Tanto Blades?

[Glenn Goodlett]

I like them. Most of my knives have a tanto blade, but, I am mostly a mall ninja.

Here is a few of my nice ones. (not all tantos)

 

[Ron Sabbagh]

I’m still experimenting with tanto blades...so I’m no expert

what I find is that knives with bellies (drop point, etc) cut fleshy objects very well - like game, fruits, vegetables, etc

tantos are very good at cutting fibrous objects like paper, cardboard, rope, etc

of course there is crossover but I think we all can find a use for a tanto. It’s not just for stabbing.

 

[Arathol]

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.

That was a thing a long time ago. Emerson made a lot of them (CQC7, Commander etc....) and some others followed suit.

Benchmade Emerson 970ST CQC7

Chisel ground tanto by RJ Martin

 

[jbmonkey]

They wreak havoc on bananas. Trust me.

not just bananas, fingers too.

 

[KenHash]

That Benchmade Emerson 970ST CQC7...
It's actually flat on the right side?

Funny...chisel ground (single bevel) tanto knives are rarely if ever seen in Japan, other than kiridashis and cooking knives.

 

[singularity35]

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.

I can sharpen. I still find them more work to sharpen.

 

[J85909266]

I can sharpen. I still find them more work to sharpen.

I fail to find how just adjusting for the front edge is any harder than sharpening something with a belly. The tip is always harder to get apexed. So is the heel near the sharpening choil.

Tantos did nothing wrong. I'm sick of the oppression.

 

[Arathol]

That Benchmade Emerson 970ST CQC7...
It's actually flat on the right side?

Funny...chisel ground (single bevel) tanto knives are rarely if ever seen in Japan, other than kiridashis and cooking knives.

Yes, single bevel on the left side. The RJ Martin blade is the opposite, flat on the left side, beveled on the right. Many of these "American tantos" were made in both left and right chisel grinds.

Funny you should mention Japanese cooking knives though....this so called chisel grind "American tanto" is a Japanese pattern known as Edosaki, a form of Unagisaki, single bevel with the flat on the left, that is used for filleting live unagi eels.....

 

[singularity35]

I fail to find how just adjusting for the front edge is any harder than sharpening something with a belly. The tip is always harder to get apexed. So is the heel near the sharpening choil.

Tantos did nothing wrong. I'm sick of the oppression.

I know but it's like sharpening two knives for me. Why, oh why do people take it personally when someone disagrees with their preferences?

 

[J85909266]

I know but it's like sharpening two knives for me. Why, oh why do people take it personally when someone disagrees with their preferences?

You are manufacturing the "personal" offense in your own mind. We may disagree, but it is not personal.

 

[singularity35]

You are manufacturing the "personal" offense in your own mind. We may disagree, but it is not personal.

Ok, then I hope that the oppression comment was an attempt at humor.

 

[unwisefool]

There have been a lot of topics about this before, the search function is your friend. If you haven't had one, just buy it and see if you like it. If you don't, sell it and move on. It's not like you are buying a car or a house.

 

[J85909266]

Ok, then I hope that the oppression comment was an attempt at humor.

I can make the observation that snobbish knife enthusiasts often unfairly disparage tanto grinds for incorrect and unfair reasons without it being a "personal" matter.

I hope that you are able to holster your little internet six guns and realize that a hobby-based disagreement is no grounds for a mental showdown.

 

[Bigfattyt]

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.

Weird..I've never owned a chisel grind Tanto.

Cold Steel tantos are all double ground.

Many custom makers do both chisel and double/standard.

I have a few Cold Steel tantos and a custom.

I will say, the 1/2 serrated tanto Recon 1 is double hollow ground, but the main edge is nearly flat on the right side, while the left has more bevel. This is because of how the serrations are ground into one side.

Got two old ones. I've had these for 20 years or so.

Tantos are decent EDC knives.

The secondary point has its uses. It acts like a point for precise cutting, like a warncliff.

For years I kept the point distinct. Sharpening wach edge, and keeping the secondary point (yakote).

It aids in penetration on a snap cut. I've tried the same cuts with bowies and other curved blades and that angle acts like a point to focus the energy of fhe cut and to penetrate. Works great on clothing, fabrics and leather.

Some hate them. Some love them. Try one out, and see if you like them.

One thing I've found about the only real chisel grind I have is that when whittling wood, the curved (convex) side on the left side aids in carving as a right handed person. The flat being on the right hand side allows me to angle the edge to control the bite/angle of cut. When cutting with the flat side, it is harder, and the edge wants to stay at the angle, and gets buried. The grind being on the left and rhe flat being in the right works well for whittling, but vor cutting bread, or cheese, or other item I want a straight, flat cut, I want the flat side on the left.



I've forged a "chisel" grind on a blade, looming at the Yakut style blade. For a right handed person, they put the flat on the left, and convex the right side.

Here is what I mean.

Flat on the right side, convex on the left.

 

[Dr Heelhook]

Weird..I've never owned a chisel grind Tanto.

It was mostly an Emerson thing.

 

[KenHash]

Yes, single bevel on the left side. The RJ Martin blade is the opposite, flat on the left side, beveled on the right. Many of these "American tantos" were made in both left and right chisel grinds.

Funny you should mention Japanese cooking knives though....this so called chisel grind "American tanto" is a Japanese pattern known as Edosaki, a form of Unagisaki, single bevel with the flat on the left, that is used for filleting live unagi eels.....

Thanks for the flat side photo. I am really astonished that such tanto folders were ever made. Even with single bevel cooking knives here in Japan it used to be somewhat difficult decades ago to get a left hand version. That has changed to a large degree now.

The "Edosaki" (Edo tip-literally) is represented by the point being at the top in the manner of Katanas. Edo (now Tokyo) being the center of the Tokugawa Shogunate and ruled by the Samurai class catered to their tastes and image. The slender pointed Yanagiba most people are familar with is a Kansai (Osaka) style. The Edo (Tokyo) style actually has an Edosaki:

Similarly, as you mentioned, Unagi Bouchous (Unagi knives) differ regionally, per the photo below. There are many more regional varieties. The ones with a KIssaki are Edo.

The major Unagi Bouchou styles are Edo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto and Hakata, all looking different but made to dress eels. In another nod to the Samurai Class, in Edo, eels were split from the back, whereas they were split from the stomach side in Osaka. In Edo, cutting the from the stomach was too reminiscent of Seppuku (Hara-Kiri in western terms), something only permitted by the Samurai Class.

The term Kissaki is a shortened form of Kirisaki 切先, literally "cutting tip". The reverse, with the point at the bottom, is the Kiritsuke 切付, a term which means the corner angle formed by the intersection of two lines. The almost always seen on Higonokamis and recently a big trend in cooking knives.

 

[Bigfattyt]

It was mostly an Emerson thing.

Ah, this is exactly why many, including my self, have not warmed to Emerson.


I mentioned that they were not my style in another thread and and another member started frothing and foaming.

 

[Danno4017]

I do not like them at all.
I am trying to sell the couple I once purchased.

 

[Hal]

Weird..I've never owned a chisel grind Tanto.

Oh yeah my friend..- - -Benchmade stryker/Auto Stryker, Cold Steel (can't recall the exact model), Emmerson, CKRT ( which is what I bought and disliked so much), Big Ern (Emmerson) - just to name a few I can recall off the top of my head - all made single grind/chisel grind tantos back about 20/25 years ago.
All of them insisted on putting the flat on the "wrong side" for right handed people.
If I'm not mistaken, even Mad Dog knives offered one.

 

[Pilsner]

I fail to find how just adjusting for the front edge is any harder than sharpening something with a belly. The tip is always harder to get apexed. So is the heel near the sharpening choil.

Tantos did nothing wrong. I'm sick of the oppression.