What is this here for???

Z

z537z

Joined
Apr 14, 2004
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336
I see this on tons of knives, including my CS Voyager (pictured here, more or less). It's too small to be handy for anything (like choking up on the blade) except shortchaning my 1/8" of blade length.

43630131.jpg


What is this thing (choil cutout) there for?


_z
 
It's supposed to make it easier to sharpen the knife on a benchstone. Or, I should say, to sharpen that last inch or so more easily.
 
For some people (me) it is a sharpening aid. It prevents mucking up that impossible to get right spot on the edge, and also helps prevent damaging the corners of the sharpening stone as long as you take a bit of care.
 
If you're lucky you'll get to see a very old knife with a sharpening choil. It adds a lot of years of use to a blade. As the edge is warn away the integrity of the blade geometry is maintained.
 
z537z said:
What is this thing (choil cutout) there for?
Click to expand...
To annoy you when it catches on something. It prevents smooth full slices and actually shortens the blade by far more than its size because you have to stay away from it to keep from hanging up. I much prefer the design of blades like the Spyderco Paramilitary which just run the edge all the way back.


-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
To annoy you when it catches on something. It prevents smooth full slices and actually shortens the blade by far more than its size because you have to stay away from it to keep from hanging up. I much prefer the design of blades like the Spyderco Paramilitary which just run the edge all the way back.


-Cliff
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If you look at the notch on the CRK one piece knives the cutout is angled at the front so it dosen't hang up.
 
I'm on board with Cliff.
I guessed it was probably so the edge wasn't all the way over, but it's round and looks just like that on SO many knives I thought it might be some style thing. I've even seen it on serrated blades! Crazy.

It does get hung up on stuff, it's fairly annoying.

I'd rather shave a little plastic off of my DMT stone than lose more edge, but hey that's me.

Thanks for all the replies

_z
 
I agree that it was for bench stones but since a lot of people sharpen smaller knives on Lansky/Gatco/Sharpmaker stones now, it's a little outdated. I don't find it a problem as I very rarely start a draw cut at the choil unless it's a food prep knife. It tends to get hung up on fibrous materials such as cardboard or whittling (fine wood shaping) but I've never found it a big problem as I tend to pay extra attention to any cutting I'm doing that close to my hand. Then again, I am drunk now and anything I'm saying may or may not make any sense. :barf:
 
z537z said:
It does get hung up on stuff, it's fairly annoying.
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Yeah, I have no use for it, some do though. Chas Clements mentioned that he likes it as you can use it as it does give you an extra point.

Ilovetoolsteel said:
If you look at the notch on the CRK one piece knives the cutout is angled at the front so it dosen't hang up.
Click to expand...
I have used the Green Beret, it will still hang. You would want to 45 the front to get a smooth cut.

-Cliff
 
I use bench stones and it prevents rounding off the edce of the stones. I don't consider a knife coplete without one. I also hate seeing a old knife with the back edge dropping off in a curve while the rest of the edge stays straight.
 
Logic dictates that it serves only a questionablel purpose and if the thinking for it's purpose is true (to aid in sharpening) why don't high use, very expensive knives that are sharpened daily, such as Professional chef's knives, excluded from having one. Just a difference in philosophy, but I've not seen any chef's knives with one and they're used daily and sharpened daily. If a knife had a choil down near the handle, the bottom portion can't be used anyway because there's no blade there to use! If a blade did continue down to the handle without a choil, and it couldn't be sharpened because a guard was in the way, well, you again, can't use the portion of the knife near the handle due to the blade not being sharp. I'd rather take the the full length blade and not have it get caught on something while cutting. :D

Cliff
 
You'll find some of the deepest notches on the knives of Tom Krein.
I wish he would make his notches as small as the one in the pic. (or loose them completely)
I admire his work a lot but I'm sure that this tiny drop-point skinner I've had my eyes on would get on my nerves in use.
(check it out at AG Russell's)
 
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