What are YOUR thoughts on chopper thickness?

KalEl said:
I've been giving this alot of thought lately. Here's what I think

For a big 10in + chopper that's still a knife like a battle mistress, I really believe that about .22 is the perfect thickness. At this thickness the blade is fast and bites very deep but still has enough weight that it swings with it's own mass. Ultra thick 5/16th + choppers don't bite deep and weigh too much making them bad a brush clearing and less effective at chopping. Basically I think .25 or below is an ideal thickness for a blade up to about 14 inches.

After about 14 inches or so the blade is more a sword or machete. At this length thin is better but not too thin. 3/16th is good because it has mass but speed.

16in + blades that are true machetes I think 1/8th is best. 1/16th is just too floppy but that's just me.
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Pretty close in spirit to how I see things, though I veer even farther towards the "thin is in" side of the argument. You might find that 3/32" is a nice thickness for long blades as it's still fairly stiff an makes the piece lighter and faster in the hand. Distribute the profile mass properly and you've got a heck of a chopper without too much weight. I'd say that anything over 18" generally benefits from distal taper if it's in 1/8" stock or thicker. The longer it gets the more distal taper becomes an advantage. By being thick at the base of the blade and thin at the tip it supports the blade to prevent floppiness and gives the piece more dynamic balance.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Pretty close in spirit to how I see things, though I veer even farther towards the "thin is in" side of the argument. You might find that 3/32" is a nice thickness for long blades as it's still fairly stiff an makes the piece lighter and faster in the hand. Distribute the profile mass properly and you've got a heck of a chopper without too much weight. I'd say that anything over 18" generally benefits from distal taper if it's in 1/8" stock or thicker. The longer it gets the more distal taper becomes an advantage. By being thick at the base of the blade and thin at the tip it supports the blade to prevent floppiness and gives the piece more dynamic balance.
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:thumbup:
 
In my opionion it is not the total thickness of the blade that is important.
The biggest factor is thickness behind cutting edge, and egde angle.
Knives thin behind the edge bite deep, while thicker ones tend to bouce of, especially with harder wood.
Also changing edge angle gives more bitting power but at a price of egde stability.
 
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