Why are people making knives so Thick?

stabman stabman , that J. Diotte knife is beautiful. And I believe it cuts nicely. Until you try to make slices deeper than the blade height in firm or rigid materials. That is where thinner stock, cross section, and/or the edge will easily out cut a knife that is thicker in those traits. My guess is it wedges those onions apart. Nothing wrong with that if you don't mind. But the reason thin knives are preferred for kitchen tasks is because they virtually pass through food, and when the food is pungent or acidic, that trait dramatically reduces the "cry" effect of cutting onions, and results in less citrus juice splatter, etc.

So while I am flexible in my thickness preferences for some knives, my preferred thickness for kitchen cutlery is around 3/32", and with no more than .010" behind the edge. The only reason I don't prefer thinner stock here is because I like the spine to have a little substance behind it for comfort reasons when pushing on the spine (and I crown the spine also), and 3/32" can be ground so sharp and slicey at any blade profile that I don't consider it a compromise.
 
David Mary said:
stabman stabman , that J. Diotte knife is beautiful. And I believe it cuts nicely. Until you try to make slices deeper than the blade height in firm or rigid materials. That is where thinner stock, cross section, and/or the edge will easily our cut a knife that is thicker in those traits. My guess is it wedges those onions apart. Nothing wrong with that if you don't mind. But the reason thin knives are preferred for kitchen tasks is because they virtually pass through food, and when the food is pungent or acidic, that trait dramatically reduces the "cry" effect of cutting onions, and results in less citrus juice splatter, etc.

So while I am flexible in my thickness preferences for some knives, my preferred thickness for kitchen cutlery is around 3/32", and with no more than .010" behind the edge. The only reason I don't prefer thinner stock here is because I like the spine to have a little substance behind it for comfort reasons when pushing on the spine, and 3/32" can be ground so sharp and slicey at any blade profile that I don't consider it a compromise.
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Yes, there is definite wedging action involved once you reach the thicker section of blade.
Would make it difficult to make pretty looking food.

Noticed the friction with thicker knife when cutting through very thick cardboard in the past as well.
No added effort with the thickness of cardboard normally encountered by most of us, but with the super thick stuff, a thinner blade is nicer.
 
stabman said:
Thick knife still cuts things.
J. Diotte bushcraft knife, 0.208" thick 154CM blade, 4 inches long:

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This is a beautiful knife. Crowned spine? Yes please and thank you.
 
stabman said:
Noticed the friction with thicker knife when cutting through very thick cardboard in the past as well.
No added effort with the thickness of cardboard normally encountered by most of us, but with the super thick stuff, a thinner blade is nicer.
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Interestingly, this is one task where the thickness of a knife does not have to have as much bearing as a lot of people think. You can angle your cut vector so that the action of the cardboard separating is more torsional than compressive. Even a thicker knife will still be able to cut fairly well, because as the two halves of the cut bend away from each other they will put less friction on the blade passing between them. If you have always held your blade perpendicular (90°) to the cardboard cross section in the cut, try angling it by an additional 30° or so in one direction or the other, and be amazed at how your cutting efficiency improves instantly, even with a thicker knife.
 
David Mary said:
Interestingly, this is one task where the thickness of a knife does not have to have as much bearing as a lot of people think. You can angle your cut vector so that the action of the cardboard separating is more torsional than compressive. Even a thicker knife will still be able to cut fairly well, because as the two halves of the cut bend away from each other they will put less friction on the blade passing between them. If you have always held your blade perpendicular (90°) to the cardboard cross section in the cut, try angling it by an additional 30° or so in one direction or the other, and be amazed at how your cutting efficiency improves instantly, even with a thicker knife.
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The cardboard was about 3/8" and 1/2" thick.
It was annoying to cut.
 
coolbreezy37 said:
Lol, I will say this: no one can change my mind on tops knives. They definitely have their shortcomings (like any mass production knife) but I genuinely enjoy them. I’ve beaten the crap out of quite a few of them and they just don’t quit.
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I'm talking about thickness.....


*ps, I like the looks of the frog market special
 
I think way too many opinions are getting thrown around like they're facts.

I'll say this, CPK makes an SDFK model, which is about .250 thick at the spine. It cuts really well. I doubt many people know more about making knives than CPK.

Is it going to cut with the same ease as an aebl kitchen knife that's made from .080 stock? No.

Does it cut rope, skin/process game, open packages, gut fish, trim fabric, carve wood, process food, trim fingernails, etc. very well? Yeah, it really does.

I don't agree with reducing an issue to oversimplified statements. Thick spines don't equal poor cutting abilities and thinner stock doesn't equal better cutting performance.

Just like David Mary David Mary pointed out, there's a lot more to it than spine thickness.

Bottom line is that there are different tools for different jobs. Some knives are ONLY designed for kitchen use. Others are actually designed to cut well AND baton wood. They aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

There's a demand for knives of varying thicknesses, so there's a supply too. I think prosperity and collecting is what drives it. Buying multiple knives that generally all serve a similar (or even the same) purpose causes people to want different features and designs.
 
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