Inexpensive factory knives that cut and slice well....

sideways said:
Slicing is pretty much entirely a function of spine thickness. The thinner the spine the better it slices.

Box cutters and disposable razor blades will out slice anything being the thinnest money can buy.

Classic opinels & the Spyderco centofante 3 are both 2mm thick at the spine if memory serves.

Mora knives come with as thin as 1.2mm spine thickness.
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I really have to disagree. Spine thickness certainly plays a role in slicing ability, but blade height, thickness and height of the primary grind and edge geometry are all going to have a pretty profound effect on slicing ability. Heck, if the Mora you mentioned is Scandi ground then I promise I can find knives with double the spine thickness that will slice much, much better.
 
sideways said:
Slicing is pretty much entirely a function of spine thickness.
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Not true at all. Its about geometry, not spine thickness. With 2 blades of the same spine thickness and blade height, where one is full flat and the other is scandi or saber ground, the full fglat will be a better slicer. Thinner behind the edge.
 
Edge geometry is so important they use thin wire to cut cheese. :)

I was oversimplifying to make a point. Edge geometry does still matter. That being said anything with a spine wider than about 2mm doesn't see much use in my kitchen. That's the place where slicing matters most to me. The kitchen knives that get the most use at the moment are fiskars paring knives with sub 1mm spines. :foot:
 
Edge geometry and thickness is what cuts, have an opinel, but am looking for something not too expensive with a lock.Spyderco with thickness and geometry of Opinel would be perfect:)
 
$5 paring knife from Wally World will do you a fine job. Quick sheath can be made out of cardboard. Seriously.
 
marcinek said:
The Peasant blade is hardly thin. Let alone "really thin," in my opinion. Unless they have changed them. And they involve modifications and regrinding. They are cheap though.
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Mini Peasant: .066
Uncle Henry stockman: .085
Peasant: .087
Rat 2: .095
Rat 1: .111
Tenacious: .119
Native: .122

I probably should have specified I was referring to the mini. You are correct about the grind crapshoot, though.
 
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lonestar1979 said:
Edge geometry and thickness is what cuts, have an opinel, but am looking for something not too expensive with a lock.Spyderco with thickness and geometry of Opinel would be perfect:)
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Clearly what you are talking about is an Opinel. But, since you already have one that Mercator K55K Black Cat that The Mastiff mentioned would be a great choice, so would a lock back sodbuster. Boker makes a nice one at about 30US.
 
I have both the peasant, mini peasant, opinel 7, opinel paring knife. All 4 make good kitchen knives. I EDC the mini peasant, which is a great all around knife and slicer. But, I would still give the cutting crown to the opinels due to their more precise full flat ground geometry. The grind on the peasants, as you know, is a little haphazard, which does not bother me.
 
I just got a Kershaw injection 3.5 and am pretty impressed with it so far.
 
Victorinix SAKs are very easy to find, are high quality yet inexpensive, and they slice exceedingly well.

Jim
 
Opinel, Mercator K55K, SAK, Douk-Douk, Svord Peasant Knife with the edge thinned out in either size...
 
I would also support the vote on the Opinel as well, they are inexpensive yet cut great and they can look pretty sleek too;

#8 Slim in olivewood handle

Slim-Olivewood.jpg~original


slim-olive-1.jpg


G2


Edited to add: My apologies, I didn't catch that you already have an Opinel, hmm I don't know of any other production makers that would attempt such a thin ground blade, mainly from a warranty type stance, as the Opinel's are known for what they are, they have cut out a nice niche in the cutlery community in that respect.

One alternative would be to pick a production folder that you really like, lock mech, handle shape/contour, blade steel and then farm out to a knife maker to help grind down the blade to the thickness that you would like, this of course would void any warranty for the knife but you'd get what you were looking for.
 
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I could not say enough good things about Opinel. Recently got Carbon No 7 and 9. Seriously, they outcut and outslice everything else I have
 
lonestar1979 said:
Edge geometry and thickness is what cuts, have an opinel, but am looking for something not too expensive with a lock.Spyderco with thickness and geometry of Opinel would be perfect:)
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What do you need from a lock that the Opinel lock doesn't provide?

IMO, the big downside of the Opinel is that they aren't as soap and water friendly as, say, a traditional lock back. I do NOT trust any lock to prevent accidental closure. If you want a slightly more secure lock for the Opinel, file the lock ring a bit to allow it to spin around a bit more. This helps the lock ring to not move but again, don't pry with it. The lock is easy to overcome.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28597626/tuning-opinels.txt

If I had to replace my Opinel with an inexpensive modern folder I would look at the ESEE Zancudo.
 
Ill try to get Opinel filet knife but Have already few Victorinox and Wenger paring knives, those things slice like crazy and hold decent edge, but I don't want cardboard sheat and to carry fixed blade in pocket! Victorinox swiss army knives slice well too, especially large locking blades, but am looking for Spyderco filet knife, in H2 steel ,do not know name of model but its thin and should slice really well!
 
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