Santoku thickness

keithf

keithf

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May 29, 2006
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Not having made one before can someone tell me the ultimate spine thickness for a santoku blade? Just cant find any info about it. Thanks in advance.
Cheers Keith
 
By "ultimate thickness" do you mean typical thickness or maximum thickness? Typical thickness is in the area of 1/16" - 3/32" but I have seen them go up to 1/8" and even a little bit higher.

- Chris
 
Thanks Hesparus, This is what I thought. I just wanted a gauge to work to.
Cheers Keith
 
Keith, Santoku is the Japanese version of the all around multi use knife. The name Itself santoku refers to three virtues or uses. since this is the case santoku are a little more robust than some other Japanese patterns. typical thickness is 2.5 to 3 mm with a 185mm blade length. Like I told you earlier the blade profile and tip are very important to this knife. Most that I see from non Japanese makers have been made with poor shapes and no regard to proper edge profile.
 
I find I get the best performance from blades less than 3/32"
 
Fritz MacKrieg said:
I don't believe this to be true. Behind the edge is what counts the most -- not the spine.
Click to expand...

spine thickness absolutely counts when your talking about a knife thats primary job is cutting vegetables, I would absolutely hate any kitchen knife thicker then 1/8. thin and wide over thick spine any day
 
1/8 inch = 3.17mm. The user I quoted stated that anything above 2mm is "slow." That is a huge difference. Further, any maker or expert such as Jon Broida will emphasize thinning behind the edge. That's where your real performance is.
 
Shan you put a distal taper on the blade, only the first few mm in front of the handle is 1/8". The mid point on the blade is much thinner, and the blade is less flexy, which is nice for less expert users. Full length 1/8" would be a lousy blade.
 
You could use 1/8" stock and end up with a nice knife if you did a good job grinding it thin enough behind the edge. 3/32" would be better but hard to find. Most people would worry about 1/16" having too much flex, but I have an 8" chef from Landi in 1/16" ATS-34 and the blade is wide enough that there is very little flex to it. A blade that thin can cut like a laser but not "mighty" enough to please some. Depends on your customer, some chefs might want a beast that can handle heavy use, some will be pleased to have a thin slicer that requires more careful usage.
 
This discussion is about a santuko, not a more specialized knife. I certainly will do 1/16" but I wouldn't call it a santuko.
 
9.5" chef knife, 8" chef knife, Kanemasa 180mm santoku, Carter wabocho. None of these are specialized except in the sense that they were made to cut food with precision, not chop wood. The blades in the picture are between 1/16"-3/32." SanTOku usually run 165mm-180mm so they don't need to be thick. A specialized blade would be a western deba or boner which needs to be thicker to withstand contact with bones. Some pro chefs were asked which knife they would use to cut up hard squash. Some said they would choose a sturdy thick blade because a squash can be really hard. Others said they use the thinnest blade possible because it goes through with the least resistance. So it is just a matter of personal preference and the way you use a knife.
 

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the reason that there are so many styles of Japanese chefs knives is because they ALL have a special purpose WITH the exception of the SANTOKU. which is designed to be used for THREE (san) purposes/virtues (toku) actually Bitoku. but seems to have been shortened for use in the word.

As a maker you can make the knife any thickness you want as long as it makes you happy. To answer the question it should be no thinner than 2.5 mm and no thicker than 3mm measured at the spine above the heel.
 
Olpappy: May I momentarily derail the thread to ask the maker of the second chef's knife you posted in the first photo above?
 
Landi 8" chef, 1/16" thick, blade is wide enough that there is only a slight amount of flex. I was not sure how 1/16" would be on a knife that size but after using it now it seems perfectly fine, I wouldn't hesitate to use it in the same manner as any other chef knife. Landi posts knives for sale often here on BF, usually outdoors or EDC type knives, but if you PM or email him I'm sure he would be happy to do a kitchen knife.
 
Great thread Keith, I liked the hollow ground facet on your wa handle over in Handmade/Custom. Bill knows more than most of us, I'm taking notes :) What are your thoughts on Gyuto thickness?
-Haley
 
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