Thinnest blade slipjoint for <$100

A

Anthe

Joined
Aug 9, 2011
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I've been doing some looking around and with so many seductive slip joints on the market I'm having trouble finding exactly what I'm looking for, so I thought I would draw on your expertise.

I dont really know whether I mean thinness "behind the edge" or the spine, but if the spine is thin usually it only gets thinner from there eh? I'm not partial to the size of the rest of the knife or handles or how many other blades it may have. It would be nice to have at least one blade over 2" though.

The trouble I am having is finding that perfect ratio of steel to thinness to price. I've been governed by the general rule of thumb that as the blade gets thinner the steel gets more expensive. And of course most of the blades end up being carbon steel which I do prefer, but isnt a necessity. Suggestions?
 
Pretty much any Case CV should suit your needs. Case blades are all on the thin side (except the Seahorse Whittler) and many are hollow ground. Most are well under 100.

Try a yellow handled model, most under 40. If you like thin blades, you'll like any of the trappers or stockman, particularly the mini trapper and 3318 stockman.
 
Thanks, I'll check them out.

I actually have a case cv sbj and I do like it a lot mainly because of the thin (and quite easily sharpened) blades. Just curious how thin it gets before I'm looking at several hundred dollars.
 
Hmmm. Well then you know of what I speak and want thinner? Like flexible? As you are probably aware the trend seems to be toward old school designs and heavy blade stock with thin (gec) and not so thin (queen) edges. I guess I learned to sharpen with relatively thin blades and thickened edges try my patience for reprofiling. Thin is my preference also but I can't think of anything that's thinner than Case or a Sak.
 
It might also be worth your while to check out the German-made Bulldog brand knives. They have a pretty much the thinnest grind I can recall using, and the carbon steel versions sharpen like a razor. Here's a link to some at Knifeswapper's store http://www.collectorknives.net/bulldog.html. If nothing else, it's always fun to look, right? ;)
 
The blades on my Queen-made Moore Maker 5301 are quite thin. I was also surprised by how thin the blades are in my GEC furtaker trapper. Both of those have blade stock the same thickness as the main blade on my Case 63032, but are taper ground and thin out considerably.
 
I don't think I would want flexible. Maybe it's not considered traditional but maybe I'm looking for a harder steel that can handle the super thin geometry...but in a slip joint bone/stag type
handle. It's very possible that it just doesn't exist at least at this price point.

One maker someone else had mentioned made incredible thin slip joints...but at closer to $1000 they are well out of my price range. I'll see if I can find the makers name again for examples
 
Thanks for the info!

I'm of course a fan of nice thin grinds :) The thinnest slippies I've come across are old carbon imperial knives and this craftsman (made by camillus maybe?) scout knife. I love how it glides through everything, sad that they don'e make either of them anymore. A bulldog will be my next slippie for sure!
 
Lots of stuff to look at, too much for right now I need to get some sleep haha. Thanks guys

The maker I was referring to is Jerry Halfrich, but it's tough to tell just looking at the knives how thick they are compared to others. Another member had mentioned his blades were very thin so I took that for truth.
 
I'll throw in another recommendation for Case. I've been spending some time this afternoon tuning up the edges on a couple of 6375 stockman knives; one in SS, the other is CV. Even in this 'large' stockman pattern, the blades are quite thin, and the sheepsfoot on this pattern is very thin. Taken to an acute edge angle of 30° inclusive or less, these are slicing demons. Case's high hollow grind (almost all the way to the spine) makes a significant difference.

Another Case that comes to mind, is the current-generation 6347 stockman. It's built on 3 springs, with one for each blade, in about the same overall width as the older version of the same pattern, which was built on 2 springs (w/correspondingly thicker dimensions). The trade-off in the newer 3-spring version is that the blades and springs are quite thin, even as compared to other Case patterns of similar size & vintage.

It would be helpful to know what you'd use the knife for, in terms of generating more meaningful feedback. Blade profiles, such as clip, spear, spey, sheepsfoot, wharncliffe, etc., will have a large impact on how useful the knife is for a given task.


David
 
Anthe said:
Lots of stuff to look at, too much for right now I need to get some sleep haha. Thanks guys

The maker I was referring to is Jerry Halfrich, but it's tough to tell just looking at the knives how thick they are compared to others. Another member had mentioned his blades were very thin so I took that for truth.
Click to expand...

Jerry is one of the best. I don't know if you've seen our thread on his knives. You might enjoy this; Jerry-Halfrich-Knives?
 
My GECs are thin, and flat ground. My Cases are thin (about the same as the GECs), but the hollow grinds make them cut thinner. But none are over 3 7/8" in handle length except my Case slimline trapper.

But if thin is what you're looking for, I can recommend 2 specific knives that are in my collection that have thinner blades than the rest.

The first is a vintage Case 64052 congress or 62052 half congress. The newer ones are actually even thinner, but frankly I think they're too thin for what I'd use them for, and they're very flexible. The new ones are thinner because each blade rides on its own spring, whereas the vintage ones only used one spring for 2 blades and were krinked. The vintage blades were thin, and still flexible, but not quite so much that they feel flimsy like the new ones do. A vintage (1970's) 64052 might be hard to find under $100, but a delrin one would probably go for under. Vintage 62052s aren't very commonly found, but they show up once in a while. You can tell the difference between old and new ones by the nail pulls. Vintage ones will have a nail nick. New ones will have a long pull.

The other that I own is this one.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ot-are-ya-totin-today?p=10908546#post10908546
 
Opinels have a out the thinnist blade stock and grind I can think of, and they don't flex like a fillet knife either.
My case pen knife and peanut has the thinnest blades of my slip joints.
Check out the douk douk as well, the blade stock isn't really that thin, but it has a zero grind all the way to the edge and is quite acute at that point.
 
My CASE Humpback Stockman sports very thin slicing blades, quite amazing actually.

Opinels are master slicers but you wanted slipjoint, in that case look at Chambriard knives Le Compagnon or Le Compact, these are scalpels! You might get one under 100 USD.

Good luck, Will
 
GEC Maverick has very thin blades, a few of which it shares with the 33 Conductor and whittler. The 79 is a good choice for a heftier knife because it has a heavy main blade and two amazingly thin clip and wharncliffe secondaries. The Peanut or Case's small equal end pen pattern probably win out for thinnest from Case. If you were wanting something custom but less than a Halfrich you might consider saving up for a Lloyd. My 4" trapper from him is ground so thin you can just barely flex it against a tabletop.
 
The thinnest I have handled were a current production Eye Brand whittler and a 50s Imperial fishtail.
 
Just based on the criteria of 1) thinnest blade, and 2) slipjoint and 3) <$100, a Swiss Army Knife would be a real contender.
 
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