Is there a good place to look at the reasoning for different shapes of blades? Some are self explanatory, others are not. For instance, I can see why a fillet knife blade is shaped the way it is, or a chefs knife. Or even an old school Italian switchblade. But, what purpose does the shape of a tanto serve? Why the shape of a recurve? Or a drop point, or wharcliff (Sp?). Etc...
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Blade shape
- Thread starter nitsuj
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A tanto is designed for stabbing. It is supposed to sever arteries that otherwise might roll off the side of the blade without being cut.
A sheepsfoot or warncliff blade is good for cutting straight lines into or across things. I think of it as good for opening boxes and other city chores. It is also handy for carving wood.
Hunting blade styles usually have more curve to the front of the blade. Often you don't want them to cut in a straight line like a warncliff you want them to follow the juncture between two tissues. You want to separate tissues on natural boundaries. The most extreme form of this is a back-swept (aka trailing point) skinner. This is optimized to separate animal hide from the muscle underneath. Some people don't like to use this type of blade when gutting and animal because they are afraid that they will puncture the guts. (This is less of a problem with a short-bladed skinner like a Schrade Sharpfinger). In answer to this problem you get a spear point or a drop point blade where the back of the blade curves forward to meet the backward curving edge. This makes for a less acute point that is located nearer the center of the blade. This is intended to be less likely to accidentally puncture guts. It can also be kind of handy for running along bones without gouging into them. There is also an in between style of hunting knife with a straight back. This used to be the most common type of hunting knife blade and still works quite well. The point works a little better for starting an incision and yet you can do a pretty good job of skinning or gutting.
The recurve design blades are good for slicing or slashing. They have some of the advantages of a serrated blade for concentrating force when used in a draw cut. They are easier to sharpen than a serrated blade and can also be used for skinning much neater than a serrated blade. A serrated blade digs in and cuts where it is pointed and does not neatly separate tissues.
A sheepsfoot or warncliff blade is good for cutting straight lines into or across things. I think of it as good for opening boxes and other city chores. It is also handy for carving wood.
Hunting blade styles usually have more curve to the front of the blade. Often you don't want them to cut in a straight line like a warncliff you want them to follow the juncture between two tissues. You want to separate tissues on natural boundaries. The most extreme form of this is a back-swept (aka trailing point) skinner. This is optimized to separate animal hide from the muscle underneath. Some people don't like to use this type of blade when gutting and animal because they are afraid that they will puncture the guts. (This is less of a problem with a short-bladed skinner like a Schrade Sharpfinger). In answer to this problem you get a spear point or a drop point blade where the back of the blade curves forward to meet the backward curving edge. This makes for a less acute point that is located nearer the center of the blade. This is intended to be less likely to accidentally puncture guts. It can also be kind of handy for running along bones without gouging into them. There is also an in between style of hunting knife with a straight back. This used to be the most common type of hunting knife blade and still works quite well. The point works a little better for starting an incision and yet you can do a pretty good job of skinning or gutting.
The recurve design blades are good for slicing or slashing. They have some of the advantages of a serrated blade for concentrating force when used in a draw cut. They are easier to sharpen than a serrated blade and can also be used for skinning much neater than a serrated blade. A serrated blade digs in and cuts where it is pointed and does not neatly separate tissues.
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
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The classic "skinner" blade, with its extreme lifted point comes from a practical reason. No ,it is not that it skins animals better - It is that shape because primitive pioneers and mountain men were great hunters, but lousy smiths. They didn't know about bending the blade blank into a reverse curve before forging the bevels. When forging the bevels the blade curves upward sharply. That is how the "skinner" got its shape.
Stacy
Stacy