How thick is 3/32 of an inch?

S

Showler

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Jul 14, 2013
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Is 3/32 thick stock suitable for a knife blade? I have a terrible frame of mind for numbers and I was planning on making a custom knife for my buddies birthday. Is it thick enough? Will it have any serious flex or is it thick enough to stay rigid.
 
Slightly thicker than 1/4 of an inch I suppose, unless someone corrects me
 
Rappy said:
Slightly thicker than 1/4 of an inch I suppose, unless someone corrects me
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Since 4/32s is half of 1/4 (i.e., 1/8), you couldn't be much more wrong.

3/32 is slightly less than a 1/10th of an inch. It is about what you would find in a kitchen knife.
 
4/32 " is 1/8" so 3/32" would be a bit thinner though would make a decent blade for light duty.
 
3/32 is 50% thicker than 1/16.

3/32 is 0.094, which is a hair thicker than 2mm.

My Svord peasant knife is 2mm thick and 3-1/8" long. My Mora 511 is 3/32" thick and 3-3/4" long. Not much flex in either of them, and I consider them strong blades. They are thin by American standards, because things need to be bigger, thicker, heavier in the USA.
 
Showler said:
Maybe a 4 inch blade. I decided and finally bought 1/8th instead of the 3/32 thick stock.
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I think you couldn't go wrong either way for a 4" blade. Some folks take Old Hickory kitchen knives and modify them into 4-5" bushcraft blades. The Old Hicks are around 3/32" thick.
 
Just for reference, here is a spine shot of a knife I own (a Backwoods by Bill Akers) that has a 3/32" thick blade. Blade length is 3 1/2 inches.

 
A sixteenth and a half, as Dogstar said. That's a good way to visualize it.

A thirtysecond is easy to remember if you are mentally going decimal as it is (about) 30 thousandths of an inch. (.031")

1/8" is a pretty thick blade to me.
 
My Moras are 2mm thick, 3/32" is 2.3mm, so if the steel is treated properly it will be more than thick enough for a decent utility blade.
 
fractions-decimals-millimeters.jpg
 
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