OK, it's time to get serious

[Jazz]

Sorry, Donut. I didn't know what you meant. I'd like a nice amount of material on the spine for more strength.

bdblue, I find longer knives unwieldy, and probably not great around all the NKP's. I've been using the Delica hard, and the handle is super comfortable. I have big hands, and it feels and fits great. I've tried all shapes at work, and the wharnie just works the best (for lots of cardboard, bags, plastic, banding, etc.).

[3rdGenRigger]

I can see the wharnie being useful for cardboard and plastic bags etc, but I can't see it outperforming a SE hawkbill for pallet banding straps. Nothing decimates them faster in my experience, and the same goes for plastic zip ties. I'm still intrigued by the concept of a wharnie Delica though and I'd buy one to try out regardless.

[Jazz]

Branden, I slip the tip under, which is easy with the wharnie shape, and cut quick at a slight angle. Banding is done for. And, somebody who works where we get our meat order from in Calgary really loves their banding machine.

[Holland]

#Berta pride :D

[Jazz]

/\
:D

[BostonTom]

Years ago I worked in the shipping department of a warehouse. I was there about 2 years and remember it well. The company/warehouse was enormous (over 30 shipping/receiving doors) and dealt mainly in silver and crystal products.
I worked as a large order picker. I'd track down cases for large orders on an electric jack. The cases were all stacked in pallets located in huge steel racks throughout warehouse. The pallets were held together with shrink wrap, cardboard, packing tape and those yellow packing straps. There were also many cherry pickers that would grab pallets stacked on 2nd and 3rd tiers.
Anyway, everyday i would have to break down many pallets etc. I've cut tons of packing straps, shrink wrap, cardboard and tape.
I've been following this thread. The knife Jazz describes would have been perfect for my needs. I have large hands and the Delics handle fits well. I agree, a 3 inch or so blade would work well. Yes, a 4 inch blade would be unwieldy. I can picture using the wharnie to slide under packing straps to easily cut them. The blade would also excel at cutting cardboard etc. And it would be perfect for doing detail cutting. I had to be careful to not slice into boxes of crystal etc.
Just my 2 cents. And id be interested in buying one.
Tom

[Evil D]

That's two guys saying they have large hands and like the Delica handle. Do you guys mean large as in long fingers or what? I have sausage fingers and the points on the Delica handle just don't match up to the width of my fingers at all. It's honestly probably my least favorite handle design that Spyderco makes, certainly my least favorite out of every Spyderco knife I've handled.

[BostonTom]

I know what you are talking about with the Delica handle. I have large hands and thick fingers. Somehow, I can just fit my middle finger a little before that handle point. It kind of rests on point but is still comfortable. Ideally, I'd rather not have the point there or it be positioned different..
I don't like the Endura handle. I can really choke up and kind of squeeze 2 fingers before handle point.. But, it's not comfortable holding the knife like that. My middle finger rests right on top of that handle point in forward or normal grip. I can hold it with my index finger in front of point and other fingers behind point. However, my hand is too far back on handle and its unwieldy. The Endura ridge is more pronounced and I think that makes a difference. It's not so bothersome with the Delica.
Hope that makes some sense.

[Studey]

This thread rocks and once again confirms why Sal rocks.

For names, how bout just "Jazz"?

[Jazz]

My middle finger is right on the point, my pinky is on the final flat. Feels great. I seem to have thickish fingers and they're long enough to play guitar easily (I'm a metal head from the 80's).

I used the Delica hard today. Harder than needed just to give proper feedback to Sal. I was push cutting downward on double cardboard. It was hard, but the handle was comfortable no matter what I did. The factory edge is dulling, but I'm straightening it with the steel til it needs the stones. There's a wire edge there. Won't be after I sharpen it. I expect better retention then.

Also, I was noticing that the Delica is a great work knife. If I had never used a wharnie, I'd be fine with it as is... but I kept wishing for a straight edge every use! Once you use something that performs better, you can't go back. I kept picturing the new wharnie in my hand and getting real excited. I can already feel it's performance. If the shape is near what I drew, FFG will be plenty strong, by the way. Perfect size too. Smaller is not enough edge, and dulls quicker - larger gets unwieldy.

The Delica also comes out of the pocket fast and easy, opens one or two handed easy, perfect hole size, and reclips one handed easy.

Can you tell I'm excited?

[Jazz]

Here are some shots of my hand with a Delica...

[bearfacedkiller]

I am really, really excited about this one.

I think if this comes to fruition we should call it the Jazz. Just sayin...

[anagarika]

I haven't found that Delica handle fits me, although I have smaller hand. Strangely Endura & Stretch FRN are both comfortable. It's possible I haven't used it much to appreciate, just checking out & handling my friend's Delica.

The wharnie proposed is interesting, how about calling them DeliJazz?

[Evil D]

I'm wondering if Michael Janich is watching this thread. This sounds like a knife that would fall in with his MBC class perfectly. I hear the Delica is a popular model with them, so having one with a full length wharnie blade instead of bobbing the tip like the Kahr Delica has to sound good.

[Jazz]

I'm wondering if Michael Janich is watching this thread. This sounds like a knife that would fall in with his MBC class perfectly. I hear the Delica is a popular model with them, so having one with a full length wharnie blade instead of bobbing the tip like the Kahr Delica has to sound good.

Good question. I was thinking something like that yesterday. I hope it doesn't get a straight chopped tip, though. A bit more strength in the curve, especially if it's FFG, and more NKP friendly? Just my opinion.

[Evil D]

I'm wondering if Michael Janich is watching this thread. This sounds like a knife that would fall in with his MBC class perfectly. I hear the Delica is a popular model with them, so having one with a full length wharnie blade instead of bobbing the tip like the Kahr Delica has to sound good.

Good question. I was thinking something like that yesterday. I hope it doesn't get a straight chopped tip, though. A bit more strength in the curve, especially if it's FFG, and more NKP friendly? Just my opinion.

I think tip strength ultimately depends on the final angle of the spine as it meets the edge, so being rounded vs straight/chopped like the Jandura won't make a difference if the angle is the same for both at the tip. A better way to strengthen the tip on a FFG blade is to grind it without a distal taper and allow the shape of the blade to create the tip. That way the slope of the spine, regardless of how it's shaped, will come down to make the point and then it will ultimately be shaped and be as thick as the grind of the rest of the blade I stead of being whittled down to a fine point like most FFG blades.

[twinboysdad]

Since we are talking a work knife, I would suggest that the spine thickness be more than the FFG Delica. Same spine thickness as the Saber D4 but FFG, like the Pingo. I have found the FFG Delica too thin for the tasks described by Jazz.

[Evil D]

Since we are talking a work knife, I would suggest that the spine thickness be more than the FFG Delica. Same spine thickness as the Saber D4 but FFG, like the Pingo. I have found the FFG Delica too thin for the tasks described by Jazz.

A large part of that is the distal taper. When the spine of a knife slopes down to meet the edge like the Delica does, the point will always be thinner than the spine, but in addition to that the blade is ground like a wedge from tang to tip which makes it even thinner.

Wharnies are always regarded as having fine tips but they don't have to. For example if you really wanted to make a brute hard use wharnie, you could grind the blade into a low saber grind and not give it any distal taper at all. Then the tip would be more like a tanto and would be super stout. But, that wouldn't make for a very good slicer, so you make it FFG but still without the distal taper. Then the thickness of the tip depends on how thin the FFG is ground just behind the edge, which can be anything you make it. If you look at Strider's FFG the tip is still very thick because the blade is ground thick. For a wharnie you can find a nice sweet spot that will slice well enough for a work knife but still have a strong tip.

[Jazz]

Excellent points, boys. I think you may be right on. Here is a pic to compare a Pingo and saber and FFG Delicas...



The Pingo does have a slight distal taper, and if the spine is brought down to a wharnie point, it's nice and strong, and still pointy, like this example of a Pingo I modded beside a stock one...



The Delica's stock is a tad thinner, so if it had a small distal taper like the Pingo does, with a FFG and the wharnie shape I drew, it would be a great slicer still, with a stronger tip and blade. More thoughts?

I had to throw this pic back in for visual reference...

[Jazz]

It definitely shouldn't be saber ground. We're talking about a slicer here. As I said, I've been using a FFG Delica at work, and that pointy tip seems fine. I would like it stronger FFG though.