Knife Makers

[ricklee4570]

Is it just me, or do you have the same experience? Every new knife I buy ends up needing reprofiled.

Why do the makers, whether factory or custom, make the knives so darn thick near the edges. It is not conducive to good cutting at all.

There are a few who still know how to make a knife right (Murray Carter, Bob Dozier come to mind)

I just bought a custom folder that is ridiculous at how thick and dull the edge is!

 

[singularity35]

Is it just me, or do you have the same experience? Every new knife I buy ends up needing reprofiled.

Why do the makers, whether factory or custom, make the knives so darn thick near the edges. It is not conducive to good cutting at all.

There are a few who still know how to make a knife right (Murray Carter, Bob Dozier come to mind)

I just bought a custom folder that is ridiculous at how thick and dull the edge is!

Before I ever joined the forums, all new knives were sharp enough for me. Now that I'm more or less a knife nut, I have to reprofile everything.

 

[ricklee4570]

Even before I became a knife nut, I hated trying to sharpen knives that I had used a lot, because as they wear, they really become thick! Thats inevitable, but the added poor profiling makes it worse.

 

[singularity35]

Even before I became a knife nut, I hated trying to sharpen knives that I had used a lot, because as they wear, they really become thick! Thats inevitable, but the added poor profiling makes it worse.

I was really "sharpening challenged" before, so I really couldn't tell if it was the blade grind or my technique.

 

[pwet]

you get what you ask for.

with all this "hard use hype" knifemakers adapted to the market imo. i may be wrong, but i doubt that they are not capable of producing thin edges ... they adapt to what customer ask.

 

[ricklee4570]

you get what you ask for.

with all this "hard use hype" knifemakers adapted to the market imo. i may be wrong, but i doubt that they are not capable of producing thin edges ... they adapt to what customer ask.

I uinderstand that there is a need and a legitimate use for a knife made for heavy duty applications. If you are in the jungle or hunting in the back woods a K-Bar or thick blade knife is useful.

How many of us are hammering our folders into trees to make firewood? Our carry knives are used for household chores, cutting twine, opening envelopes, etc.

They are keeping Wicked Edge and Edge Pro in business making knives that are as thick as a 2x4! Edge geometry sucks in most production knives today.

 

[shecky]

you get what you ask for.

with all this "hard use hype" knifemakers adapted to the market imo. i may be wrong, but i doubt that they are not capable of producing thin edges ... they adapt to what customer ask.

There may be something to this. There are plenty of knife consumers on this board that equate "bulletproof" with desirability. So the market responds in kind. How often do folks declare they want a knife they "can trust their life to"? Or something that will survive "hard use"? The result is the sharpened prybars so common on the market, and edge grinds that look more like cold chisels than knives. Perhaps this explains the awe folks consistently express when a simple inexpensive Opinel can actually cut so remarkably well compared to bigger, thicker more expensive knives, simply because it's designed to be a knife, and not Rambo-esque prop built to survive the zombie apocalypse.

 

[jimh0220]

I guesss it depend on the knife / cutter. I have plenty of knives that cut a tomato wafer thin right from the box, which is plenty sharp for me (Benchmade 530, and Mini Dejavoo, and CRKT Folts Minimalist and M21 SF, and all of my Mora blades, as well as a well maintained 5 yr old Stephen Fowler custom Bushcraft, AND all of my saks, to name only a few). They also cut string, cardboard, and whittle wood great. None, except the fowler and Moras, would ever be used for much heavier tasks. That said, I also have plenty of knives that needed a little touching up from the package, and it usually is no surprise based on the knife I bought. I never reprofiled a blade, and can cut most anything I need, but then I don't 'whittle my hairs' with my blades either, so I guess it is a matter of what you expect from the knife.

I'd look at what type of knives you are buying for what things you want from it. A ferrari ain't made for off roading, but a Hummer sucks for cornering. YOu can make either do the opposite for enough $, but is it worth it?

 

[pwet]

I guesss it depend on the knife / cutter. I have plenty of knives that cut a tomato wafer thin right from the box, which is plenty sharp for me (Benchmade 530, and Mini Dejavoo, and CRKT Folts Minimalist and M21 SF, and all of my Mora blades, as well as a well maintained 5 yr old Stephen Fowler custom Bushcraft, AND all of my saks, to name only a few). (...) I never reprofiled a blade, and can cut most anything I need, but then I don't 'whittle my hairs' with my blades either, so I guess it is a matter of what you expect from the knife.

this is the most common problem. people don't understand the difference between sharp and good geometry. a sharpened AXE can cut a tomato smoothly, a 1cm thick wedge properly sharpened wil cut tomato wafer thin and whittle air no problem. but when cutting something hard and thick edge geometry comes into play and there no matter how wcreaming sharp the edge is when the thick blade starts wedging into the material ... it plain sucks.

i'm educated by super thin kitchen knives wich are what introduced me to cutlery ... so i have some trouble understanding why so much thick blades. don't get me wrong i have some, i love my HD knives because they look and feel cool, but i hate the way most cut unless you work a lot on the blade.

 

[David Martin]

Specky, Jim and the Frenchman I agree with your comments . Yes "Correct blade profile" is most important in the cutting equation . A close second is heat treat and a long third is steel . Years back I sorted these in a different order . Buck makes several models with high end steels with good blade profile . DM