Pet Peeve

[Gary W. Graley]

I've got a major pet peeve that just drives me crazy, for me it's just about
a deal breaker when it comes to buying a knife and while others don't seem
to mind one way or the other, I must just be a tad off my noodle

Some call it the choil, I just call it the notch before the edge starts,
for me, I prefer that there is no notch, just steel up to the guard area
so when you go to cutting stuff and I do like to cut stuff up having
a notch there seems to always manage to get snagged and hangs the
knife up which can in turn become a dangerous thing as you try to 'pull'
it through the resistance and suddenly it comes free.

Some makers, like Chris Reeve knives, will put an angle there instead of
an abrupt cut off, that isn't so bad as the material will ride up and out
of that off of the slope, but when it's a dead end, it catches pretty easy.

on this vintage Whitewing folder you'll notice there isn't a notch before the
edge

the Sebenza by Chris Reeve and gang here shows the angle they put on it
just before the edge starts;

on the David Boye cobalt folder, nice cutter btw, no notch was needed

Scott Cook also puts in an angle before the edge, he use to work with CRK before
branching off on his own

the good ole Buck 110, albeit a custom model, doesn't have it;

while a Ray Cover usually does have a pronouced ending;

Even this little rascal has that notch

I have heard the reasons that others give for the need,
Easier to grind
Easier to sharpen
Saves your sharpening stones edges

But to me, you're giving up a bit of the overall cutting area of your knife's blade
and even if you don't sharpen right up to the very start of the blade, the
material will not get caught in there, it will slide on the edge until it reaches
a cutting area, a lot of the William Henry knives I've owned had flat metal
that had the bevels go out gradually into the edge, no notch.

I had the Junkyard Dog II which while not as deeply cut, still had the notch
but on that one I tried to radius the very corner of the sharp edge out and that did help some
but it's not easy to get access to once the knife is made.

So, there, I feel better I guess my purpose in life is to help promote the
ceasing of the notch, I just received the Spyderco Police model, sweet knife
btw! man that blade just goes on and on and on! and yep, no notch either
which is nice feature!

With that off my chest, what pet peeves, besides me posting mine!
do you guys/gals have?

G2

 

[shecky]

Thick edge bevels. It really bothers me that so many knives have an edge bevel with a thick useless edge. Price isn't an indicator. Way too many knives, cheap and expensive, have this characteristic. It makes no sense to give a blade a full flat or hollow grind, and then grind an edge bevel 1/16" thick about 40 degrees or more.

 

[fulloflead]

From what I understand, that "choil" is there to prevent the blade from going concave (like a recurve) at that back area through multiple sharpenings.

I grew up sharpening knives for my dad's friends who were all auto mechanics and all of their knives went a little recurve there after several sharpenings, but we all figured that was life and nobody cared that their knives went in a little there.

I'm with you. I think that little drawback is far preferential to having the hook there that catches on things.

But I hadn't given it much thought and it certainly wasn't a pet peeve for me until you just mentioned it and made me think about it. Now I gotta go look at all my knives to see if they have this "feature" that is a pet peeve that I now share with you. Jerk.

.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

LOL
sorry man, trying to awake the masses

and Shecky, I'm with you, especially on pocket knives? give me a break
we don't need no THICK edges on things like that, even bowie knives
often are a little overdone...

G2

 

[fulloflead]

No problem! I'll be happy to join your no-choil movement, should you care to start one.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

It's started, have a couple of makers that are willing to not put it in, if you
ask them, had one maker tell me it would take LONGER to get the knife from
him and it would cost MORE too, I didn't bother to order

Here is an Ultimate Caper from our own Tom Krein, he usually has a notch there
before the edge, I asked if you would please not do so and he obliged no problem
AND he also is one of the few guys I know that grinds the blades down nice and
thin, if you want a sharp thin edged knife, check out Tom's stuff, great!!!

and as I say, ground down pretty thin, but then, this is CPM 3v so it can go fairly thin!

G2

 

[StretchNM]

I've ground a couple of three of my knives with that little notch, thinking I could get "up in there" a little better when sharpening.... and I think it works but I can;t swear to it.

I kindly think one of my pet peeves is flashy script all over a blade. Kellam makes a pretty nice knife I've considered ordering but always held back because there's some fancy calligraphy all over the blade that says "Fang" or "Slasher" or other such nonsense. It would be a nice, classy knife with just "Kellam" in fine print near the hilt maybe.

Another peeve is similar to Shecky's about overly shallow (or is it overly steep?) edge grinds. Sometimes I think of an otherwise beautiful knife "Man. That's a classy looking little maul".

 

[Gary W. Graley]

I agree on the logo side of things, the first knife pictured up there
the logo Whitewing while fancy script was way too large for the blade
I had a different style and hand sanded that off as best I could, looked
a lot better after that!

And I had often thought that maybe I could, like you say, sharpen that
notch and make it into a small serration maybe, but never gave it a lot of
effort, usually moved the knife to a new home.

G2

 

[StretchNM]

Well, that little Whitewing script is NOT disturbing... not to my eye anyway. It has some refrain to it, which is classy in it's own way. Alot of it has to fo with what the script says too. Now if that little Whitewing had written below it, on the blade, "Rhino Killer", well now............

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Aye that would be more offensive and yes on that blade it wasn't overly
disturbing, but the other knife seemed more so, I guess that's why I didn't
sand that one down as I did the other one.

G2

 

[SaMX]

I don't have any problem with the choil, I usually start the cut just in front of it anyway.

 

[archieblue]

I prefer said notch/choil. IMO it brings a lot to the table for a plain edge knife, and I only buy/use PE.. It serves as a LARGE serration... I like to use it as a forceful transfer of energy. I am precise with my use. ...AND I like the way it looks. It is why I took soooooo long to "take" to Spyderco... I don't necessarily miss it a whole lot on my favorite knife, the Spyderco Military, but I would rather it be there for my uses. These days, I could take it or leave it aesthetically... no that's a lie... I like it either way... I'd also like to say...

I MISS YOU GAR'>>> I like having you around more!

 

[Gary W. Graley]

SaMX, yep, it often can be a matter of use, but, when you're cutting into thick
material, working hard at it, you are relying on the knife to cut, not hang up.
So it is as the title says a pet peeve of mine, I was in Trinidad with a Kershaw
JYD II and was cutting heavy plastic from off our machines, as I sliced into the
material and started to cut around the machine, it's a big machine, the knife kept
catching on that, ugh! very annoying, it's not the kind of work that you gently
start cutting, you just have to get that done kind of thing.


Archie!! I miss being around here too, my traveling has killed my knife buying, not a good
thing, gotta have priorities and also cuts into my time here on the forums, hoping
next year I'll be home more often!! and for those that the notch/choil doesn't bother
all the better for you guys/gals you're better than me for that ability, although I'd still
like to bring you to the no-notch side someday

G2

 

[Lycosa]

Gary---I understand your peeve. Although, I've come to accept that this is the way the maker made the knife. I do not like jimps on the spine!

 

[So-Lo]

Great thread!

I HATE them... In fact the SNG would be perfect if it did not have that little choil to snag on stuff.


Most slippies let your fingers get right up to the cutting edge That and their thin full flat blades is why I love to use them so much.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks guys and Lycosa, ya don't have to accept it, make a point of asking the maker
if he would make one without it, a few of the guys are switching that I have talked with
which is, to me a good thing.

So-Lo, not having a guard is another smaller pet peeve but not a deal breaker, here's
my main edc lately, a 1981 slipjoint that was made for the National Knife Collectors Association, minimal notch on either blade, not a problem!

G2

 

[Lycosa]

Gary---I just asked Luc Burnley to omit jimps on a Kwaiken I ordered. Get it the way you like it is correct!

 

[me2]

I actually prefer that choil notch. My pet peeve is not being able to get the knife sharp in that area when a notch is not there, so I prefer to have the notch there and that takes care of it. Nearly all knives have a small radius there, so sharpening right up to the plunge grind is not possible. Also, it does save the corners of my stone. I've not really noticed a problem with hanging up during cutting either. I prefer a notch that is not completely on the edge, but one that splits the grind and the edge, like in Gary's first notch pic. The Scott Cook model has a notch, its just huge and angled. The lack of this notch is not a deal breaker, so its not as much a pet peeve as a preference, and if the lack of a notch becomes an issue when sharpening, which my Buck, Spyderco, and Boye never did, I'll make one with a Dremel.

 

[Lycosa]

Me2---I used to use a chain-saw file.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Nice Rolf, part of that 'custom' knife thing!

and me2, I understand some guys prefer not to sharpend up to the end like that
I've sharpened for a long long time without hassle, so it's not been a problem but
I can see how it could.
As to not having the notch catch, it depends on your cutting chores, even cutting a
cardboard box can get it caught, but whittling and things, not so much a problem.

Pet peeve's are pretty personal and often irrational type things and I expect that
not everyone would share in mine, but had to vent a little and figured if I had one
I was sure others might too and would be a healthy way for them to vent and maybe
for knife maker's, manufacturers to possibly take note and file that away as an idea
to hash over when review time comes...ya never can tell !

Thanks for sharing guys, appreciate it!
G2