What is a very slicey AND robust knife

[Bob Denman]

There is a Carothers Kephart on E-Bay right now...
But an Elmax Slicer from Busse would also be a great choice.

 

[ferider]

You really need to be more specific. Folder vs. fixed, blade length, FFG vs. hollow, etc.

For a 3.5" folder, the Hinderer below is my most robust cutter:

For a > 5" fixed blade, in terms of slicey + toughness a simple hollow ground Buck 119 will outperform your ESEE, in particular in 3V like below. Note that even the Buck 110 will offer a great toughness / sliceyness compromise (420HC is very tough)

A hollow grind easily beats a flat grind in terms of slicey unbreakability, as the spine can be thicker.

Now, if you were talking about FFG and folder, the below are not bad, both in Cruwear. The Stretch 2XL is the thinnest >= 4" folder I have:

 

[rexromic]

Spyderco Gayle Bradley original folder

 

[EngrSorenson]

The problem is complex, because material properties and heat treatment plays a role in this, as does avoiding stress concentrations in the general geometry.
However, simplifying the problem and forgetting about those (important) items, you have is you're talking about two opposing qualities.

the first is, essentially the knifes ability to withstand a bending moment.
This happens in two directions- edge to spine, and side to side.
Modeling the cross section of a knife blade as a rectangle, we can see the opposing attributes.

the width of the blade will oppose batoning forces, as well as the majority of general cutting forces.
the thickness of the blade will oppose bending moment as it's beaten through gnarly wood.
Depending on the material properties, this could result in flexing, permanent deformation, or fracture.

A reduction in thickness of 50% reduces the resistance to moments due to those general/batoning forces by 50%.
A reduction in thickness of 50% reduces the resistance to side-to-side moments 87.5%

Slicey means generally thinner stock and a more "full flat height* grind", so there's your trade-off in a nut shell.

There's plenty of knives that will meet a general criteria, but it's impossible to completely overcome the issues with geometry.

Edited*

 

[Bob Denman]

For a REALLY tough folder: it's hard to beat a Hinderer...

They DO offer a version that is supposed to be more of a "slicer": but I have no experience with them. (Yet!)

 

[GAGL]

Cold Steel pocket bushman.

 

[ferider]

The problem is complex, because material properties and heat treatment plays a role in this, as does avoiding stress concentrations in the general geometry.
However, simplifying the problem and forgetting about those (important) items, you have is you're talking about two opposing qualities.
:
:
Slicey means generally thinner stock and a more "full flat grind", so there's your trade-off in a nut shell.

There's plenty of knives that will meet a general criteria, but it's impossible to completely overcome the issues with geometry.

Nice write-up.

Except the bold part. If you slice a salami, a good hollow grind is just fine and will beat anything FFG. The OP should tell us more. Otherwise everybody will dump their favorite knife.

 

[marchone]

Slicey means generally thinner stock and a more "full flat grind", so there's your trade-off in a nut shell.

Bingo. Daily professional knife use for decades has brought me a few observations. Slicers are thin and chip easily when making the wrong application. Horses for courses. Look to the Japanese for the best slicers in the world. You can't baton with any of them. Why use a hammer when you need a screwdriver?

 

[marchone]

Nice write-up.

Except the bold part. If you slice a salami, a good hollow grind is just fine and will beat anything FFG. The OP should tell us more. Otherwise everybody will dump their favorite knife.

A hollow grind will break some foods when it gets to the spine. A hard salami is not one of them. You can cut one with a sharp ax. I think the best slicers are thin full flat grinds. I EDC both. A hollow grind Laconico EZC and a SAK.

 

[ferider]

A hard salami is not one of them. You can cut one with a sharp ax. I think the best slicers are thin full flat grinds.

For your application. We don't know about the OPs. For all we know he might want to cut boxes, or likes youtube rope cutting videos. I rest my case.

 

[Bob Denman]

It's better to own at least two separate knives: one for slicing tomatoes, and the other for prying open car doors...

 

[abcdef]

This one:

Or perhaps ask some of the makers in the Knifemakers Discussion Forums. That's what I would do.

 

[EngrSorenson]

Nice write-up.

Except the bold part. If you slice a salami, a good hollow grind is just fine and will beat anything FFG. The OP should tell us more. Otherwise everybody will dump their favorite knife.

Yeah, what I should have said was "full height grind".
I don't care if it's flat, hollow, or convex- these are subtle differences compared to angle of incidence with the shoulder.
hollow, flat and convex are smaller changes in cutting performance vs. robustness for a sufficiently thin blade and a full height grind.

 

[akaMatt]

Depends on the application of “slicey” as other have pointed out. There are a number of good suggestions here, but I’ll add the Mini Adamas here as well. Not the best for thin cuts in some applications, maybe, but it’s a stout blade in a nice overall package. Your mileage may vary, and there are no shortage of threads on here discussing this knife. Mine has worked well for me with no issues.

 

[Joseph Bandeko]

R rlewpolar If your fast enough, Carothers does drops in the knife makers for sale section.

 

[Bob Denman]

R rlewpolar If your fast enough, Carothers does drops in the knife makers for sale section.

But if you snooze: you lose!

 

[Blues]

Carothers, hmmm...sounds vaguely familiar.

 

[Enzo’s Woodshop]

IMO if you want a real slicer that is still tough, your best bet is to commission a custom with real thin geometry made from differentially HT’d S7 or 1V steel.

 

[littleknife]

For a fixed blade I would like to try the Big Chris or the Carothers suggested above. They sure look both slicey and robust.

For a cheaper alternative I can suggest the Real Steel Bushcraft Plus flat ground version.

The Boker Plus Bushcraft Kormoran used to be more affordable, but it has a nice almost full flat grind with only the edge ground to scandi: this makes the edge more robust too, while the blade itself is still mostly flat (except the scandi edge). If one to remove to blade coating (the steel is stainless 14C28N anyway) and polish the surface, the knife would be even more slicey.

For a folder, Spyderco offers some really great options.

 

[jux t]

I wouldn’t pry with it, but very slicey blade and very robust lock.