BG-42 or CPM S30V in the kitchen?

[Cliff Stamp]

Jeff Clark :

Since the bolster is ahead of your hand it can't bring the balance back to your hand.

Several common grips have one of two fingers ahead of the bolster and work best if the center of balance is at that point. Though yes, on a really thin blade this isn't an issue.

Take another look at the UK-60 and you'll see that the top of the handle projects over the blade and provides a more comfortable finger rest than a bolster.

The bolster protects the side of the finger from the back of the dropped blade which will be very sharp on thin blades. As well the high pressure generated on rocking cuts is usually out near the tip when the off hand is used to press down which again is where thicker knives with fully rounded spines can be of benefit.

For other kithchen knives none of these elements are factors and thus you go really thin for optimal performance, filleting, carving, utility and paring knives are generally very thin, boning knives are generally thicker for stiffness.

In regards to stock thickness and comfort, I noticed the same thing when doing a lot of rope cutting, I was using a thumb on blade grip and even though the Deerhunter was easily more efficient than other thicker blades, they were much more grip friendly than having a ~1/16" piece of steel pressed against the thumb. If I had to do a lot of such work I would readily take something a lot thicker (spine wise not edge wise of course).

For a long time I thought Boye was really off using such thick stock for his blades but now I can readily appreciate the ergonomic advantage for some types of work.

-Cliff

 

[Jeff Clark]

I was doing a lot of rocking cuts on Saturday to sliver a pile of almonds lenthwise. I was using a freshly sharpened UK-60 and didn't notice discomfort on my off hand. This blade is so thin that it splits the kernals with minimal pressure. It is also shorter than a lot of chef's knives so more of the blade force comes from the hand that is on the handle. Another thing that helps is if you round the corners a little on the back side of the blade with some silicon carbide paper. The thinness is less a comfort problem than sharp edges on the non-cutting portions of the blade.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Yes that is the advantage of the thinner grind it greatly reduces the force required. The problem with spine discomfort I generally only see on thick vegetables, which could benefit from a thicker blade anyway to induce some splitting motion as the thinner blade can wedge badly. However Japanese style blades combat this with the use of hollow grinds to prevent wedging so they might be able to go thinner without getting stuck. I have noticed that the small utility knife I have binds less in this manner.

-Cliff