Less is more

Now Elen and I were typing at the same time. No offense taken as stated above. I agree that the choil detracts from the amount of force that can be applied at the back edge of the blade.
 
kgd said:
I didn't take any offence by Elen, but we can certainly debate what constitutes precision work or not. Any Cal. raises a valid point as to whether the work is being done at the tip or towards that back edge of the blade. Work done with back part of the edge will likely suffer from a choil. As Fonly points out, precision work done with the tip can benefit from a choil, particularly so, on a longer blade. Then again, if you just don't like choils, then you probably will not use them and conclude that they are of no value....
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I'm happy if you're not offended. The way I speak (or more precisely write in this case) seems to often annoy people, and that is one of my many personal flaws. :o And since I blabber on so much, then I accidentally write at the same time as others and make myself a nice big mess of things. :D

Yes, we can certainly debate about the nature of precision work. The part about tipwork I find very interesting because I do a lot of it myself. On longer blades (such as a 6"+) I find a choil not only ok but actually a noticeable advantage to have, for previously mentioned reasons. On a large knife, I prefer to have a choil.

But for small knives with regard to tip work in particular, I wonder what the effect of a choil in such work really is. I assume that when one says that a choil may help precision work with the tip, one is referring to the way the choil can transfer your grip forwards, closer to the tip? If so, there is a small problem. A knife that does not have a choil or fingerguard will allow you to grip the handle right next to the cutting edge. If the blade (and the cutting edge) is 3" long, that means your grip is about 3" from the tip, right? Now, if you have a knife with a choil, that has a blade with 3" of cutting edge on it, what happens when you choke up on the choil? Well, your grip ends up 3" from the tip, correct? So, uh, how is this better than the situation with the choilless knife, since in both cases the grip is equally far from the tip? Of course, if one should grip the knife that does have a choil by the handle, then the tip would disappear to well over 3" away from the grip, and in this sense the choil would facilitate a better grip for tipwork. But compared to the choilless knife, the advantage seems not to be there.

Now, there may be something here that I am missing, although I cannot fathom what it could be. There is of course the fact that the choilless, guardless knife doesn't have a guard, and is less safe in stabs. But I'm not sure how much stabs we need in our knifework. I personally never need them, and when I want to use one regardless, I will just change grip and support my thumb or palm on the butt of the knife to stop the hand from sliding onto the edge.

But-but, I said I would shut up, and now I didn't shut up. So I'll try that again. Sorry guys :o
 
panch0 said:
I like small fixed blades also. I just finished my first knife and its a lil guy. have a look.

picture.php
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I like it. Specs?
 
It is 6 1/8" OAL, blade 2 3/4", ATS 34 green canvas micarta handles, flat grind. The finish on the blade isn't the best, but I learned alot making it.
-frank
 
I too love smaller fixed blades, and have been using one instead of a folder as my EDC knife for a while now. There are some really excellent pics in this thread!

Here are a few little guys I made using Cobbler's blades from Ragnar as a base.

IMG_2471.jpg


IMG_2377.jpg


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All the best,

- Mike
 
Thanks for posting up some nice pics of sweet lookin' little blades.

How often do you really need a big knife? The comment about Oetzi was right on the mark. That guy was out bushcrafting with a tiny flint blade (what, about 1.5"?). It brings up the question of how much knife you really need. Most days 2-3" is plenty.

I was just re-reading Kephart who mentions that many hunters of the day felt nothing more than a jack knife was need for hunting. (Kep preferred a 4.5" blade plus the jack knife.)

Although having said that, I bet Oetzi would have given one of his remaining teeth for a Mora or Busse NMXXXX. :D

My other little blades:

430532052_MbVut-M.jpg


Dozier personal, Kelgin, Busse GW, Randall Bird & Trout. At nearly 4", the Randall looks pretty big. :o
 
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How about another pic?

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BlackHills, this is the one I said I did in black burl. The scales looked very similiar to yours when I got them, but black dyed.

One of these knives is always on me. I have worked them both pretty hard and they have held up well. The EnZo point broke when I was prying the kink out of some sheetmetal ducting. I was actually really working it before the tiny piece went. WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT A PRY TOOL? Anyway, the Shallot has held up well, but my gripe with it is the recurve blade. Other than that it is great. A lot of times I take the Shallot backpacking if I don't want the EnZo on my belt.

As far as Elen and choils go: Kudos, I like your form. Don't quit talking, I have learned things from you, as I am sure others have. From my memory of my RC-3, the reason I liked the choil was that it positioned the point underneath your hand a little, and closer to inline with your wrist. When I used the point, that was appreciated. I think my middle finger occupied the choil, and the index finger laid along the spine. In this way it was a larger bladed knife w/ plenty of belly, as long as something that I could control the tip with as well.

I had never thought of using a large knife for precision work (in my mind that is using the point), so didn't think a choil had much purpose. If I thought of using the same portion of the blade as you, I might appreciate the added balance.
 
Love the Schrade Sharpfinger - just about the perfect production smallie for the bush and it's skinning capabilities need no repeating:

SANY0001-3.jpg
 
brians said:
Love the Schrade Sharpfinger - just about the perfect production smallie for the bush and it's skinning capabilities need no repeating:
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Yeah, they are great blades. I need to get a replacement for the one I lost. I want one of the original carbon steel ones.
 
troutfisher13111 said:
Yeah, they are great blades. I need to get a replacement for the one I lost. I want one of the original carbon steel ones.
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Trout,

The great thing is you can still find them as well as new sheaths at reasonable prices. I have both the 1095 and stainless versions.

Here's a shot with it's big brothers:

SANY0051.jpg


Brian
 
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