So it is called width or height?

[uyotg]

The distance from the edge to the spine. I've heard both being used, but that irks me because I like conventions.

Kitchen knives seem to use "width." But the grind is called a full-height grind... Which school of thought are you from? And why?

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

Width = blade or handle thickness
Height = distance from edge to spine

Because the thickness of the blade is the width not height.

 

[uyotg]

Width = blade or handle thickness
Height = distance from edge to spine

Because the thickness of the blade is the width not height.

Isn't the thickness of the blade the... you know... thickness? While I've heard tall knives called wide, I've never heard thick knives called wide before.
Here's an example. Regular: http://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Class...MEH1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316614546&sr=8-1
Wide: http://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Classic-8-Inch-Cooks-Knife/dp/B00005NCX7

 

[sheepdog229]

I think of it like I would in geometry:

Picture the handle sticking out of the right side of the cube where the shadow is. So thickness of blade = width and distance from spine to edge = height.

Just my opinion though.

 

[singularity35]

I'd say it's width if you held the knife vertically. If you then held it in a horizontal orientation, then I'd call it height.

 

[richard j]

when i list the dimensions of a knife, i put down the knife length. blade thickness and width from spine to edge.

 

[Poez]

I have always thought that the blade has only three dimensions - they were called: length, width and thickness. Wide blade is not the same as thick to me.
As for the height - I understand this term used with grind, but used in relation to blade it is meaningless to me. "High blade" - huh! Does that mean something ornate, fancy, expensive?

 

[Fanglekai]

I've always thought it was length, width and thickness as well. Length, width and height make sense from the standpoint of geometry, but I don't think people list knife dimensions that way.

 

[uyotg]

Hm, I guess this is one of the more subjective aspects of knives width seems to be the majority, though.