Why are blades rarely slicey?

Dfunk1210 said:
If the stock isn’t 0.156” thick, I’m not getting my money’s worth. Its that simple.
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Is that at least 0.156" thick? My favored fixed blades often do not have stock this thick.

Getting your money's worth is a good point as long as they accomplish the cutting tasks to your satisfaction.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
I have a couple of Victorinox Fibrox model boning and filet knives that are awesome slicers for fish, etc. Obviously a fixed blade has a much longer edge for slicing than a folder. A boning knife has more spine and is not as flexible as a filet knife.
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I don’t want to start a whole “thing” here, I just want to relate my recent experience in the last couple of weeks along these lines.
  • I don’t own an Emerson.
  • I have related negative things I have read here about Emerson knives.
  • Not having owned one I realize that is pretty lame of me.
  • I have been looking at Emersons to buy one.
  • I have watched some vids that are pro Emerson and some interviews of Ernest Emerson.
  • I have been looking at which to buy.
  • Then I come up against the chisel grind thing.
  • I thought about regrinding it with the bevel on the other side for a right handed user.
  • That won’t work . . . that’s as far as I got so far.
As far as the boning knife that reminded me of an Emerson Persian that I was looking at in the last Emerson interview (old interview from 2012) and inspired me to make this post.

I was looking at the Emerson Persian (see photo bellow). Probably not what I will get.
Though I hate to be too lame and just get one of the original style A100s.
The CQC8 . . . I suppose I can’t go wrong there as far as a great example of an Emerson,

. . . part of me started day dreaming just now about how far up the blade I would have to go to get to enough steel to regrind it for a chisel on the other side . . . then imagined thinning it to like 2mm . . . of course the blade wouldn’t be anything like as tall as the original . . . BUT . . . it WOULD be similar to my Ti Lite that I like so much . . . hmmmmmmm . . . no body would talk to me any more here in the forums but it might be a pretty cool everyday user . . .

ahOh . . . just when I thought I wasn’t going to spend money on any more knives . . .

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22-rimfire said:
Is that at least 0.156" thick? My favored fixed blades often do not have stock this thick.
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No no. Just a general statement. I’m partly joking. I do own thinner blades and like em, but I personally don’t subscribe to “less is more.” I prefer to have a more substantial blade, especially for the money
 
There's plenty of "slicey" blades out there.
If you don't like over built folders then don't buy them. Vote with your wallet.
 
Dfunk1210 said:
No no. Just a general statement. I’m partly joking. I do own thinner blades and like em, but I personally don’t subscribe to “less is more.” I prefer to have a more substantial blade, especially for the money
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If the "less is more" means a person has to use an Opinel or Mora, I totally agree. I like to "like" my knife beyond it's being able to cut efficiently.
 
22-rimfire said:
If the "less is more" means a person has to use an Opinel or Mora, I totally agree. I like to "like" my knife beyond it's being able to cut efficiently.
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Very true. Maybe one day, there will be a task where I need to slice so thin that maybe my thick blade can’t do it. And iI certainly understand what many of you are saying. But thus far, my thick blades have done what I need them to do. And this is the aesthetic I like, the feel I want, and what speaks to me in terms of value
 
Knife designers?

Is it the manufacturer choosing the blade geometry or the knife designers they license the design from?

Why do knife designers choose these blades? Or why do manufacturers seek these designers who favor these non slicey blades?

I remember a spyderco interview explaining they get a design submitted by people all the time and they use the ones that would be popular among other things.

The knives are usually just an expression of that individuals mind. What they liked on paper and material into reality.

For all we know slicey blades are there but manufacturers aren't picking them up all the time.

Or a brand has a particular motto. Like zt over built. Spyderco slicey. Benchmade axis all the knafs. Etc

I have both boker exskelaburger 1 decade editions knives. Ones a frame lock and and the other a liner lock. They are both very slicey. But because there quality is super low I don't use them anymore. The burger customs are better.
 
RipD said:
Good point about zip ties - you want a beefier blade for that.
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errr. . . might want to do further investigation e.g.
This knife makes ALL OTHERS look silly when it comes to cutting wire ties. The geometry is like 10° per side (I kept reprofiling it until it was the ultimate slicer for cutting precision ends on soft rubber tubing ; oil the blade and tubing first) turns out it cuts wire ties like magic.
Strange but true.
I just measured the spine = 1.8mm ~ 1/16inch
Just when one thinks they know how the universe works . . . BAMMO . . . right ?
IMG_2116.JPG
 
Shorttime said:
I think that answering this question is going to require building some framework.

1-"Slicey" is a property that would seem to be defined by the initial thickness of the blade, and by the type of bevel grind. Full flat, then high flat, in production knives.


2-If we're talking about "the best", then I suppose a saber grind would be "the best", but I'm not personally aware of any production companies making saber grind blades below the $200 mark.

As for spine thickness? 0.125" is 1/8 of an inch, and the more zeroes on the right side of the decimal point, the better it should do at separating material. An Opinel No. 6 is quoted by one website as having a blade thickness of 0.05, which is a little less than 1/16 of an inch.

As usual, we're not all going to agree perfectly on how to compare the "slicing" qualities of various blades. 3-But we should be able to build up an understanding by comparing the numbers that make up good slicing performance.
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1- No, "initial" thickness of the blade (which I presume means overall) is almost completely irrelevant to how well a knife cuts. If you include blade width as a variable, then it is completely irrelevant...

2-What are you talking about? Saber grinds require less material to remove, and are a well known shortcut for low end makers, especially at the extreme low end... Full Flat Grinds represent the most effort. Do you know what a saber grind is?

3-Then why is there no mention in your entire post of edge thickness?

Gaston
 
Saber grinds very well may require less material for the maker to remove compared to a full flat grind of identical stock but while a FFG is admittedly a preferred slicer (over a saber grind) that does not mean that saber grinds do not have their benefits. For example, all other things being equal, they allow for more overall strength and are more useful for chopping and splitting. I do not dispute the slicing benefits of a higher grind - such as a FFG, but saber ground knives are a welcomed, durable, reliable and useful tool in and around camp.
 
GB940Rookie said:
There’s plenty of blade and handle profiles for everyone.
Buy what we like, and maybe not complain so much about what we don’t like. Money talks.
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Exactly. If you just want thin, slicey, delica-like blades then good news: they come in like, every color! If you want something else, pretty good bet that's out there too. There's no shortage of diverse types of blades today, quite the opposite. We have more options in more directions today than ever before in the history of cutting tools, and yet here again we have dkb45 dkb45 acting like there's some sort of massive affront or controversy going on.

There's not. Some perspective is called for here.
 
halden, I agree with you; these are great times to be into knives!

Those on this board, by and large, get it. We know that SAKs slice, Spyderco's Delica and Military and PM models cut pepperoni and cheese like nobody's business. I have a FFG Becker BK-15 and BK-5 that preps for for cooking and eating seemingly effortlessly. However, for batoning kindling and splitting firewood - out comes my beloved (tough loved) BK-2 or "The King" BK-9 ... neither of those great knives are so great at slicing see-though thin slices of tomato or onion - though they have both sliced onions when pressed into that duty. I love the daylights out of two BK-16s, a FFG and a saber grind early iteration - just depends on what I'm doing.

If I was in an urban combat or urban survival situation, that think, heavy, fat ground BK-2 would be a go-to blade.

Back to folders, my old trusted Spyderco Military is one slicing son of a gun; but, for a SD folder, the geometry of say a CQC-7 or some Cold Steels would be my choice.

Back to the point of the OP, I think it may seem as though there aren't as many slicers because, for whatever reason - probably marketing and the like, cutting and slicing with knives, let me repeat that: cutting and slicing seems to have become somewhat old fashioned.

BTW, I sliced some see-through tomato slices for my tuna sandwich this afternoon with my new slicin' lovemate: the Ka-Bar Becker Tuko - thin, slicey and sexy.
 
jackknife said:
Strange how real working cowboys, freight wagon drivers, sailors, soldiers, and lawmen all carried thin bladed pocket knives that had no one hand opening, not even a lock on the blade, yet for generations those old knives did the job they were designed to do; cut things.
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Well, my grandfather carried knives with multiple blades that generally didn't lock. They got used a bunch, and worn down by use and sharpening.
When I showed him the one-hand opening "tactical" folder that I had, with it's clip and all the other features so often criticized, his overall impression was "That will work."
Because it would, and most certainly did.

If there had been modern and "traditional" patterns both available for him to purchase back in his younger days, he probably would have had a couple of both. Not a collection of either, but a couple of both that would have gotten used, sharpened, and worn down just like the knives I saw on his workbench. :)
 
stabman said:
Well, my grandfather carried knives with multiple blades that generally didn't lock. They got used a bunch, and worn down by use and sharpening.
When I showed him the one-hand opening "tactical" folder that I had, with it's clip and all the other features so often criticized, his overall impression was "That will work."
Because it would, and most certainly did.

If there had been modern and "traditional" patterns both available for him to purchase back in his younger days, he probably would have had a couple of both. Not a collection of either, but a couple of both that would have gotten used, sharpened, and worn down just like the knives I saw on his workbench. :)
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NO!

It has to be a hard decision coming down on one side. Either you hate thick blades and think locks are evil or you think a knife that can’t stab through a car door is a worthless gurly mahn knife.

How will this thread ever degenrate into namecalling.
 
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Lapedog said:
NO!

It has to be a hard decision coming down on one side. Either you hate thick blades and thinks locks are evil or you think a knife that can’t stab through a car door is a worthless gurly mahn knife.

How will this thread ever degenrate into namecalling.
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Sorry. ;)
I haven't had any coffee yet, so my brain must not be set to engage fully.
I will go eat some food and make a coffee; perhaps I will think up some snide things to call people during that time. :thumbsup:
 
Hickory n steel said:
Absolutely.
I do not think cutting needs have changed, simply what people expect their knives to do and have gotten used to doing with them.
Sure nylon cable ties and plastic strapping have come into use but wire and steel strapping was in use before and a good pair of dykes is still the best tool for this job.

People want what they want however, and most of this stuff will actually cut at least.
I can't fault people's choices for thicker blades that don't cut very well, Ive got a few I like. Slicy is best but if I've got one I like that's not so slicy I still use it
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So how many Amazon packages and how much packing tape and plastic sheeting did they cut in the 1800s? And how much livestock do you castrate with the spey blade on your trusty traditionals?

As for the digression into 'best tool', a folding knife is pretty much never the best tool for the job. It's a jack of all trades, master of none by nature.
 
halden.doerge said:
Exactly. If you just want thin, slicey, delica-like blades then good news: they come in like, every color! If you want something else, pretty good bet that's out there too. There's no shortage of diverse types of blades today, quite the opposite. We have more options in more directions today than ever before in the history of cutting tools, and yet here again we have dkb45 dkb45 acting like there's some sort of massive affront or controversy going on.

There's not. Some perspective is called for here.
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If I didn't know any better, I'd say you get your jollies following me into every thread I post an opinion in and poopoo on said opinion. Differing opinions are allowed, and I'm allowed to not be a huge fan of fat folder that cut poorly and be tired of a large majority of new knives being S35VN or S30V.
 
dkb45 said:
If I didn't know any better, I'd say you get your jollies following me into every thread I post an opinion in and poopoo on said opinion. Differing opinions are allowed, and I'm allowed to not be a huge fan of fat folder that cut poorly and be tired of a large majority of new knives being S35VN or S30V.
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Hey, I like my blades slicey, too. Have whatever opinions you want, that ain't the issue. What's troubling is that you seem to get your jollies from starting threads with disingenuously-phrased, exasperated-sounding questions designed to elicit as many argumentative responses as possible. If you'd been asking a genuine question you'd have asked "Why do so many people seem to like thick blades that don't slice well? I don't really like those at all."

Instead what you led with was "Why aren't there any blades made to slice anymore???" Which is patently a false premise. There's friggin tons of slicey knives out there, man. More than literally ever before in history. Buy away, the world's your oyster.

Unless all you're really trying to do is get off on watching the replies on your thread stack up. In which case, here, have one more.
 
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