Recommendation? Classic Apple Knife

It's a pity you dislike the Opinel, the No.7 or 6 are excellent apple cutters. No brass though (which is an advantage in my book) The round handle is superb for comfortable grip too. But, it's out...too European perhaps?

You want, wood, brass and Traditional.

Have a look for one of these

IMG_3644.jpg


Other suggestions include, wooden handled Sodbuster type knives and as CASE doesn't offer any wood handled Slimline Trappers as far as I know, then try the Queen Cutlery Utility knife in Walnut or Zebra wood. Brass, D2 handle. The one shown is carved bone.

IMG_3472.jpg
 
Will Power said:
It's a pity you dislike the Opinel, the No.7 or 6 are excellent apple cutters. No brass though (which is an advantage in my book) The round handle is superb for comfortable grip too. But, it's out...too European perhaps?

You want, wood, brass and Traditional.

Have a look for one of these

IMG_3644.jpg


Other suggestions include, wooden handled Sodbuster type knives and as CASE doesn't offer any wood handled Slimline Trappers as far as I know, then try the Queen Cutlery Utility knife in Walnut or Zebra wood. Brass, D2 handle. The one shown is carved bone.

IMG_3472.jpg
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Yeah the opinel just seems too cheap to me I guess? And I can't imagine how awful it must carry in pocket.

Wow that Trestle Pine knife seems to hit the nail on the head! It's 154CM too which is very cool for a knife like this
 
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this here is my paradigm fire old man knife with brass. Cheap at flea markets, etc. But I wanted to add that opinel makes a great knife also. If you want an upscale version you can get fancy wood handle options also. Ebony and rosewood and olive I think.
 
Aquaholicc said:
Yeah the opinel just seems too cheap to me I guess? And I can't imagine how awful it must carry in pocket.
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You would think that from looking at it. But the beauty of the Opinel is how light the knife actually is, yet a very durable working knife. I would suggest a 7 or 8, or even the slim.
 
greentrout said:
You would think that from looking at it. But the beauty of the Opinel is how light the knife actually is, yet a very durable working knife. I would suggest a 7 or 8, or even the slim.
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I need to take the "don't knock it till you try it" advice, huh?
 
I have an opined 8 that's very well used. it is very easy to carry, much easier than a lot of traditional knives that pack the same sized blade. The thing to remember with an opined 8 is that it packs a 3.5 inch blade (or there about from memory) and weighs about half as much as an equivalent sized traditional lock back design. The stainless models take awesome edges (as do the carbons) and make excellent food prep knives with their thin blades. Lots of folks also mod their handles for comfort or for pizazz.
My recommendation for an apple knife would be one of those or a trad lock back like a buck 110.
I personally find the Puma kickbacks to be very attractive, you get your brass bolsters, stainless blades (a must for food prep) and a fair few handle options. They are a bit on the pricey side but if you're looking at GEC that won't be a problem.
 
Student762 said:
I have an opined 8 that's very well used. it is very easy to carry, much easier than a lot of traditional knives that pack the same sized blade. The thing to remember with an opined 8 is that it packs a 3.5 inch blade (or there about from memory) and weighs about half as much as an equivalent sized traditional lock back design. The stainless models take awesome edges (as do the carbons) and make excellent food prep knives with their thin blades. Lots of folks also mod their handles for comfort or for pizazz.
My recommendation for an apple knife would be one of those or a trad lock back like a buck 110.
I personally find the Puma kickbacks to be very attractive, you get your brass bolsters, stainless blades (a must for food prep) and a fair few handle options. They are a bit on the pricey side but if you're looking at GEC that won't be a problem.
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Hmm the buck 110 does strike my fancy but the weight scares me? It says 7oz?! That MUST include the leather sheath right ? Why does that seems ridiculous to me ..?
 
An Opinel 6 Carbon is my favorite apple knife. I have slimmed the handle to make it carry easier; it is about as noticeable in the pocket as a medium stockman.

Since you like brass, here is a similar alternative. This Antonini Old Bear has a brass bolster, walnut handle and a stainless blade. Th medium size is about as big as an Opinel 8. The handle is flatter than an Opinel so it pockets pretty well without modification. The lock ring rides inside the bolster, which is slotted for a thumb tab, and locks the blade either open or closed. If you get it in special grade from Baryonyx, it comes extremely sharp, one of my sharpest knives. Price is more than an Opinel, but still quite modest. You could have a couple and still be under $50.

Please excuse the crappy cell photo. I did not want to wait for daylight to get a pic.

image.jpg
 
Aquaholicc said:
Hmm the buck 110 does strike my fancy but the weight scares me? It says 7oz?! That MUST include the leather sheath right ? Why does that seems ridiculous to me ..?
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I'm not typically scared of weight in a knife. I've been pocket carrying multi tools like the weatherman charge tti and juice xe6 since I was twelve. However I do believe that is the weight without a sheath. The buck 110 is big and heavy. I don't own one as I dislike the shape of the clip but a friend has one and that would sound about right to me. I think if you're going for a food prep knife most of the recommendations you're going to get are for bigger knives as you need a fairly long blade for comfortable food prep.
Boker makes several different styles of lock back with brass hardware which are quite nice as well and may be worth a look.
One thing to keep in mind is that a knife with brass hardware is going to be pretty heavy no matter what you do, so perhaps a slim profile knife like a muskrat trapper or something would suit your purposes better
 
There is currently a Buck 110 available with aluminum bolster/liners called the lightweight. It's an SFO for a dealer that I think is a BF member but not sure so I won't mention the name. Got one myself recently and the weight difference is amazing. Gotta be half or less. Also, this dealer advised me that a lightweight 112 is likely in the future. I'll be getting one of those too no doubt. You can get it with ebony scales taking care of the wood angle, but obviously there will be no brass.
 
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Aquaholicc said:
Yeah the opinel just seems too cheap to me I guess?
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If by cheap you mean inexpensive then yeah, they are very cheap. If you mean they are lacking in quality then you really need to try one out because there is a reason they have been around as long as they have.
 
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I've been having trouble getting my pictures to link properly. I don't know how a picture of the moon got in there. This is what I meant to post.
 
Bugdoc said:
I don't think small knives are the best for apples. I prefer a blade long enough to completely slice the apple.
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This would be my main consideration if you want a knife primarily for slicing apples. I've used all sorts of traditional pocket knives for the task, and the shorter the blade, the messier it can get.

Aquaholicc said:
I need to take the "don't knock it till you try it" advice, huh?
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I think an Opinel makes an excellent apple cutting knife, and would definitely agree that you should at least try one out. (I mean, they cost something like $12, what'dya have to lose?) :D The No. 7 would be just about right for apples, although the No. 6 carries slightly better in the pocket and could still do the job. You can also reshape the wood handle to your liking if you were so inclined.

The #48 has been suggested a couple times already, and I would second that suggestion, as well. I has a nice, long, slim blade that would be good for the task, and the Bloodwood is quite nice.

2FF44B34-B132-4943-9A1B-60918FFD7B2B.jpg


Also, keep in mind the thickness of the blade when you're looking for an apple slicing knife. Most traditional knives have pretty thin blade stock, which is great for slicing, but I've noticed some customs with thicker blades that would be less than ideal.
 
The Crafstman stockman was available in stainless steel too, in fact that was the standard offering during the last years it was sold at Sears.
It had brass bolsters and wooden scales, a very nice knife.

I personally think that the best traditional folder apple knife is a Hungarian pattern called “Rác bicska”.
It is a variant of the melon/sausage tester, but with shorter and wider blade.

It is routinely offered with brass bolsters, brass liners and wooden scales (usually walnut) by several Hungarian makers:

http://www.bicska.hu/product-category/bicskak/rac/

http://www.bicska.hu/shop/nagyrac-fa-nyellel-2-paklival-2-pengevel/

http://www.bicska.hu/shop/nagyrac-tropusi-bubinga-fa-nyellel-2-paklival/

A few terms to help you understand the Hungarian text:

“pakli” = bolster; “réz”(short for sárgaréz) = brass; “alpakka” = nickel silver; “fa” = wooden; “penge” = blade.
“Nincs készleten” = not in stock (but it is offered, it takes 1-3 months to complete).
The total length (“hossz”) is that of the knife with all the blades opened.

A single bolster pattern called “arató bicska” with a similar spear point blade:

http://www.bicska.hu/shop/arato-fa-nyellel-1-paklival/

Another good maker:

http://polyak-keses.hu/bicska.html

http://polyak-keses.hu/kapcs.html

An important note:

The Hungarian patterns have strong back springs and do not have a kick on the tang to prevent the blade hitting the spring, if the knife is closed just by pushing the back of the blade.
 
btb01 said:
This would be my main consideration if you want a knife primarily for slicing apples. I've used all sorts of traditional pocket knives for the task, and the shorter the blade, the messier it can get.



I think an Opinel makes an excellent apple cutting knife, and would definitely agree that you should at least try one out. (I mean, they cost something like $12, what'dya have to lose?) :D The No. 7 would be just about right for apples, although the No. 6 carries slightly better in the pocket and could still do the job. You can also reshape the wood handle to your liking if you were so inclined.

The #48 has been suggested a couple times already, and I would second that suggestion, as well. I has a nice, long, slim blade that would be good for the task, and the Bloodwood is quite nice.

2FF44B34-B132-4943-9A1B-60918FFD7B2B.jpg


Also, keep in mind the thickness of the blade when you're looking for an apple slicing knife. Most traditional knives have pretty thin blade stock, which is great for slicing, but I've noticed some customs with thicker blades that would be less than ideal.
Click to expand...
I must say the #48 is a very sexy knife. I can understand how a lance length of about 3+ inch blade would benefit when cutting fruits (not just apples) but the only turn off about this exactly knife is it comes with another wharncliff looking blade...when I first took an interest into traditionals I've realized ALOT of knives makers do this for some unknown reason to me? I don't need one blade for cutting fruit another for dirt under my fingers then ANOTHER one to file my nails? But hey different strokes for different folks I guess.

All in all if the #48 could just come in the one SINGLE Clip point blade. I'd be sold !
 
The one I posted a photo of there is just a single clip point. They made both, single clip and clip/wharncliffe.
 
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