At the risk of voiding the warranty, I utilized my Paul's Hatchet in a way that would have left most hatchets begging for mercy. Sure, it's a good chopper, but can it julienne vegetables? That's the question I set out to answer. In the service of those who want to know how the choked-up grip works for finer tasks, I made a large pot of vegetable soup.
I didn't hold back. This test involved parsley, cabbage, zucchini, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and more, yet. For the sake of comparison, an expensive German full-tang, flat-ground kitchen knife served as the "control" blade in this "study".
The choked up grip was very comfortable. My arthritis was acting up, and the grip was large, easy to hold onto, and more comfortable than a kitchen knife in the hands of this arthritis sufferer. The thumb rest is a bit small for me, not designed for really long thumbs. The grasp was still sturdy and comfortable, but it forced me to curl my thumb up on the thumb rest. This actually gave me a more solid grip than the intended grip, and better leverage, too, but it was also a bit more fatiguing. The extra fatigue was nominal for me, but others might find it more of an issue.
The control with the choked up grip is extraordinary. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that I have better cutting and slicing control holding the axe head this way than I have ever had with any other piece of cutlery. The edge was still within the outer limits of what I would call "razor sharp", despite the fact that I had "dulled" it, hacking a dirty hardwood stump into bits. The edge was, in fact, still sharper than the fancy German Kitchen knife, though that knife was almost new.
Yes, it's sharp, yes the control is superb, but it still has a big, fat edge, and a big, fat bevel behind the edge, coming to 1/4 inch thick within about an inch from the edge. I thought that the blade's thickness would absolutely destroy performance with fine slicing. I was wrong. It was easy to shave paper thin slices of all the vegetables involved in this test--even the firm and brittle carrots of large diameter (1.5 inches or so). That said, the thickness did kind of get in the way a bit, and the hatchet's path through the vegetables sometimes veered, unless I tried to keep it straight. When I did try, there was no difficulty maintaining total control.
The main drawback of Paul's Hatchet for these tasks was that the blade is only about three inches wide--considerably less wide than onions and cabbages. This forced me to shave off angles and corners. The German knife soundly trounced the the hatchet in cutting slices off of wide vegetables.
I didn't test this, but I would conjecture that Paul's Hatchet would be especially more capable than the kitchen knife on medium diameter, firm vegetables, like beets. The grip allows you hold tightly directly behind the edge and push cut. This makes it possible to power your way through dense vegetables in a way that would be difficult to emulate with a kitchen knife
I must warn anyone who intends to repeat this test, to use a delicate touch. A few slices into the test, it was apparent that the cutting board was taking some deep cuts. I had to lighten up, else the cutting board would have been damaged before the test was done.
I didn't hold back. This test involved parsley, cabbage, zucchini, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and more, yet. For the sake of comparison, an expensive German full-tang, flat-ground kitchen knife served as the "control" blade in this "study".
The choked up grip was very comfortable. My arthritis was acting up, and the grip was large, easy to hold onto, and more comfortable than a kitchen knife in the hands of this arthritis sufferer. The thumb rest is a bit small for me, not designed for really long thumbs. The grasp was still sturdy and comfortable, but it forced me to curl my thumb up on the thumb rest. This actually gave me a more solid grip than the intended grip, and better leverage, too, but it was also a bit more fatiguing. The extra fatigue was nominal for me, but others might find it more of an issue.
The control with the choked up grip is extraordinary. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that I have better cutting and slicing control holding the axe head this way than I have ever had with any other piece of cutlery. The edge was still within the outer limits of what I would call "razor sharp", despite the fact that I had "dulled" it, hacking a dirty hardwood stump into bits. The edge was, in fact, still sharper than the fancy German Kitchen knife, though that knife was almost new.
Yes, it's sharp, yes the control is superb, but it still has a big, fat edge, and a big, fat bevel behind the edge, coming to 1/4 inch thick within about an inch from the edge. I thought that the blade's thickness would absolutely destroy performance with fine slicing. I was wrong. It was easy to shave paper thin slices of all the vegetables involved in this test--even the firm and brittle carrots of large diameter (1.5 inches or so). That said, the thickness did kind of get in the way a bit, and the hatchet's path through the vegetables sometimes veered, unless I tried to keep it straight. When I did try, there was no difficulty maintaining total control.
The main drawback of Paul's Hatchet for these tasks was that the blade is only about three inches wide--considerably less wide than onions and cabbages. This forced me to shave off angles and corners. The German knife soundly trounced the the hatchet in cutting slices off of wide vegetables.
I didn't test this, but I would conjecture that Paul's Hatchet would be especially more capable than the kitchen knife on medium diameter, firm vegetables, like beets. The grip allows you hold tightly directly behind the edge and push cut. This makes it possible to power your way through dense vegetables in a way that would be difficult to emulate with a kitchen knife
I must warn anyone who intends to repeat this test, to use a delicate touch. A few slices into the test, it was apparent that the cutting board was taking some deep cuts. I had to lighten up, else the cutting board would have been damaged before the test was done.
