Insulation Knives

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me2

Joined
Oct 11, 2003
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I saw an insulation installer yesterday using a knife that was beyond anything I've seen w/r to geometry, except for Alvin Johnson's knives. The spine was 1/16 or 3/64 inch thick, about 1" wide, maybe 6" long and had a full flat, zero bevel grind. There was no point on the knife, just a slight upsweep near the tip from use and sharpening. Does anyone have any info on these, w/r to where to get them, cost, steel, etc? Are there any knives like that on the market in a folder? I'm almost drooling thinking of the possibilities with some A2 fully hardened or some O1 or 1080, or, dare I say it, fully hardened M2.
 
I don't know the knife you mention, too bad you didn't get to ask him about it.

I put in a bunch of insulation recently, and the best knife I used for the job was a Bark River in A2. It held its edge much better than others I tried, the only problem was that it only had a 3" blade, which worked, but which required more passes than I wanted.

I think a 6" blade in A2, nice and thin, would work very well.

Andy
 
I found something like it. See the Ontario shoe/cork field knife on Knifecenter. I've seen one like that before, with a 4"ish blade. Cut sheet rock like a champ. I think I see a small secondary bevel on the Ontario, so maybe there was one on the insulation knife, but it was so scratched that it was hard to tell. It was definately thinner at the spine and had a much smaller secondary bevel, if one at all, than the hacking knife pictured. I talked to the guy and he tried the shorter one, and needed the longer one for the thick stuff. He also said the employer bought them in bulk. Probably about $4 each or so.
 
Was it one of these?

QN-736.jpg


Andy
 
Vivi, thats certainly close. It has the same type handle, basically a square tip, collared ferrule. His was so used that I dont think the name could be read anymore. How thick is the spine? Does it indeed have a secondary bevel, or full flat like I thought (perhaps incorrectly).

Now that I think about it a little, are the AG Russel Deer Hunter and the shorter version (cant remember the name) ground full flat from 1/16" stock, but with a secondary bevel?

Andy, while the double edge ones certainly have an advantage, and are interesting in their modification possibilities, the one I saw didnt have a point like that.
 
I've used a cheap bread knife with great success. The serrations allow you to saw through the batt with a nice square cut.
 
me2 said:
Vivi, thats certainly close. It has the same type handle, basically a square tip, collared ferrule. His was so used that I dont think the name could be read anymore. How thick is the spine? Does it indeed have a secondary bevel, or full flat like I thought (perhaps incorrectly).

Now that I think about it a little, are the AG Russel Deer Hunter and the shorter version (cant remember the name) ground full flat from 1/16" stock, but with a secondary bevel?

Andy, while the double edge ones certainly have an advantage, and are interesting in their modification possibilities, the one I saw didnt have a point like that.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I wouldn't advise trying to use the one I pictured. I have one and thought it would be great.... but it didn't hold its edge very well. I ended up going back to the 3" Barkie.

Andy
 
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