thickness and width of edges

[jgdarna]

Ok I'll give you a little back story.

I think I can be classified as a super Anal perfectionist. At least when it comes to making knives.

I was finishing up a recent project (we'll call it operation perfection) oh and I used s30v - ht by Paul Bos

I was touching up the grind lines after I got it back from the HT. I thought I had decent lines (KEY WORD-THOUGHT) after I touched things up. But as I'm sitting there looking at the blade in all it's beauty and magnificince I realize that my lines aren't up to my standard of perfection........you know nice clean, straight, and crisp.

SO because of my current condition of super anal perfectionism I had to go in and clean everything up...Well- misson accoplished. The lines are now what they should be but I had some casualities.

The thickness before I but the final edge went from about .025-.030 to about .015. Because of that the width actual of the edge is now about half of what it was. My guess is about 1/32 of an in wide.

Here is my concern now I worried that because I thinned the area down arounnd edge have I sacrificed and strength in the edge area?

Good news is that I did a brass rod flex text and the edge flexed and then returned undamaged so I'm kinda thinking I might be alright.


Anyway just wanted to get a feel from you guys on how wide you're making the edges and how thick you're keeping the blade stock. And most importantly has anyone done any testing to see how thinner blade stock effects edge retention and strentgh?

Thanks

Jimbo

[Ray Rogers]

You didn't mention what kind of knife we're talking about. .015 would probably be fine on a kitchen knife or other light duty blade. It might be a bit thin for a survival knife that someone was really planning to use in the bush. On the other hand, S30V is supposed to be very tough stuff and the HT is obviously good so I don't think I'd cry if I had to take it into the bush.

I think the bottom line is that it seems like it will be a good usable knife. Just take the edge thickness into account when you decide how you are going to use it ........

[jgdarna]

Forgot about that end use information......Might be useful huh

Yeah it's a Bush knife. Built for camping, some chopping, whitting down kindling......The knife I expect will be seeing some abusive conditions. .....puching through car doors, splitting engine blocks, cutting through croncete........you know the really crazy stuff.

[Ray Rogers]

Well, studies have shown that when it comes to splitting engine blocks even a few thousandths can make a big difference. Most any knife will cut concrete though, providing you mount it on the end of a jack hammer.

I have tested my kitchen knives with 3/32nds blades many times by splitting 4" logs using another stick to hammer the blade through the log lengthwise. Yours will probably survive too .....

[jgdarna]

Dang Ray 3/32 that's a thin blade to be smacking a stick on. What are you using for blade stock??

What's your thoughts on thinner cross sections across the edge and higher potential for chipping and damage.

As far as the engine blocks go....I'll just grease the blade up with crisco before I start slicing. That should help it glide.....

[Ray Rogers]

The knives I do that test to are made from O1. Just goes to show ya that a blade doesn't have to be a quarter inch thick to be tough.

I guess a thinner cross section could make edge chipping easier because it's easier to get the steel harder than you might want it when it's really thin. But, with the right tempering the edge should be tough and not chip too easily. Being thin though, it might be easier to bend if you hit something hard with it. A thin edge won't easily cut through a nail for instance.

Crisco is OK if the ambient temperature is low. On a hot day, I recommend using Preparation H. Lube your blade with that and it'll slip right in before you even know it.....