Blade thickness

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

What blade thickness for your primary user?

  • 2mm

    Votes: 34 14.2%
  • 3mm

    Votes: 110 45.8%
  • 4mm

    Votes: 80 33.3%
  • 5mm

    Votes: 8 3.3%
  • 6mm

    Votes: 8 3.3%

  • Total voters
    240

Simon1

Nomad
Nov 17, 2005
320
1
53
Maidstone area in kent
Hi I have 3 Stewart Marsh:D , custom knives and I wanted them thicker than the usual 4mm.
The reason behind it is simple,I like a sturdy/heavy knife that I have complete confidence in.
So I have 1x Giraffe bone scaled woodlore type in 6mm.
1x Antla scaled woodlore type in 6mm.
1 x Birds Eye Maple scaled woodlore type in 5mm.
I must say I love each one,they are great made knives!!!
:You_Rock_
 

Aussiepom

Forager
Jun 17, 2008
172
0
Mudgee, NSW
If it was to be 1 knife only, I'd rather have a clumsy 4 - 5mm thick knife than a bent/broken 2mm knife. Of course, treated with respect, there should be no reason to bend/break a 2mm blade. Then again, with a well chosen geometry and grind type, there would be no need for a 4 - 5mm blade to be clumsy.
 

Shinken

Native
Nov 4, 2005
1,317
3
43
cambs
I would rather not have a bent broken 2mm knife, but i would rather have a 2mm knife than a 4mm one:)

Mora's are 2mm and you would have a job to break them without tools, i dont see the point in 5mm+ knives. They are more expensive, heavier, don't cut as well etc etc WHY WHY WHY!


Not trying to be rude, just jesting but i do think its true though:D
 

Brown Bear

Forager
May 12, 2009
129
0
Cambridge
I find a 4mm full tang knife a real sturdy feeling tool. In not into the spoon carving thing and I don't slice carrots, so it suits me just fine.
 

Shelley

Forager
May 27, 2015
140
1
New Zealand
Hmm well I started with 6 mm (1/4 inch) and its hollow ground and so a great slicer, then I went for another which is a seer ground same size and its a pig, batons like a dream though, so I dropped to 5 mm and tried a scandi (Gary mills Timberwolf), well makes terrific wood gathering, feathering splitting tool but not very good for slicing broccoli.

Then I used some 5mm to start making knives, since I use files and not a frinder I made those but then went for 4 mm, much better for only 1mm difference makes a world of difference for the maker, don't know why, anyway 4 mm full tang, with a maximum width of 40mm hand ground with a high saber, hardened to 59 c, seems about perfect to me.

So saying for my smaller blades I may try some 3 mm stock.
 

Bluebs4

Full Member
Aug 12, 2011
880
36
Bristol
4.4mm stock with a full tapered tang. Blade is hollow ground but left with a thick edge.

Think of it as a Nordic grind on a 2mm thick blade but backed up with a nice thick spine ( Alans description)

My Alan Wood Pioneer just ticks every box
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,294
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
A 4mm thick 3 inch blade would have a limited use, but a 4mm thick 6.5 inch blade would be pretty fine and useful.

Length is very important, so this very old poll is faulty, kind of.
Or is there a precise definition for a "primary user" ?
 

sunndog

Full Member
May 23, 2014
3,561
477
derbyshire
I would rather not have a bent broken 2mm knife, but i would rather have a 2mm knife than a 4mm one:)

Mora's are 2mm and you would have a job to break them without tools, i dont see the point in 5mm+ knives. They are more expensive, heavier, don't cut as well etc etc WHY WHY WHY!


Not trying to be rude, just jesting but i do think its true though:D

Well, it saved me typing similar
 

HillBill

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 1, 2008
8,141
88
W. Yorkshire
Hes done the best he can with it... the grind will make it a decent cutter to a certain point. Duncan called that the Flandi. though he did his from 6mm stock, i've had a look at the one Duncan did that john has, and its a nice knife.. lighter than you'd think.

8mm may be a bit thick at the spine, but with that grind it will still cut well enough. Not my cup of tea, but i am a fan of a higher grind with what amounts to a scandi... My crocs are done in such a way, from 4mm stock though, and i dont take he primary grind to the spine.

Have you tapered the tang a bit there too Mark? Looks like it from the pic. :)
 

sunndog

Full Member
May 23, 2014
3,561
477
derbyshire
Can be used as a crowbar?

A bit thick. Must be very difficult to cut with.


I'v got actual pry-bars thinner than 8mm! :)
it should cut reasonably well, cos it started as 8mm then he's done his best to remove as much material from the blade as possible


No disrespect mark, i'm only being light hearted, you make nice knives dude :)
 

mark.177

Maker
Apr 21, 2014
722
152
Cornwall UK
yes the tang is tapered down to 2.5mm to get the balance right, this is the thicker of four i was experimenting with i have more with the same grind and tang tapering. one in 3mm, 5mm and one im working on at the moment in 6mm. they all essentially cut and balance the same, the only difference is the weight. if i had the means to hollow grind the 8mm would have been lighter, currently its 300gms, the 3mm is 150gms. from a personal standpoint i think the 6mm will be a winner if i can keep it under 250gms
and yes i saw duncans flandi grind that what got me to try it, i have a few other scandi's in 3mm and 4mm i was comparing with. as far as blade thickness goes... depends on the grind surely? as a bushcraft knife i would have gone with 3mm but after this little experiment im not so sure?
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,294
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Sorry Mark for my post. So in reality the blade is thinner than 8mm. The tang is 8mm?
That makrs for sn incredibly strong knife!
I have a couple of Fällknivar, and the thickest one, the A1 is around 6mm which makes it very clumsy for most "knife tasks".
 

mark.177

Maker
Apr 21, 2014
722
152
Cornwall UK
Sorry Mark for my post. So in reality the blade is thinner than 8mm. The tang is 8mm?
That makrs for sn incredibly strong knife!
I have a couple of Fällknivar, and the thickest one, the A1 is around 6mm which makes it very clumsy for most "knife tasks".

no problem, the blade is ground full flat leaving a 2mm wide edge which takes out a lot of weight i then put a scandi 15 degree per side bevel onto that edge which is as close as i can measure on the 8mm thick blade equivalent to a scandi on a 3mm thick blade. after tapering the tang down to 2.5mm its only about 50gms heavier than an similar sized standard scandi knife with a 4mm blade. the upside of that is an extremely stiff/strong blade.
im thinking using 6mm with the same grind will give me a knife the same weight as a standard 4mm scandi but with a lot more strength. i already have a 5mm which is lighter, all have some distal taper so are thinner towards the front.
heres the 3mm with a 4" blade and the 5mm with a 4.5" blade




 
Last edited:

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,294
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Beautiful!

Personally I prefer thin blades. Both in kitchen and leisure knifes. That is the reason I by accident got all those Fällknivar. I bought one, thought it too thick, bought another one, still too thick so on.
 
Last edited:

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE