Do you re-profile your traditional? (Trying to learn more)

B

Bob6794

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Apr 21, 2013
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(I over research and over think things I get interested in as a hobby, right now it's knives.)

My question is do you re-profile the angle of your traditional to fit your needs better? And if so do you have different angles for different blades on the multi-blade knives? What are the intended uses if you do re-profile?

Out of curiosity what blade style have you found works best for you for cutting cardboard? (it's one of my primary uses for a knife)

Background on why I asking if your curious:
I started using one of my ka-bar's more recently for cutting up cardboard more recently and doing some side to side comparison to one my kershaws which I believe have a larger angle compared the 15degree the ka-bar is listed to having out of the factory. This sparked my interest in how that plays a role in it's cutting ability along with the blade shape and everything else that goes into it that affects it ability to cut. So naturally it started making wonder how well a traditional with several different blade patterns with the blades re-profiled to different angles would play out in use if it was tailored to the task at hand.

I don't have anything to re-profile my blades to specific angles so trial and error is out of the question. And I just started looking this information up more recently so if there is anything you like to point out feel free to do so. I whole reason in starting this post is to learn more, and it seems more fitting to have it here than another part of the forum as we deal with more blade styles and different uses compared to other parts of the forum I frequent.

As a side note this has fortunately/unfortunately made me rethink my views on various blade styles that I used to dislike. Now I am rethinking my views on which traditional to get (yet again), and now I just need to decide which is the hard part as I tend to over think things as I stated earlier and I like to carry a knife a few months before making another purchase no matter how cheap so I learn it's strengths and weaknesses.
 
My experience is somewhat limited as the only new knives I have received in the last few years have been Case and Queen. As discussed ad nauseam the Queens require reprofiling if your use is to cut. On the other hand the Cases I have received I hace been pleased with the profile. This includes new knives made in the early 2000. The edges might be oblique for some tastes, but especially given that trusharp may be soft, I like an oblique strong edge, preferring just to polish. As always ymmv, but if you are coming from nontraditionals, given the thinner blades and possibly softer steel, you may find that acute edges are not necessary.


An insight on my knife use: I will certainly slit open or break down the odd box with my traditional, but if breaking down a shipments worth of boxes were on the menu, id look for a box cutter. Absent some kind of emergency i would not use my daily carry for that kind of work. If i did i would expect a sharpening session and owe my knife an apology.
 
I don't break down shipments of boxes or anything of that magnitude, just that it's what I use my knives for the most often in normal day to day use around the house. And I like optimizing and fine tuning things when I can.

The idea behind the thinner blades not requiring as acute of an edge does sound interesting, but does make a lot of sense. I was thinking about that before a little bit, but now that you mention it I think about it may actually play a bigger role than I initially thought as I typically slice though an entire piece of cardboard or whatever material I have with the whole blade being pulled through it. Instead of cutting something on a table or surface and gliding my knife across it which happens with far less frequency for my EDC knives.
 
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My primary sharpening tool is a Spyderco Sharpmaker, though I also have some DMT diamond bench stones. So as a result I end up with either a 20 or 15 degree bevel because those area the fixed angles of that tool. I generally find that the 20 degree bevel is sufficient for my needs, and I usually use that same angle on all of the blades on a multibladed knife.

If the factory edge is sufficiently far from either of those then I'll use the diamond stones to set the basic bevel before finishing up on the Sharpmaker. Once I have the edge sharp I touch up as needed with a strop.

Sharp enough is sharp enough, at least for me.
 
Well I think it's the thickness of steel behind the edge. Generally slipjoints are relatively thin along the whole profile compared to a lot of fixed blades and tacticals. This is going to permit an oblique edge to cut as well as an acute profile on a blade that is thicker behind the edge. In an absolute sense thinner will be better for cardboard cutting unless its dirty board or you may hit a staple.
 
There is no difference in changing edge angle of a traditional knife and changing the edge angle of any other.

So saying, this is being moved to the Maintenance and Tinkering Forum.
 
Bob6794 said:
Out of curiosity what blade style have you found works best for you for cutting cardboard? (it's one of my primary uses for a knife)
Click to expand...

Most of my work with a knife is done in the kitchen, but I do slice up quite a few cardboard boxes to fit them into the paper bin. For many, many years, my very favorite for that task has been the long (3-inch) blade on a Shrade Old Timer Stockman folding pocket knife, carbon steel blade, "Walden, N.Y." stamped on the blade, perhaps from the 1960's, belonged to an uncle of mine. More than anything, it's the geometry of the blade that makes the difference. The blade is thin enough, but from top to bottom (from the spine to the edge) it tapers off quickly from about 2/3 of the distance from the base up to the point. The last inch up to the tip is the area of the blade that slices through cardboard, and that area being both thin in width and increasingly narrow in height is precisely what you are looking for. Any high-bladed knife (measured from spine to edge), regardless of the highly-polished, hair-splitting sharpness it may have, is going to cause unnecessary drag and cause you to increase both muscle power and the odds of creating an inch-deep gash in your thigh.
I sharpen mine free-handed at about 15-17 degrees per side (don't really know; whatever it is, it's constant), then add a considerably wider microbevel of over 20 degrees per side using a steel. Now and then, instead of a steel, I'll use a fine ceramic rod, maintaining the same 20+ degrees per side. It's very sharp and no cardboard can resist it.
 
I thin the edges of most of my knives.

If you primary use is boxes, get your self a #7 or #8 Opinel. Absolute lasers!
 
A lot of good advice on how things are used thanks for all the advice so far. As for the Opinel it's on my list of knives to get definitely, I just like spreading out my knife purchases to at least once every few months so I give each knife some time to be used and learn about it's strengths and weaknesses so I can make more educated purchases after each purchase, plus it gives me time to enjoy each knife.
 
I use an Opinel 8 often, always have it in the narrow knife pocket of my hiking pants when out walking in the woods. Fine blade, inexpensive and very light. BUT! It's performance does not match my Shrade when it comes to reducing the size of cardboard boxes. Its height right up close to the point creates more drag than one wants for that task. I still claim it's the geometry of the blade, not the quality of the steel. The blade I'm referring to, when viewed in profile and when using a good bit of imagination, resembles the head of a northern pike. About 2/3 of the way up from the handle it tapers down to the point, getting narrower by the millimeter, just like a pike narrows down toward those nasty teeth.
With a little luck you might be able to see one here:
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/schrade-old-timer-usa
It's the first photo on the page.

For cardboard reduction, I suggest that you keep your eyes open for any thin and quality blade with that profile and buy it at the end of the quarter.
 
I use an Opinel 8 often, always have it in the narrow knife pocket of my hiking pants when out walking in the woods. Fine blade, inexpensive and very light. BUT! It's performance does not match my Shrade when it comes to reducing the size of cardboard boxes. Its height right up close to the point creates more drag than one wants for that task. I still claim it's the geometry of the blade, not the quality of the steel. The blade I'm referring to, when viewed in profile and when using a good bit of imagination, resembles the head of a northern pike. About 2/3 of the way up from the handle it tapers down to the point, getting narrower by the millimeter, just like a pike narrows down toward those nasty teeth.
With a little luck you might be able to see one here:
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/schrade-old-timer-usa
It's the first photo on the page.

For cardboard reduction, I suggest that you keep your eyes open for any thin and quality blade with that profile and buy it at the end of the quarter.
 
As soon as I get a Queen knife I rebevel it
I put them on my DMT Aligner and run through all the grits from EE Course to E Fine
This put a very acute angle on all the blades and they are very sharp and only need stropping once in a while

I also tend to rebevel Scandi grinds to a zero grind if they come with a secondardy edge
I use waterstones
 
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