Tanto Blades?

tueller

tueller

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So I like everything about a knife minus the tanto blade. However since I don’t own a tanto bladed knife maybe I should be more open minded. So let’s hear it. Tanto... pro’s and con’s...
 
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A Lum style tanto is all the utility of a wharncliffe with the added bonus of a super stout tip with a scraping front edge. It has a ton of utility.

Tanto blades only get a bad rap because knife snobs identify them as mall ninja.
 
Assuming we are talking about "American" tantos, with a defined corner, like those popularized by Cold Steel in the 80's

Pros -
That little corner gives some "bite", when dragging across what you are cutting. The poster who compared that portion to a Wharncliffe explains it best.

Strong tip. The blades maintains thickness almost all the way to the tip.

Negs -

You basically sharpen TWO blades and they might not be ground at the same angle. You do the main stretch at 21* then you go to get started on the small portion and find out 21* will leave you with A LOT less metal and a grotesquely wide edge.

Stigma but I couldn't care less about that.
 
Many pro points - mostly centered on strength.

My biggest con - - any Tanto style knife I ever picked up was/is a chisel grind, with the flat on the right.
Since I'm right handed & hold things I slice with my left hand, that's right hand flat is useless - - worse than useless really since it slices everything all katty-whampass..

I guess a fella could hunt one down with a flat on the left - but - why bother when there are so many other knives out there to spend my money on.
 
There are some pros though I tend to think they have more of a place on fixed blades or those with extremely strong locks i.e back locks, triad locks, frame locks etc.
The point is supposedly much stronger than drop point blade styles and clip points and can be used for more hard use like puncturing. As others have said already they do offer some utility in scraping and utility cuts and that second point that you often get is great for box cutting and cutting tape.

That said, there are some disadvantages. The blade cannot be sharpened in a conventional manner because of that "second point" and it is very easy to round that off. If you are not using it on a fixed blade or a very strong lock, it loses some utility as a puncturing tool since you obviously wouldnt want to stab it into a hard piece of pine with a fairly mundane liner lock for example.
 
I never wanted to get one due to the extra time to sharpen two different sections of the blade.

I am sure they are great, but I have just passed on them.
 
tueller said:
So I like everything about a knife minus the tanto blade. However since I don’t own a tanto bladed knife maybe I should be more open minded. So let’s hear it. Tanto... pro’s and con’s...
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Funny, you say you don't like them, but you don't say WHY you don't like them? Looks? They are knives, they have an edge that cuts. They will probably do most things you need them for. I like them because of the fact that they DO have two edges, because since those two edges are completely straight, they're much easier to sharpen evenly on a simple benchstone, especially if it's a shorter blade. Sharpening an edge that curves towards the tip is harder. Since there are two separate edges you can have two different edge angles on the tip and the main edge, if you want to use the tip more for prying and scraping. You don't even have to sharpen the tip if you don't feel like it, just keep the main edge slicing sharp and the tip for grunt work. I also like that if you happen to break off the tip, it is easier to regrind a new tip, since it's just a straight line.

To sum up, they are simply made blades that are easy to maintain IMO. They are also relatively easy to make. I think a tanto blade will be my next knife project.

For the cons, obviously, you don't have a curved edge portion, which you want sometimes. Also, if you're using something like a Spyderco Sharpmaker for sharpening, the tip edge becomes a bit more tedious to sharpen, since you need to avoid rounding off the separating corner between the edges. A wider flat sharpening surface is the way to go.
 
Dr Heelhook said:
Funny, you say you don't like them, but you don't say WHY you don't like them? Looks? They are knives, they have an edge that cuts. They will probably do most things you need them for. I like them because of the fact that they DO have two edges, because since those two edges are completely straight, they're much easier to sharpen evenly on a simple benchstone, especially if it's a shorter blade. Sharpening an edge that curves towards the tip is harder. Since there are two separate edges you can have two different edge angles on the tip and the main edge, if you want to use the tip more for prying and scraping. You don't even have to sharpen the tip if you don't feel like it, just keep the main edge slicing sharp and the tip for grunt work. I also like that if you happen to break off the tip, it is easier to regrind a new tip, since it's just a straight line.

To sum up, they are simply made blades that are easy to maintain IMO. They are also relatively easy to make. I think a tanto blade will be my next knife project.

For the cons, obviously, you don't have a curved edge portion, which you want sometimes. Also, if you're using something like a Spyderco Sharpmaker for sharpening, the tip edge becomes a bit more tedious to sharpen, since you need to avoid rounding off the separating corner between the edges. A wider flat sharpening surface is the way to go.
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The myth that tantos are hard to sharpen is perpetuated by people that think knife sharpening is just swiping on a Sharpmaker for 20 minutes and then wondering why the edge is so dull. They are very simple to sharpen. Two straight edges is actually easier to sharpen than a typical drop point blade with curve that needs to be minded and adapted to.
 
J85909266 said:
The myth that tantos are hard to sharpen is perpetuated by people that think knife sharpening is just swiping on a Sharpmaker for 20 minutes and then wondering why the edge is so dull. They are very simple to sharpen. Two straight edges is actually easier to sharpen than a typical drop point blade with curve that needs to be minded and adapted to.
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Sure tantos are harder to sharpen on a sharpmaker but they are also harder to sharpen on many of the popular guided systems out there now. On a KME, Hapstone, Wicked Edge, etc you are going to have to unclamp and then reclamp the blade in a different location in order to get the edge leading up to the tip. Is it the end of the world? No. However it is more difficult to do than just clamping it once and running the stone along the length of the edge like you would do with a droppoint, wharncliff, clip point, or other common blade types.

If you are an experienced freehand sharpener im sure its not all that much harder than a droppoint in that the edges are straight so there is no need for wrist involvement. But this is dependent on how you do your sharpening and most people here i would guess are using one of those systems.
 
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c7m2p3 said:
Sure tantos are harder to sharpen on a sharpmaker but they are also harder to sharpen on many of the popular guided systems out there now. On a KME, Hapstone, Wicked Edge, etc you are going to have to unclamp and then reclamp the blade in a different location in order to get the edge leading up to the tip. Is it the end of the world? No. However it is more difficult to do than just clamping it once and running the stone along the length of the edge like you would do with a droppoint, wharncliff, clip point, or other common blade types.

If you are an experienced freehand sharpener im sure its not all that much harder than a droppoint in that the edges are straight so there is no need for wrist involvement. But this is dependent on how you do your sharpening and most people here i would guess are using one of those systems.
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That's fair. I just don't think needing to either re-clamp to the correct angle or adjust your grip if free-handing is that much of an inconvenience.
 
c7m2p3 said:
Sure tantos are harder to sharpen on a sharpmaker but they are also harder to sharpen on many of the popular guided systems out there now. On a KME, Hapstone, Wicked Edge, etc you are going to have to unclamp and then reclamp the blade in a different location in order to get the edge leading up to the tip. Is it the end of the world? No. However it is more difficult to do than just clamping it once and running the stone along the length of the edge like you would do with a droppoint, wharncliff, clip point, or other common blade types.

If you are an experienced freehand sharpener im sure its not all that much harder than a droppoint in that the edges are straight so there is no need for wrist involvement. But this is dependent on how you do your sharpening and most people here i would guess are using one of those systems.
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I say use that guided sharpening system for the main edge of the tanto blade, then don't bother using it for the tip part of the edge. Sharpening that tiny bit of straight edge free hand isn't that hard, even if you're not that experienced.
 
I usually wont EDC anything but a Tanto.....primarily the CQC-7

I mean, it has a lot going for it.....I don't find them hard at all to sharpen, I prefer chisel grind, they have a crazy strong tip, puncture the best and generally the strongest out of most profiles.

I'm not really sure why everyone needs a belly for good slicing as an EDC......I don't use my knife to cut apples all day so I find something like a Paramilitary 2 with a flat grind to be completely useless and weak.

Try one out, you might like it.......if all else fails, they definitely look the best.....this is a scientific fact BTW.
 
The cold steel: very strong point, sharp and universal: universal to use
the real stuff with shark skin, silk etc extremely sharp , strong (through leather armor) battle with honour etc
 
c7m2p3 said:
Sure tantos are harder to sharpen on a sharpmaker but they are also harder to sharpen on many of the popular guided systems out there now. On a KME, Hapstone, Wicked Edge, etc you are going to have to unclamp and then reclamp the blade in a different location in order to get the edge leading up to the tip. Is it the end of the world? No. However it is more difficult to do than just clamping it once and running the stone along the length of the edge like you would do with a droppoint, wharncliff, clip point, or other common blade types.
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I think that all depends on the length of the blade and what you are using to sharpen with. I've done my Recon 1, both primary edge and tip, on a Lansky with no issues. The primary is 20°, the tip is 25°, no need to change the clamp position at all.
 
Hal said:
Many pro points - mostly centered on strength.

My biggest con - - any Tanto style knife I ever picked up was/is a chisel grind, with the flat on the right.
Since I'm right handed & hold things I slice with my left hand, that's right hand flat is useless - - worse than useless really since it slices everything all katty-whampass..

I guess a fella could hunt one down with a flat on the left - but - why bother when there are so many other knives out there to spend my money on.
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That is odd because I rarely run across a chisel ground knife (I have a CS push dagger that is Chisel ground) and have never even seen a chisel ground tanto.

I have an original Recon Tanto (U.S. made, Carbon V steel) and I can honestly say I can not think of a knife (I've had) that has better balance. I love that darn thing.
 
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