Thick and thin

H

Hoodoo

Joined
Aug 18, 1999
Messages
2,355
One thing I learned in the Navy was how to fold my tee shirts so when viewed sideways, there are 4 layers in the following order: thin, thick, thick, and thin. One day during inspection, the CO noticed that one of my tee shirts was thick, thin, thin, thick. He was displeased. After getting out of the Navy, I thought this controversy between thick and thin was over but evidently not.

Check out what Mr. Dick has to say about thick vs thin.
http://www.tacticalknives.com/tknov99.htm#On The Point - By Steven Dick, Editor In Chief

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Hoodoo

He who slings mud generally loses ground.
Adlai Stevenson


[This message has been edited by Hoodoo (edited 28 November 1999).]
 
Thin knives generally cut better yes, but Stephen's comment :

The goal should be to find the strongest blade possible without sacrificing cutting efficiency.
Click to expand...

Makes trivial something that is not. All blades give up cutting ability for strength/durability, the choice that has to be made is how much of what do you want.

-Cliff
 
Look at your kitchen knives. They have to cut efficiently otherwise they go in the garbage, and they are all pretty thin, I believe.

Now for another question that has been beat-to-death: Which edge profile cuts best, i.e. beveled, convex, assymetrical, chisel, etc...
 
Not all materials can be cut with a knife. While soft materials can be cut fairly easily, harder materials will either have to be hacked through with a knife, or cut with a saw. When you are hacking through something the cutting edge efficiency is less important than its strength and the weight of the impact. There are plenty of primitive examples of heavy cutting instruments to show that the "sharpened prybar" is not a mere fantasy of modern society.

Thick and Thin both have a role.

 
My thinking on this is sort of going in circles. At first I thought the overall blade had to be thin to cut extremely well, and then I noticed that the best cutting knife I've ever used has about a .2" spine and its only about .8" wide. It cuts great because the edge is thin, even though the blade itself is actually quite thick for such a narrow blade.

Generally, thinner blades will make more versatile cutters. Thick blades tend to split hard materials, and they don't turn in the cut as easily as a relatively thinner blade. Thinner blades make quicker fighters too. But there is something to be said for a blade that will not break. It is all a long continuum with thin and versatile at one end, thick and ubreakable at the other. You just have to decide where you want a knife to land on that continuum.

I personally think a knife under 7" made out of .25" stock is overkill. A 6" blade that is 3/16" thick at the spine will support an average man's weight if you get enough of it sunk into something. It is just a matter of how much versatility you want to give up to make the blade a better pry bar.
 
Thin to win. That's my motto. A blade, and also the edge, should be as thin as you can get it and not have it break with the sort of cutting you expect to do. If the blade breaks, or the edge chips, try something a bit thicker.

Incidentally, I love the Fallkniven F1. I would like it a bit more if the blade were a bit thinner. The edge on mine, by the way, is considerably thinner than it came from the factory.

David Rock

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AKTI Member # A000846
Stop when you get to bone.
 
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