosion. (I think, could be wrong on the cost issue. Hard to tell. The raw material is more expensive, but it is easier to machine. Final cost might be about the same.)

Ti - very strong, no corrosion. lighter than steel, heavier and stronger than aluminum. More expensive than either steel or aluminum. (material and machining are expensive.) And it has sex appeal.

Carbon Fiber - actually carbon fiber / epoxy laminate. stiff, very light, expensive. Looks awsome. Can be made with a very grippy surface. (But the surface finish will vary by maker.) Typically has metal liners. But still a very lightweight material.

G10 - Glass /epoxy laminate (epoxy fiberglass). A bit less expensive than the carbon fiber. Pretty much all the comments about carbon fiber apply to G10. Very Good stuff.

FRN - Fiber Reinforced Nylon. Light inexpensive, FRN handles usually don't have metal liners. Because they are just plastic with no liners, they feel like plastic. A lot of folks think they feel cheap. TOO light, not enough heft. They also don't have the surface finish of G10 or Carbon fiber because they are made by a different process. Again IMO if they are done properly, they can be an acceptable material.

Skeletonized handles mean that there are grooves or holes machined into it. This is done with metal handles to lessen the weight. You get a lighter knife and maybe a better balanced one. It's also supposed to look cool, and sometimes it really does.

 

[SR_matt]

just to add to metals info

aluminium is much easier to machine and from the little i looked around about it the price is not to much more (i could have just been looking at stock that was small enough to be cheap though). Al can be anodized and impregenated with colors (and patterns, designs, splashes etc) which stops all corosion on it (there are 3 classes, most comon is class 2 ; class 1 is very thin and more so for aerospace stuff, and class 3 is for heavy industrial stuff and only has a few color choices). the only problem is you cannot use it for a lot of strength and support (due to its tensil strength even if it has a 10k lbs tensil strength repetitive tensil pull at 2k lbs can break it becasue it work hardens rather easily). you will want IMHO to finish the al in some way becasue Al oxide leaves a nasty layer of black on your hands and isnt the best thing for you in large quanities. one problem with Al is that it can clog up belts and disks since it is so soft, at least in my experances. if you want more info about anodizing let me know i have a lot of sources ive talked to about it and found info or look up the custom/home mod sub forums on larger paintball forums.

ti can also be anodized but in a different way, the colors are put it through the current put into it and is easier to set up the equpmient but may be harder to get the exact colors (also the color choices are more limited).

-matt