Why very recurved blades?

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evert67

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Oct 22, 2011
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Last night, I was cutting up some paper, just for fun and to compare some knives.

I compared a Spyderco Sage and a Benchmade 470. They're both great knives and both around 3" long. But their blade shapes are quite different. The Spyderco is really the "leaf shape" with a well-rounded cutting edge. The cutting edge of the Benchmade is much straighter.

I found that I could cut longer pieces of paper with the Benchmade. Which makes me wonder: why are well rounded cutting edges popular? Not only with Spyderco, but for example also with many Kershaw/ZT knives, which often have a recurve?

I realize that, in theory, a rounded edge is longer. But in practice I didn't cut longer pieces with it.
 
Different geometries perform better for certain tasks. For instance, a chef's knife (drop point + large belly + straight edge) will let you do more types of work on a wooden cutting block than let's say a straight edge with a american tanto. A recurve will grab stuff easier and sort of feed the medium into the cut, much like a Kukri will chop well because there is an angle at work as well as the weight of the blade. A recurve won't have much use in the kitchen, just like the american tanto doesn't have much use in the woods, as it's better suited for piercing car hoods n' stuff with. A serrated edge will grab stuff into the cut but also stay sharper longer, as the tips of each serration takes the heat if you bump into anything, keeping the curves sharp. Serrated blades are great for cutting rope, fabric and seat belts with.

It's all about what you need to do and getting the right tool for the job. There are however, a lot of fantasy-tacticool knives out there that are more cool than useful, making it hard for beginners to understand the difference between form and function.
 
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No offense meant but most of us buy knives to cut things other then paper. Start cutting things in the real world and you'll have a better understanding of the pros and cons of each geomtry.
 
I don't like Recurve blades solely because I don't like sharpening them, but I'm not a big fan of perfectly straight or tanto edges either. I've found that a knife with a decent belly to it cuts most things much better than a perfectly straight edge (that is, most things I tend to cut). I've found that an edge with a moderate curve to it helps when cutting rope/cord, fabrics, and performing various slicing tasks, for example.

A good old straight edge boxcutter is great for...well...cutting boxes, but there are many tasks to which a curved edge would be better suited. A lot of meat-processing and food prep tasks like skinning, boning, filleting, etc. also benefit from a curved edge.
 
Dorito Monk said:
A good old straight edge boxcutter is great for...well...cutting boxes,
Click to expand...
I actually think a modified wharncliff like Gossman's UNK is better at cutting boxes then a straight box cutter because of the slight curve at it. My best slicer at the moment is my spyderco military and it has a continuous curve to it. It beats my mora and that's saying a lot IMO.
 
I'm not a fan of extreme recurves due to sharpening but I'm sure they cut certain things very well. The only recurve I own is this Blackwater and it's very subtle. Just enough to make it kind of sexy but still easy to sharpen.

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