Best factory carb board diceing folder?

T

Tom Carey

Joined
Oct 10, 1998
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Ok gang what's the best card board sliceing folder on the market? Also how easy is it to sharpen?

Regards,

Tom Carey
 
Opinel. While some (all?) come sharpened poorly NIB, it is basically puukko geometry except the grind is full-flat, not sabre-flat thus the cutting ability is fairly extreme. For reference, my large one cuts the Cold Steel Twistmaster drop point (no slouch) about ~50%-100% on most materials, including cardboard (also tested on woods, rubber, rope, foods etc.). Since the grind is basically full, you can set the edge at 3-4 degrees if you want, mine is at ~7-8. Steel is a simple carbon alloy, sharpens easily. Cold Steels Twistmasters are also high performers, as are any large Swiss Army knife. Both have full flat grinds, decently thin edges 0.01-0.02", and acute bevels. None of these are "tactical" in nature, they are however highly optomized cutting blades, the Opinel being the top performer. The A.G. Russell folders Joe commented on awhile back are also probably another solid choice, no experience with them directly however.

-Cliff
 
Few, if any, of my other knives can match my Old Timer Buzzsaw Trapper (the clip-blade, not the saw) for slicing through cardboard.
I suppose it has alot to do with the edge geometry and the thinness of the blade.
It's a really great cutter (and the saw works well on wood).

Allen.
 
I just came in from outside where I had to cut up a cardboard box that our new water heater came in and I used my good old Spyderco Delica that I've had for about 5 years and it did a really nice job. It is one of the very old ones with the G-2 blade steel. It has been sharpened many times and I think that the angel is 20 degrees. The lock up is still great and the little thing just keeps right on cutting. :)
 
I've got this Spydie Merlin in my pocket right now, which with it's hawkbill, hollow ground, serrated blade would probably make (untasty) mincemeat out of "carb board" (whatever that is - some sort of diet food, or an accessory for my Holley 640 maybe? :) ).

It's not that hard to sharpen, unless you insist on using a bench stone. It was also only about $35...

-- PG
 
Chris Reeve's Umfaan is my fav for opening boxes, packages etc.

Nice and small keeps you close to the material and in control of the blade. Plus, it is always there.
 
One of the best is the Spyderco Calypso Junior Liteweight. The blade is thin, fully ground, tapered and the VG10 alloy blade takes a true razor edge. It is a relatively tough alloy, but real easy to sharpen.
 
After I moved my family to Oregon 11 years ago, I used a Buck 110 to slice up a bunch of cardboard moving boxes for recycling. I kept a small diamond "steel" on the side for touch-ups, and only had to dress the edge a couple of times. :)
 
got a price range? If you say "price no object", you'll be indundated with stellite/talonite suggestions, and at least 4 people will say simply "sebenza" ;)

My personal fave as of tonight is my Boker Infinity. A lot of people told me to avoid Boker, being "overpriced German POS knives", but I tend to ignore people like that. The one I used for approx 4 or 5 hours constant (added up over my entire shift) is still as sharp as when it came out of the box, and it's been slicing cardboard all the time. Fit and finish was immaculate, it fits my hand perfectly, I haven't managed to do anything to disengage the linerlock yet, and if you're going to be slicing through cardboard all day/night, I guarantee you won't be resharpening this anywhere near as often as you will any metal-bladed knife.

It slices clean through all thicknesses I tried (1/8th inch to 1/2 inch thick corrugated), has a blade length of 3.5", a thickness of 3/16th inches, haven't calculated the bevel angle yet but it works brilliantly. EDIT - bevel angle is 22.3 degrees (not that anyone really wanted to know)

My only complaint is that it only comes in black. Scares sheeple a fair amount, but at least it matches my clothes :).

Cost? Mine was just over £60 from tool-shop.com ($90 equivalent)
 
I had a Microtech Tanto (expensive) that jumped out of my pocket and went looking for cardboard! I also had a Kershaw Whirlwind (moderate) with a steep grind that cut every thing. But I have to agree with an earlier post, the Opinel is the best. Dull out of the box, very cheap, I paid six bucks for my 4" but a razor off of the Edgepro. Very thin blade and little edge retention. But with a fresh polish, it's one of my sharpest knives.
 
Stanley carpet knife. About 6 bucks, cuts like a razor and you can sharpen it with a screwdriver.
 
Money is not all that big an issue though I would like to keep it around $150.00 or so. I know Talonite gets a lot of great reviews and I have had expierence with it but most knives tend to be thicker with blades in that material than what I am looking for.

Regards,

Tom Carey
 
The Opinels are a reasonable and cheap choice for utility slicing. I snapped one once and that ended the love affair. I was also always wary about real handle strength.

I have been beating up a BM330 for about a year now and it has proved to be a good knife. Good edge retention, easy to maintain. Very nice for precise work as well as those 40" cardboard slices.

I found the Whirlwind to be a poor choice for long cardboard slices as the blade tends to bind up and the trailing point profile is akward for scoring.

My old favorites have always been stockmans with a good sheepsfoot. Not as handy as some and the pivots do wear but they tend to be work-place friendly.
 
horseclover :

[Opinel]

I snapped one once and that ended the love affair. I was also always wary about real handle strength.
Click to expand...

The handle is wood and thus not likely to break, however I have on occasion locked the blade in the handle and opened it in a hurry forgetting that the ring was locked and just bring the blade up and popping the locking right off. The blade yes is rather thin, with a full flat grind, it would be very easy to break prying, I would assume a decent flex would be induced though. It is not by any means a "hard use" folder.

In regards to a Sebenza, Calypso Jr. etc., an Opinel will out cut all of them. The only way to make a knife cut better would be it ground as an Opinel except with a hollow relief grind over the flat. I don't know of any blades made like this, outside of the ones Alvin (from rec.knives) makes.

-Cliff
 
Just for everyones info Opinel's are not flat ground. They are a very shallow full convex.
 
The two Opinels I picked up (Lee Valley), both had full flat primary grinds with very narrow (<0.005") secondary bevels. The few I have handled in the past were similar, bought locally. I have never see a full convex one, though that would be the way to go. The only reason I kept the secondary bevel on mine was that the primary was not consistently ground, and in retrospect I didn't want to take the time to do that much work to remove the additional edge bevel. I might do it later on one I pick up some fine belts.

-Cliff
 
Hello folks,


couldn't agree more.. opinels all the way. You just can't beat their grind and edge. Except that they harden their steel to the low 50's make for their low edgeholding and high flexability.

Oh .. tech tip for those with a steel oven.. it's basically 1075.. remove blade from and opinel, normalize twice, differentially HT quench in oil, temper twice one hour at 200 degrees C. Opinels with a differentially HT'ed blade with hardings lines :D

I got two of those Opinels, I would go into a cardboard cutting contest anyday versus any other knife around.

Greetz and take care, bart.
 
Interesting. Maybe the larger ones are flat don't know about those. All I know is yes at first I thought they were flat ground , until I read the packaging that comes with them. It clearly states they are convex and a close look at mine agrees with that. Mine are convex ground. However I have had only the 6 and 8 and right now only have a 6.
 
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