Why the trend toward thicker blades?

PNWhovian said:
not all buyers of thicker stock blades are basing their purchases on imaginary tasks. .
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I think we all imagine using the knife in various ways before we buy it....I sure do. I expect some people really do get benefit out of thicker stock because they use it for non-slicing tasks. Most of us agree that blades are not meant for plying and most of will also admit to doing it anyway in a pinch. This covers the motivation of some buyers. I think most of the other buyers of thick blades just like the look and feel rather than any practical reason. None of these reasons are invalid, they just don't appeal to me personally.

I agree that buying a thick bladed folder is not just for noobs....buyers of 25's and future Inkosi probably prove that. Few noobs jump to CRK.
 
rishma said:
Do you know where you heard this? I hadn't caught that bit of info. Just imagining the large hollow grind geometry, it isn't obvious to me why the blade stock would need to be thicker. Actually, in my mind you could use even thinner stock.
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:thumbup:
 
rishma said:
I think most of the other buyers of thick blades just like the look and feel rather than any practical reason. None of these reasons are invalid, they just don't appeal to me personally.
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This, I think, is what it really boils down to. While I prefer a thicker stock I can and do use it for pretty much everything you'd use a thinner stock for. For example, my Gorgon cuts/slices better than my Umnumzaan and easily as well as my Endura. It also took out bigger chunks of wood while notching then the Insingo I managed to borrow.
I use my knives everywhere I can I don't baby or abuse them.
YMMV

I agree that buying a thick bladed folder is not just for noobs....buyers of 25's and future Inkosi probably prove that. Few noobs jump to CRK.
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Or any of the other high end mid-tech/custom knives.
 
rishma said:
Do you know where you heard this? I hadn't caught that bit of info. Just imagining the large hollow grind geometry, it isn't obvious to me why the blade stock would need to be thicker. Actually, in my mind you could use even thinner stock.
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http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=545007&d=1431978216

Look at this product sheet here, like I said I may have read into it and misunderstood about the 8% thicker blade being able to utilize the larger hollow grind. The comments from Anne were in the Blade video snippet from somebody, maybe it was Blade HQ, I'll see if I can find it later.
 
rishma said:
I expect some people really do get benefit out of thicker stock
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A large benefit I get from thicker stock is that it's more comfortable on my thumb when carving wood.
The thickness behind the edge has to be correct in order to cut effectively, but a wider contact area at the spine is nice.

Those knives with 0.060" thick blades feel like crap when I'm making a walking stick.
They work fine for cutting potatoes, because I don't spend hours carving potatoes. ;)
 
stabman said:
A large benefit I get from thicker stock is that it's more comfortable on my thumb when carving wood.
The thickness behind the edge has to be correct in order to cut effectively, but a wider contact area at the spine is nice.

Those knives with 0.060" thick blades feel like crap when I'm making a walking stick.
They work fine for cutting potatoes, because I don't spend hours carving potatoes. ;)
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This is really an excellent point. Compared to some traditional my Mnandi has a very thick blade. It is quite comfortable on my thumb when I'm doing heavy cutting. -PNWhovian made a similar point about processing wood. Extremely thin blades do have their limitations. I feel like Mnandi is thick enough for my needs, but it's reasonable that some tasks might benefit from something thicker. Some mid-techs and ZT have obnoxiously think blades (IMHO), but CRK is not approaching that with any offerings.

I do believe that thicker blades with the proper grind can slice. But there is a limit to how much weight I want to carry.

Good points on both sides.
 
Another thought is sufficient surface area for the pivot, though I don't actually understand how that could matter since the thinner stock 21 has the same diameter pivot hole. Could the lack of bushing make a difference in terms of pivot "depth"?
 
PNWhovian said:
This, I think, is what it really boils down to. While I prefer a thicker stock I can and do use it for pretty much everything you'd use a thinner stock for. For example, my Gorgon cuts/slices better than my Umnumzaan and easily as well as my Endura. It also took out bigger chunks of wood while notching then the Insingo I managed to borrow.
I use my knives everywhere I can I don't baby or abuse them.
YMMV


Or any of the other high end mid-tech/custom knives.
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Yeah, my mileage varies there, a lot. The Gorgon is thick AND saber ground. It has a thick stock, thick behind the edge, and mine had a rather obtuse edge angle. It was sharp, but there was no way in hell that it was going to outslice an Umnumzaan or a FFG Endura. I've cut a LOT of things with a CRK hollow grind, and a FFG Endura, and there is no contest at all.

TSF knives are decently made, but there is nothing at all that they would do better than any CRK folder, except maybe pry. (And that is a big maybe since the pivots are not really that big, and the stop pin screws are dinky.)
 
Tripton said:
Yeah, my mileage varies there, a lot. The Gorgon is thick AND saber ground. It has a thick stock, thick behind the edge, and mine had a rather obtuse edge angle. It was sharp, but there was no way in hell that it was going to outslice an Umnumzaan or a FFG Endura. I've cut a LOT of things with a CRK hollow grind, and a FFG Endura, and there is no contest at all.

TSF knives are decently made, but there is nothing at all that they would do better than any CRK folder, except maybe pry. (And that is a big maybe since the pivots are not really that big, and the stop pin screws are dinky.)
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Interesting to say the least, my experiences with my Gorgon are quite different. If you still have it, did you consider sending it back for an adjustment? It is thick but so far I've had no issues with it to speak of.
I'm sure it would break or break down if abused but I've no intention of doing that and Jim is pretty quick to respond to emails if there's any questions or issues.
As an aside, I just picked up a 21 thanks to some store credit and an interest buoyed by this thread. I haven't had a regular Sebenza in quite some time so this should be interesting.
 
PNWhovian said:
Interesting to say the least, my experiences with my Gorgon are quite different. If you still have it, did you consider sending it back for an adjustment? It is thick but so far I've had no issues with it to speak of.
I'm sure it would break or break down if abused but I've no intention of doing that and Jim is pretty quick to respond to emails if there's any questions or issues.
As an aside, I just picked up a 21 thanks to some store credit and an interest buoyed by this thread. I haven't had a regular Sebenza in quite some time so this should be interesting.
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Adjustment to what? The blade stock thickness?
 
There are times I wish the small Sebenza was thinner than it is. I think the buzz word "overbuilt" has affected the knife industry more than any other. This word and marketing have convinced many old and new knife buyers that thicker is better. I use a Delica a lot and have never felt like that little blade was going to snap...Definitely cuts better than most blades I have.
 
Tripton said:
Wouldn't have made a bit of difference.

It will be a cold day in hell before I have to send a knife somewhere to get sharpened, too. Lol.
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I can understand and relate to this.


Edit:
Did some carving with the 21 today and enjoyed the heck out of using it. The Gorgon, the 25 and the Umnumzaan can cut/slice well but the precision/control of smaller/finer cuts were definitely easier with the 21. I suffered no edge roll after a good hour of cutting tasks. :cool: I'm gonna RFP the 21 for a bit to get a better feel for it.
 
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