What does “slicey” really mean, to you?

marcus52AR said:
I relate this term (slicey) to "thin", and not only behind the edge, but the whole blade. High hollow grinds can be very thin behind the edge, but bind up where the grind gets thick.

Slicey is high on my list when I'm shopping knives.
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Thin is certainly going to seem more "slicey". It's a matter of geometry, but with proper technique, even a thick behind the edge blade can slice, as long as it is sharp.
 
And may I submit, that a dull opinel is going to seem sharper (slicey-er)than a sharp ZT 0220 or any Medford, if you are dicing onions. Hence, subjective.;)
 
I've always thought that a slicey knife has a thin grind , a longer blade , fine edge and is usually used by drawing the knife back towards you through the object or material , as opposed to push cutting down through the material ( dicing ) ?

Ken
 
Can a knife be a good cutter without being slicey? How do we differentiate between good and bad cutters?

If a person says, “my Curtiss F3 isn’t slicey, but it’s a great cutter”, are they right, wrong, neither, or both?
 
Any sharp knife will cut but to be a slicer the blade must be long, thin and preferably sharpened at a rather steep angle. These are my best slicers. Think one weightless draw cut and a paper thin slice of fish / meat / fruit / vegetable falls on the board. That's "slicey" and it's one of the great joys of using a knife. Is "slicey" important ? In the kitchen, yes. In an EDC, much less, I'd rather favour durability / reliability. In an outdoor knife, even less : I don't need to dish out paper thin carrot slices when I'm out in the woods.
 
Lapedog said:
Slicey refers to a thinner ground blade that slices well. Most sharp knives will slice things like paper well enough; however it is when cutting through thicker materials that one finds out if a blade is slicey or not.

For example can the knife an apple in half without wedging the apple in half?
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That sums it up for me. It's a subjective term obviously. Not rocket science. I sort of have a mental good-better-best categorization and the thin sharp blades tend to come out on top. But it is not something I dwell on.
 
I look at slicey as a blade that has a steady belly and enough length to draw the blade significantly while cutting the medium. For example, to me, no wharncliff is a true slicer. I also prefer a blade that will be slicing, or drawn to make a cut, to have a toothey edge to cut more aggressively when drawn over what is being cut. A highly polished edge will not cut through skin on a tomato or pepper as well. My talwar is about as slicey as a knife gets to me. All belly, long blade, wide, flat grind.
 
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RBid said:
Can a knife be a good cutter without being slicey? How do we differentiate between good and bad cutters?

If a person says, “my Curtiss F3 isn’t slicey, but it’s a great cutter”, are they right, wrong, neither, or both?
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Yes. Think about a straight razor. Not slicey, but good at push cuts. Slicing is one way of cutting. Shaving and chopping are other ways a knife can be designed to cut as opposed to slicing.
 
To me "slicey" refers to the secondary resistance of the cut. You first have the sharpness to pierce but then as the rest of the blade passes through a thinner blade would have less resistance and therefore be more "Slicey" Slicey often also means less robust and so I feel that blade design is the balance of these attributes.
 
When you flick the edge with your fingernail, slicey knives "tink" non-slicey knives "tap". EZPZ!
 
Slicey is a pleasure to use. Cut and slice that's what knives do.
Any sharp edge can materials that pull away from the blade like rope or meat.
If you're cutting stiff materials like cardboard, radiator hose or plastic, thin is in.

That 586 mini Barrageis a good slicer .016 BTE and .100 at the spine.

The Bone Collector 15055-1 on the other hand is an awful slicer, .024 BTE and .114 at the spine, add the sabre grind and it takes a good deal more effort to cut or slice stiff materials.
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The Queen City muskrat at .015 BTE and .086 at the spine, will cut with noticeably less effort the the other two.
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danbot said:
Thin is certainly going to seem more "slicey". It's a matter of geometry, but with proper technique, even a thick behind the edge blade can slice, as long as it is sharp.
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Yes, thin definitely does seem slicier.
 
On my "super slicers," you can gently press the side of the blade across a fingernail and see the edge flex. For me "slicey" starts at ~0.01" behind the edge and 15° per side, but depending on the steel and application, you can go a lot lower/thinner.

*I also generally think of blade geometry when I read "slicey," but it could also refer to edge finish as highly polished edges will excel at push cutting uses, while coarse grits produce edges more suited to slicing cuts.
 
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inkynate said:
On my "super slicers," you can gently press the side of the blade across a fingernail and see the edge flex.
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This must be some darn slicey knives ! This is razor territory : the thumbnail test is how Böker controls the edge of their straight razors (to see if the desired thinness is obtained). Cuts like lightning but such a thin edge is very sensitive. For soft materials exclusively.
 
herisson said:
This must be some darn slicey knives ! This is razor territory : the thumbnail test is how Böker controls the edge of their straight razors (to see if the desired thinness is obtained). Cuts like lightning but such a thin edge is very sensitive. For soft materials exclusively.
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Yes they are :D

I have several Herder kitchen knives, (Windmühlenmesser,) and a Joe Calton paring knife, they're all this thin. While you obviously can't be an idiot with them, they've held up just fine to ordinary use for a few years now. Then I've done a bunch of regrinds on production knives and taken them down into the sub 0.01" range. Truly a joy to use for pure cutting ability.

Conversely, I also have a bunch of Busse blades for when I just want to beat the snot out of stuff, lol. :confused:
 
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