I hate sharp square spines...

That's why they make sharpening stones ! Remove all sharp areas [except the edge] That includes thumb grooves .The last knife I bought was a chef's knife .The spine though a 90 degree angle was sharp enough to cut fingers, so chamfer that. Also the heal was very sharp so I chamfered that too !
 
I must admit that my early knives had some very sharp spine corners. Today, only very round and confortable coners where the fingers touch the bare steel, and that includes the area where the ricasso meets the side of the index finger.
 
They are good for scraping, making wood shavings to start a fire, and for using a fire steel, if you are into that kind of thing. Using the spine helps to preserve the cutting edge.

Sharp spines are not for me though. I request rounding on all hand made orders.
 
I'm like Ivan. I've made several in the past that had pretty sharp spines.... all in an effort to make crisp, clean knives.

I've since learned you can make them clean and crisp AND comfortable.

Then I got in with a bunch of Scandinavian blade lovers, and they WANT a sharp spine for striking a fire-steel (as Jeff pointed out :) ).

Otherwise, they're just a pain in the fingers.

-Nick-
 
I think they're pretty and they show a very crisp and clean look. I agree they're not as comfortable than rounded edges, but they're better at showcasing the quality of the construction, as it's much harder to hide irregularities.
 
joss is right in my opinion. although rounded edges are more comfortable, they are often used to hide flaws. a nice but not too sharp edge (not the cutting edge, of course...) says much more about the grinding and filing skills of a maker. in my business (watchmaking) rounded edges are for beginners, the master avoids them whenever possible. a true master, of course, is free to do whatever he likes :)
 
There is a saying in the machinist field.....remove all burrs, break all corners. A crisp 90 degree corner is a safety hazard in my book. They can cut you deep if not carefull. I like to forge and grind the spines of my bowies with a spin off from Japanese swords called "iori-mune". It's the ridged spine on many Japanese swords. As long as the edge of the spine is less than 90 degrees, it won't hurt you, and the rdiged spine looks cool to boot.
 
I prefer the look and feel of slightly rounded edges. Really sharp edges don't appeal to me at all, and very rounded edges take away from the crisp lines that I like to see. On a user I have no problem with very rounded edges.
 
I like to break or sand the edges of my spine so that they do no hurt the hand. On my camp knives I like to round or sand the edges down so they do not bite your hand if you use it like a chef's knife.On a fighter or something similar a sharpened clip is great but on a using knife it may cut the hand that is pressing on the spine to cut.
Reggie
 
The square sharp spine is the easiest of all to make, I don't know any flaws that could be hidden by it. Less skill and time is required making a sharp spine, that is why most mass production knives have them.
 
I smooth the spine on all my knives. I think it's more appealing and comfortable. I also think that it relieves stress and binding in case the blade bends, it has more of a give, reducing the chance of breakage.
 
When I read Ed Fowler's books I went straight to rounding the spine corners. It seemed like the smart thing to do. They I got in with the bushcraft brigade, users of ferrocerium firesteels, and found that rounded spines were worthless for helping to start fires. The same went for those carefully edge quenched blades that had softer spines.

For the knives that I make for myself now I round the spine near the handle and make the spine near the tip as sharp and square as I can. It looks a bit weird, but it works. The spine near the tip tends to be harder anyway on my blades, so better for striking sparks.
 
I played with one of those fire starters, used thre cutting edge and guess what? Got a fire with only a little sharpening touchup needed. Has aybody else tried to use the cutting edge on them?
 
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