Why wide blades?

F

fishbulb

Joined
Sep 18, 2001
Messages
1,196
I have noticed that there are many knives with blades that are very wide compared to the overall size of the knife; with "wide" reffering to the distance between the edge and the spine of the blade. I thought that the Spyderco Salsa I got to use through DaveH's passaround a few months ago was a particularly wide little knife.

What is the advantage of a blade such as this? I have cut a good amount of stuff over the years and never have I thought "Gee, this would be easier if only this blade were half an inch wider."

I can only see disadvantages associated with this style. It is bigger and therefore does not carry as well, and more difficult to get into tight spaces. It I'm trying to do some precision cutting the last thing I need is more steel between me and the object I'm concentrating on.

I suppose there is a theoretical strength advantage to this setup, but I have never heard of a quality knife breaking vertically through the blade when being used in a manner consistent with common sense.

So whats with all the wide blades?
 
Ever try to spread cream cheese or peanut butter with a Buck 110 :confused:

Try slicing a bagel with a Swiss Army knife :confused:

Something thin (blade width at its spine) will certainly work because it is so darn sharp (keen edge) but, your typical overbuilt pocket folder will tear the bagel apart and a Buck 110 type knife will twist as you cut destroying the bagel (at least the ability to spread cream cheese).

In my case, a Gerber Gator ATS-34 with its thin blade, wide profile and, a keen edge excel at these tasks. :D

It will also do the other more common knifely things too! Weight is about what you find in a similar knife and its larger size is easier to use with fatigued hands or sore wrists. In my case, I carry it in a belt pouch so, size is irrelevant except for the looks and comments of sheeple at work occasionally :eek:
 
when cutting through things like.. for example, steak.. with a thinner, longer blade u cannoy apply as much pressure to the point of the knife, to say, peirce thru the steak. however, when u hold a spyderco salsa, the thumbramp created by the wide blade gives you power to peirce the steak and then cut through it more easily. mind you the short blade also becomes a pain if u want to cut that apple afterwards.
 
True, chefs knives are usually pretty wide. This is a definate benefit, because you can use the blade as a sort of spatula to transport whatever you just cut.

However, I don't see the Salsa as being much of a culinary tool. If you are using a $50 folding knife to cut a steak something is wrong. I could be mistaken, but I don't think many people use their EDC primarily as a food prep knife.

Besides, if it really was neccisary I would i think my BM710 could handle any bagel or apple on earth with ease.;)

Are there any advantages to using this blade style on things that you don't plan on eating?
 
I've found people (over here in the UK) don't run screaming as much when they see a wider blade...it seems less likely to them that you will stab them with something that wide.

I.e.: they are more deceptively friendly.
 
A wide blade offers the benefit of having a thick spine (which means a stronger blade) while getting a usefully thin edge to cut with.
You could use a hollow ground to partly avoid the increased width, but this is not a good solution IMO since hollow ground knives have their disavantages.

You´d also want a wide blade in a chopper, where increased blade weight is a good thing.
 
Originally posted by Quiet Storm
A wide blade offers the benefit of having a thick spine (which means a stronger blade) while getting a usefully thin edge to cut with.
Click to expand...
That's it for me. It's a compromise. You lose some ability to make fine cuts that require rotating the blade while in the whatever-it-is-you're-cutting, but it allows you to have a stout blade with a thinner edge that both push-cuts and slices better. Take the bottom knife in my avatar for example. It's strong enough to stand up to some light prying if need be as an EDC knife, and "inspire confidence" (it's a mental thing, I guess), but still cut well. 5/32" thick, it is stronger, yet cuts better than, most 1/8" knives. It just isn't that great of a whittler.
All depends on what you want out of the knife.
 
I would have to say mainly the strength. Although it may be harder to pierce things with a wider blade would be less likly to break than say a stilleto.
 
Originally posted by Mr. Bombastic
I've found people (over here in the UK) don't run screaming as much when they see a wider blade...it seems less likely to them that you will stab them with something that wide.

I.e.: they are more deceptively friendly.
Click to expand...

hmmmm, I've always associated a wide blade with a bigger "wound channel"

striderAJAX17.jpg


RL
 
Wide blade or narrow blade, it can help to have extra strength. The use of a wider blade allows a better combination of slicing ability and strength. To achieve similar strength, a wide blade will probably have the same surface are in the cross-section as a narrower blade.

But I think it is more important to see how the actual grind is applied using the width of blade that is available.

I am unabashedly a fan of the flat grind, one that is taken smoothly all the way to the spine, much in the way most bladesmiths do it. This sort, as was pointed out before, offers far more strength and UTILITY than a narrow wedged blade. I qualify that yes, I intend my knives mainly for slicing action cleanly through a possibly viscous, but stiff material.

Try slicing a big block of cheese with a knife that doesn't have a fuly-height grind. Also compare that with an aggressively hollow ground knife. Knives that don't have a full-height grind will tend to wedge more easily in the material, especially across the termination of the grind. The hollowground blade is even worse. It slices nicely till the resistance of the top of the grind is encountered.

Pick the style that suits you. I find that in real life, outside of ongoing tactical applications, most people will end up performing more slicing than stabbing, so the broader, more thinly ground blade works better.

My 2 cents.
Cheers.
 
I like thin blades for greater cutting effiency. A thin and narrow blade works even better. A pen knife blade or a box cutter slice very well on light tasks. If you were to make a box cutter blade 6" long it would fail by twisting or bending if you tried to cut near the tip. In a like manner a thin, narrow, kitchen knife is rather delicate. The breadth of a butcher knife or chef's knife blade allows them to be used for somewhat tougher work even when made from thin stock. The mountain men essentially used butcher knives for their work in the wilderness. These knives stood up to skinning beaver and buffalo as well as making effectively wide wound channels in occasional attackers.

But the real answer may be that extra width provides extra years of service for heavily sharpened knives. I have found many old knives that have lost a quarter inch of width over years of sharpening. Generally these knives were less than 1" wide to start with. Your blade strength goes down considerable if you get down to 1/2" wide after sharpening.
 
Think about it this way, If your talking about a knife thats going to be used alot, and sharpened (much). you eventually start to get a "high" bevel that hurts cutting ability. with a wide blade you have more to work with on this!!!!!

the obvious strong point though, is strength!!! :D
 
Overall, I prefer narrow blades to wide blades (except on a machete of course). When it comes to folding knives, I find that a narrow blade is just more useful for everyday tasks than a rather wide blade. This is one reason that I don't like the Spyderco Salsa and Meerkat for every-day jobs. The blades are just too wide for intricate precise cutting.
A wide blade really excelles at chopping (like a machete) and spreading butter, but it is not always a better slicer. Look at a cheese-slicer: it it really no more than a wire, and it slices cheese perfectly.
When it comes to slicing steak or cheese or whatever, I think it has alot to do with the thickness of the blade. Thin blades generally slice better than thick blades no matter if they are wide or narrow.

I would also disagree on the wider=stronger point of view. Once again, the strength of the blade is probably determined more by the cross-sectional thickness of the blade rather than the width.
A blade that is 4" wide from edge to spine but only 1/16" thick is'nt going to be stronger than a blade that is 1" wide and 1/4" thick.

Just my two cents worth,
Allen.
 
Actually I do! My Spyderco Police. Then I run it through the dishwasher and back to the pocket. My wife always asks to use it to cut fresh fruit for lunch. I just don't have a good set of kitchen knives. The ones she bought for the kitchen look great and go with her decor but functionally they suck.
 
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