head knife

I think a round knife's blade profile is more like a circle and a head knife's profile is more oval or elliptical in shape.

Below is a link to CS Osborne's knives... when viewed in this manner the head knife 'appears' to be a tad more.. hmmm flatter, oval, elliptical.

http://www.csosborne.com/l-knives_1.htm
 
There are two schools of thought or opinion on this subject.

One is that there is no difference...a head knife is a round knife and a round knife is a head knife

The other is based on the shape of the blade. The round knife when viewed from the profile side, the top of the blade describes a shallow "V" and is generally about 4 or more inches from tip to tip. This profile does better with straight or shallow curve cuts. Tight curves and corners are difficult with this configuration.

The head knife when viewed the same perspective, the top of the blade describes more of a straight line, and the head knife is generally smaller and not as long tip to tip as the round knife. This configuration makes the tight curves and corner much easier to cut.

Based on this comparison I prefer the head knife and I have had a couple of old Osborne round knives reprofiled to match my preference.

The end use for most applications is the same for either knife. People who use these knives almost exclusively (like me) generally modify them sooner or later for very specific cutting applications. I have five different round/head knives and I use them all. Each has been modified one way or another.

Paul
 
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