Kitchen knives too thin?

Why not make one thick kitchen knife and then let people try the thick vs thin in some slice tests?

/*shakes fist angriliy at Colorodo* :p
 
I have Victorinox/Forschner in my kitchen drawer as well as my cousin who is a chef and is the owner and operator of a restaurant. He uses all Victorinox stuff. I just measured with calipers the spine on an 8 inch Victorinox chef's knife and a small 3 inch paring knife. The chefs knife was just at .100 while the pairing knife was .050. Both have been in service for many years with no problems. The chefs knife gets very heavy duty use in the kitchen and it's my most used knife for slicing/dicing/ and chopping.

They're kitchen knives, not to be used in the Battle Of Hastings.

As far as any study, run a little car into a Chevy Suburban and see who walks away. Oh wait, they just did that here just down the road. A mother and her two kids were driving in a minivan. Two young bastids in 4X4 trucks were racing each other. The idiot in the Dodge Ram ran a stop light and killed the mother and both her kids. You couldn't even tell what they were driving it was so mangled. The young punk in the Dodge Ram and his girl friend were shaken up and the Dodge truck had front end damage, but it was clearly a Dodge truck that had hit something.

Minivan-three dead.

Dodge truck- no injuries to either occupant.

Studies ain't real life. Put someone you don't care about in a car and put someone you do care about in a Suburban and let them head on each other and see who walks away.
 
that's just silly...

If the Minivan ran the light and t-boned the Dodge truck, I bet the Dodge truck occupants would die (or be seriously injured) and minor injuries would be in the minivan.
As for a head on collision, yes, the heavier (and usually more steel) vehicle 'wins'
 
Thanks all. You bring up some good suggestions. Unfortunately we are also a demonstration booth, so when we're behind the forge we can't stop to make the sales pitch. I guess I'll have to tell the other smiths that they use the above suggestions (except for maybe the auto accident analogy, as that'll take too much thinking for the general public), and we'll have to see if allowing a demo is alright due to liability issues. Up until last year the fair didn't allow us to even sell knives, and we had to stop doing forge welding demos a number of years ago even though we have big glass windows that we would pull up in front of the viewing area to protect the public.
Have a good autumn all.
 
weo weo : your kitchen knives are not too thin. You're doing it right. People are too thick... I love the thinnest blade possible, without flex that is. I like precise cuts and if they're effortless, what a delight ! A cutting board with some veggies and two (thick and thin) sized knives would make for a great demonstration area. I mean, people who want to hack up a chicken and slice onions could be interested by a sturdier blade. People who appreciate the thinnest slices made out of vegetables, like for plancha cooking, very trendy... (I know I do !) will fall in love with your slicers. Win, win... that's what she said.
 
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Yeah... Don't get into an argument with idiots... They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Best thing you could possibly do under these circumstances is to make some "fair knives" just for that venue and make them thicker. Then the boneheads that want them can have them. If possible, set up that comparison so they can cut with both and feel the difference for themselves. Let the knives do the talking, that way you don't run into that problem I mentioned above.
 
I'd have to throw my hat in with the venue and target market. Learned this the hard way my self. As some one said fish where the fish are. Our target market is working cowboys and ranchers. If I go to a big ranch roping as a vendor, I expect to sell a lot of knives as well as a lot of the misc other things we make. 20-30 knives is so so and 35 -50 being a good show. 52 is my record. I go to a rodeo and set up and I'm gonna sell a few knives, maybe five or so but we'll sell a lot of misc stuff. How come? Cause mostly weekend warriors or folks that are "cowboy" for the rodeo weekend are mostly who's walking around. Not our fish so to speak. Have done a couple of craft fairs, years back. Didn't sell anything. Why? Our fish not there. Ya got folks looking to buy imported glass beads on fishing line not a $250 knife. Don't do craft fairs anymore. Ya usually only have to kick me a couple of times till I get it.

You've got some good advice here on the demostrations. I'll even let ya use my line: "Ya don't slice maters with an axe." Which aptly sums up all the physics discussions regarding vehickle impacts that this has devolved into?
 
eKretz said:
Yeah... Don't get into an argument with idiots... They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Best thing you could possibly do under these circumstances is to make some "fair knives" just for that venue and make them thicker. Then the boneheads that want them can have them. If possible, set up that comparison so they can cut with both and feel the difference for themselves. Let the knives do the talking, that way you don't run into that problem I mentioned above.
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They are not idiots . Some years ago I did not know that out there exist custom hand made knives ....And that not make me a idiot .Knives I used in kitchen or while I m on fishing trip are ordinary , cheap one but obviously they are in that time /over 40 years/ enough good for me :) Let me tell you little story ...I make for my first neighbors left/right from mu home kitchen knife as gift.Steel was 1.2519 1.5mm thick and about 63-64 Rockwell hardness .They are blade from tobacco industry so no HT by me ... The same day I gave them knives they are very impressed how knifes cut and slice , they even managed to cut fingers :D Understandably because they have never had anything like that ....I did not explain them that that knife need care that they will rust .....and after week they complained to me that their knives rust . I explain to them how to maintain them and they a happy now. Then the second neighbor came to me and ask me to make him same knifes .............then next one .............today the whole street has my knives and the bad news is that now I must to sharpen all this knives from time to time , I love my neighbors :D My point is that ordinary user of knives have no idea what a sharp knife is , not because they are idiots but because they buy first knives they see in market and most likely the cheapest one and they are satisfied with them because they do not have with what to compare them :D
 
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Thoroughly enjoyed the banter in this thread. I know my way around the kitchen pretty well. I did not see it mentioned, but ONE of (several) types of knives I use to actually DO stuff, is the fillet knife. It is one great knife in the kitchen. And it does point up the advantage of both thin blades and narrow ones.
 
The only knives I use in the kitchen are all made by Victorinox; a 7" Santoku, a paring knife, a fruit knife, and a serrated utility (the latter rarely sees use). They are all very thin-bladed and work very, very well at what they were designed for, which is cutting/preparing food.

Anyone who thinks that kitchen knives need to be thick-bladed are not using knives in the kitchen (and probably don't or can't cook anyway).

Jim
 
Bring a couple bags of russets next time. This will demonstrate the wedging action the knife encounters while going through material that doesn’t give. Carrots are good to demonstrate thinness up front on the edge but will do nothing to demonstrate the difference at the spine.

Or make thicker knives. A thick knife with a nice thin edge isn’t great for large vegetables like squashes but is fine for most of what people use a kitchen knife for. We have nice skinny knives from the fubon that cost 5 bucks and are great slicers but the vegetable slices stick to the sides. Sometimes I wonder if a thick knife with a convex edge wouldn’t be better.
 
Natlek said:
They are not idiots . Some years ago I did not know that out there exist custom hand made knives ....And that not make me a idiot .Knives I used in kitchen or while I m on fishing trip are ordinary , cheap one but obviously they are in that time /over 40 years/ enough good for me :) Let me tell you little story ...I make for my first neighbors left/right from mu home kitchen knife as gift.Steel was 1.2519 1.5mm thick and about 63-64 Rockwell hardness .They are blade from tobacco industry so no HT by me ... The same day I gave them knives they are very impressed how knifes cut and slice , they even managed to cut fingers :D Understandably because they have never had anything like that ....I did not explain them that that knife need care that they will rust .....and after week they complained to me that their knives rust . I explain to them how to maintain them and they a happy now. Then the second neighbor came to me and ask me to make him same knifes .............then next one .............today the whole street has my knives and the bad news is that now I must to sharpen all this knives from time to time , I love my neighbors :D My point is that ordinary user of knives have no idea what a sharp knife is , not because they are idiots but because they buy first knives they see in market and most likely the cheapest one and they are satisfied with them because they do not have with what to compare them :D
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I'll beg to differ on that one. This has nothing to do with sharpness. The O.P. was commenting on folks not caring for the spine thickness of his knives - even AFTER it was explained to them how this makes for a BETTER knife in the kitchen. Ignorant means uneducated. Not understanding even AFTER you've been educated is...well, my original comment stands on its own merit in that respect.
 
I had a guy order an 8" chef's knife. He wanted it thick. I showed him what I considered a "thick" chef's knife with a spine of 0.110". He said, "No that's way too thin. I want it about double that thickness, because I cut a LOT of potatoes for events, and the weight of the knife makes cutting potatoes for extended periods of time much easier." I kid you not. I tried to explain to him that, in reality, a thinner knife is going to cut through your potatoes much easier, and you'll appreciate the light weight during long cutting sessions. He said he knew what he was talking about, that he wanted a thick knife, so I made him an 8" (13" OAL) chef's knife out of 3/16" O1 tool steel. He loved it. I like 'em anywhere from 1/16"-3/32".

Some men, you just can't reach.
 
I supposed from a business standpoint you have two viable options.
1 - give them what they want
2 - find the people that want what you have

I think 2 is the best option, as has been stated - as even with a thicker blade, they don't want to pay a premium - they want cheap, tough, and good enough
 
eKretz said:
I'll beg to differ on that one. This has nothing to do with sharpness. The O.P. was commenting on folks not caring for the spine thickness of his knives - even AFTER it was explained to them how this makes for a BETTER knife in the kitchen. Ignorant means uneducated. Not understanding even AFTER you've been educated is...well, my original comment stands on its own merit in that respect.
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First off, you called them "idiots," and "boneheads" not "ignorant."

eKretz said:
Yeah... Don't get into an argument with idiots... They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
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They are, as N Natlek pointed out, not idiots or boneheads.

Second, I know your penchant for calling everyone "ignorant" and then saying "that means uneducated". I buy neither of those either here. They are not interested on the level we are. I am entirely sure they have interests you are not interested in, and if they called you ignorant or an idiot or a bonehead I'm sure you would be upset.

What is, lets call it "shortsighted," is writing people off as boneheads instead of educating them and making them interested. Especially when that is done by people claiming to have sweeping knowledge.

That said, as others have said, a demo would be a great teaching tool about blade geometry, but one needs to get them interested first. The fact that the OP is making knives would be a good way in the door, as it were.
 
Those boneheads need a little more spine.;)

I once was at a blacksmithing display (public). I was certainly interested, but you know what I actually bought? I bought this thing for a camp fire; a vertical stake with a sliding ring for a pot on it. Works great if you have it along. Not something I would carry hiking. I have owned this thing for years and it's in my garage mostly bringing back memories of that day.
 
I see a lot of similar stuff around here when it comes to "the sheeple." Instead of educating people about knives and their function, folks will just come here and whine about them. Not that weo weo is doing anything like that.

Educate the nonknife folks....if, in the end, they are not interested...they ain't interested. We are all not interested in all kinds of things. Doesn't make anybody ignorant.
 
eKretz said:
I'll beg to differ on that one. This has nothing to do with sharpness. The O.P. was commenting on folks not caring for the spine thickness of his knives - even AFTER it was explained to them how this makes for a BETTER knife in the kitchen. Ignorant means uneducated. Not understanding even AFTER you've been educated is...well, my original comment stands on its own merit in that respect.
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Sure ignorant means "uneducated" in the dictionary, but you're not using it in that context at all. Especially when you mentioned the fact that they were already "educated" on why his knives are as thin as they are, yet they are still ignorant in the context that you originally meant for it to be. Passive aggressive....
 
22-rimfire said:
Those boneheads need a little more spine.;)
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OK...well that's a good one...worth it. :D

But look...what sells like hotcakes? Even to all the non-ignorant, non-bonehead, non-idiots here?

Overbuilt folders.

So one really cant "pish posh tsk tsk" someone who wants an overbuilt kitchen knife can one?
 
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