getting a good point

[JohnnyRockets]

Do small folding knives generally have a better/sharper point then larger fixed blade knives? I have a small Columbia River assisted opening knife and the point is very sharp out of the box, but when I had my USMC Fighting knife (fixed blade) sharpened - the point is nowhere near as pointy. Maybe the person sharpening it didn't do such a great job?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Most larger knives will have thicker tips because they can be used for heavier impacts and prying, however even when thick they should still be very sharp. If you can examine it under even light magnification (10X) it will be obvious if the bevels meet cleanly or not. Often it is the case they do not and the tip has little precision ability.

-Cliff

 

[Ripantuck]

On my knives, I usually grind a "modified tanto point" on them. Basically, this consists of simply grinding the point, replacing it with a short blade at the end approximately 45 to 60 degrees to the main blade.

This strengthens the tip a bit and gives you two points instead of one plus a small extra blade. In most cases, this extra blade would only be 1/16" to 1/8" long.

Also, I usually make this little extra blade a bit more obtuse than the main blade. It takes only a few minutes with a medium or coarse diamond stone to do, or you can do it in seconds on a belt sander.

Obviously, for those who are collectors it wouldn't be a good idea, but for people who use their knives it works as well as a conventional point for most tasks and better for many tasks.

I got the idea from Dr. Ed Ashby's studies on broadhead lethality on large game such as buffalo. He found that such a tip on a broadhead penetrates better than a conventional pointed tip and is less likely to break or bend on impact.

I should add that it would be perfect for those who complain that some blades are slightly longer than the legal carry limit. It does shorten the blade by a tiny bit.

Don Clark

 

[Buck268]

A tanto definately is stronger when it comes to penetration, but your in effect ruducing the length of the cutting edge, because when you go to cut something (eg: light rope) you'll tend to jump past the little tanto edge, where a drop or clip point will slice over the entire length...

Nothing against tantos, the best folder I ever owned was a tanto, but for a cutter (work knife, non-SD) there are better options IMHO

 

[Ripantuck]

I don't I made myself clear. This is a very tiny "tanto". It would have no effect at all in slicing rope.
It does allow on a very limited basis the use of the tip as a tiny chisel. However, it does not cause a large increase in tip strength, just a little, depending on how much of the point is ground off.

Besides being a bit stronger, what Ashby's study seemed to show is that it actually increases ease of penetration into both bone and soft tissue. I can't prove that this works in everyday tasks the same as in Ashby's study because his "knives" are traveling at 150 to 175 FPS when they cut, unlike a regular knife.

My experience is that it works really well on such things as cutting leather, but probably isn't quite as efficient as a conventional point in easily penetrating those hard plastic packages. On the other hand, it isn't as likely to snap off a point when opening a hard plastic package.

Don