Thinly Ground Knives??

[mrtodd777]

I love my Spydercos, don't get me wrong. My chapparal is a slicing machine. As is my Sprig. Lately, I've been really into super thin grinds and wanted some guidance regarding what's available out there. What knives are out there that really excel as slicers? It doesn't have to be Spyderco. I just thought I would ask some of the pros here :D

[this_is_nascar]

Opinels.

[JD Spydo]

All of the Spyderco knives that I own that are made with MBS-26 blade steel are all thin by comparison. I've heard that's one of the main attributes of that particular blade steel is that it can attain a really nice hardness in a relatively thin blade.

I remember on a thread some time ago when Cliff Stamp was more frequent in his very informative comments that MBS-26 and I believe there were a couple of others he mentioned at the time really excelled in a thin blade.

It's also interesting to note that most straight razors ( carbon or stainless) are all mostly hollow ground and thin bladed overall. That can also be said about a lot of other shaving devices because most of them utilize a very thin blade.

[xceptnl]

All of the Spyderco knives that I own that are made with MBS-26 blade steel are all thin by comparison. I've heard that's one of the main attributes of that particular blade steel is that it can attain a really nice hardness in a relatively thin blade.

I remember on a thread some time ago when Cliff Stamp was more frequent in his very informative comments that MBS-26 and I believe there were a couple of others he mentioned at the time really excelled in a thin blade.

It's also interesting to note that most straight razors ( carbon or stainless) are all mostly hollow ground and thin bladed overall. That can also be said about a lot of other shaving devices because most of them utilize a very thin blade.

You are correct about MBS-26 JD. I remember the threads. I love my K04 and K05 so much I am currently in the process of making an Opinel-like friction folder for camping and hiking that utilizes a blade from the 6" utility Spyderco. Should be a mean and think ground lightweight pocket beast when done. I do like the thin blades on the Spydies I have that are reground. I need to learn to start doing that process myself.

[roger-roger]

I love my Spydercos, don't get me wrong. My chapparal is a slicing machine. As is my Sprig. Lately, I've been really into super thin grinds and wanted some guidance regarding what's available out there. What knives are out there that really excel as slicers? It doesn't have to be Spyderco. I just thought I would ask some of the pros here :D

Have you read Ankerson's write up of the Phil Wilson CPM125V?

[mrtodd777]

I love my Spydercos, don't get me wrong. My chapparal is a slicing machine. As is my Sprig. Lately, I've been really into super thin grinds and wanted some guidance regarding what's available out there. What knives are out there that really excel as slicers? It doesn't have to be Spyderco. I just thought I would ask some of the pros here :D

Have you read Ankerson's write up of the Phil Wilson CPM125V?

No I sure haven't. I will see if I can find it. Thanks!

[mb1]

MrTodd, I assume you're looking for folders (?). Thin is kind of hard to come by there in my experience. Opinels and the Chaparral (2mm), yes. But as far as larger Spydies, my Stretch is the thinnest I own at 3mm/ 1/8" stock.

I had to go to the custom fixed blade world to scratch this itch. I found a 2mm hunter in M4 I really like from one maker. Big Chris does a lot of thinly ground fixed blades as well (pricey though).

[anagarika]

For custom fixed blade, I suggest trying BCMW (BluntCut MetalWorks). He has unique HT, and emphasizes performance rather than looks.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bcm ... s.1530704/
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bcm ... s.1502445/

[vivi]

Any knife is thinly ground if you reprofile it

[Evil D]

Opinels.

Probably the cheapest way to get the most slicing efficiency.

[Nate]

These are kitchen knives, but we've had some of the Windmill Knives by Robert Herder (h/t Cliff) for just over 2yrs now. They've held up perfectly well and work great for us, but we do take care of them and try to be reasonable about the scope of use:

https://www.messer-mit-tradition.de

We have the K3 and K5, as well as a paring knife. The edges are suuuuper thin. I can see the edge flex against my fingernail with all three knives. The flex on the K5 is less than the others, but still really impressive for the edge thickness on their "Large chef knife."

They're not Opinel cheap, but pretty reasonable imo. I mean to get some Spydie kitchen knives. Would really like to try the new Cook Knife, but there's always a lot of stuff competing on the :spyder: list.

[TomAiello]

I have a Nontron paring knife that's very thin and an excellent slicer.

[Bill1170]

Traditional folders tend to offer many patterns with thin blades. Inexpensive Victorinox kitchen knives are thin with fat handles that are grippy (Fibrox is what they call the handle type). The Spyderco utility knives are thin with good edge stability.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

A friend of mine told me that if a steel or material were strong and hard enough it could be literally paper thin and if the toughness was high enough, it would be the perfect knife. I don't know if you could ever have a "perfect knife" for all uses but that was an interesting statement.

[this_is_nascar]

Opinels are unmatched for slicing capabilities.

[Evil D]

A friend of mine told me that if a steel or material were strong and hard enough it could be literally paper thin and if the toughness was high enough, it would be the perfect knife. I don't know if you could ever have a "perfect knife" for all uses but that was an interesting statement.

Ideally any knife made of any material should be ground as thin as possible to not take damage. Basically figure out where the edge or blade will take damage and dial it back a bit. The problem is that takes some common sense from the user to not push that knife beyond it's limits. I have seen videos of circular saw blades made of paper that cut a surprising amount before being destroyed. There are plenty of steels that could withstand being ground to 1mm or less and ground extremely thin that would handle a reasonable amount of abuse but the margin of error is pretty thin at that point too. Think of how many >1mm kitchen knives you've seen that could probably be used to baton limbs off a tree without taking serious damage, most of them may not hold an edge all that great but they're tough enough to be that thin. The part most people don't understand is, if the edge is ground thin enough edge retention becomes less critical when a blade can still cut by edge/blade geometry alone while the very edge is dull.

Now, all that said the hardest part of doing all that with a folder is having that super thin blade work with a lock. You can't very well have a liner or compression lock work on a blade that's less than 1mm thick. You could start with thicker blade stock and grind the blade that thin but then you're wasting a lot of steel.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

David that is a very good analysis of this whole issue with thin blades. Here is something I would find very useful and perhaps you and others would also find it to be of practical use when choosing a knife for a specific task: Just as there are now steel composition charts and descriptions of various grinds and blade shapes, perhaps someone can put together a chart of steel thicknesses corresponding to specific steel types, with a side bar that tells you what applications this particular blade steel would best be suited for: Example:

The chart lists the optimal thickness levels for VG10, 440 series, AUS 8, S30V, Lc200n, and others, and tells you in what uses and thicknesses each particular steel would be good for, and what it would not be good for. Perhaps you want a very thin profiled blade for slicing fruits and vegetables, and a thicker blade for chopping through bones. I know in general people know from experience and from the experiences of others, but it would be cool if such a chart existed. And you are right about people pressing a knife that is too thin into service cutting things its not optimal for.

As a second example: Perhaps a blade of S30V will operate better at a certain thickness or thinness level, than say, VG10, or 440C, or vice versa.

[vivi]

The part most people don't understand is, if the edge is ground thin enough edge retention becomes less critical when a blade can still cut by edge/blade geometry alone while the very edge is dull.

That and thinly ground knives sharpen faster, as the bevels tend to be more narrow even at identical sharpening angles to comparable thick knives.

[anagarika]

Now, all that said the hardest part of doing all that with a folder is having that super thin blade work with a lock. You can't very well have a liner or compression lock work on a blade that's less than 1mm thick. You could start with thicker blade stock and grind the blade that thin but then you're wasting a lot of steel.

More reason to go back to LOCKBACKS :D