Getting Full Value from Your Blade Length

[kennethsime]

I'm confident this comment will spark many "well, if you just did this" comments, but until you've manufactured knives in large quantities, you don't fully understand the challenges of translating a process that works one knife at a time to thousands of blades.

Hey Mike,

Thanks much for chiming in - really cool to have your insight. I definitely hadn't thought about the shoulders and how that affects access to the edge.

I tried to acknowledge the challenge in my original post when referencing Eric's comments - I've previously heard him mention that this task is remarkably difficult, and he's really proud of how close you guys get.

I brought this topic up primarily because I'm so stoked on the Tenacious and Rockjumper, both of which have nice very nice, fully-sharpened edges and both of which allow you to get a full grip very close to the edge. It makes you miss those attributes on other knives.

Off-topic, but another thing I've been appreciating lately about my Spyderco knives is just how easy to sharpen they are. I'm not sure what it is, but I always get sharper edges on my Spyderco knives than I do on competitor's knives. Maybe it's that they're thinner behind the edge, maybe it's the selection of steel, maybe it's in the heat treat - but I always get my Spades sharper.

On both fronts, it's clear that Spyderco is putting in a lot of effort into the finer details of their knives, and that's why I've been a Spyderco customer for 15 years.

[vivi]

As much as I dislike sharpening choils, I understand why manufacturers like them. They make it a lot easier to get a pretty looking bevel using a belt sander without scatching parts of the blade you don't want to hit. Ask me how I know

[Wartstein]

Hey, All:

Interesting topic. I am a big fan of full-length edges without sharpening choils; however, as a knife designer, I am also sensitive to the unique balance of the design itself and the sharpening methods of the factory. If you look closely at the OP's original post, you'll notice that most of the knives criticized for not being sharpened all the way to the heel of the edge had angled blade shoulders. The ones that had shoulders that were perpendicular to the edge tended to be sharpened all the way to the heel.
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Hey Mike,

If I unterstand correctly what "angled shoulders" means (English not my first language), then both the Tenacious and the Bodacious depicted in the original post have those, haven't they?

But still the Tenacious has an edge all the way back to the handle while the Bodacious has not.

(No critique of any design choice, I just want to make sure I get what is meant here).

[Michael Janich]

Dear Wartstein:

That's correct. They are also made in two different countries by two different makers using different sharpening methods.

The angled shoulders present the challenge. Thicker blade stock makes that challenge even more difficult. I'm just trying to point out that there are a lot of dynamics to consider.

Stay safe,

Mike

[Wartstein]

Dear Wartstein:

That's correct. They are also made in two different countries by two different makers using different sharpening methods.

The angled shoulders present the challenge. Thicker blade stock makes that challenge even more difficult. I'm just trying to point out that there are a lot of dynamics to consider.

Stay safe,

Mike

Thanks, Mike!

Just wanted to make sure that I understand correctly what "angled shoulders" means.

... and a short, unsharpened section right where the blade starts that is on the same level as the following actual cutting edge does not bother me personally, even if I don´t sharpen that part myself.

A notch in that place is a different story and does bother me a bit.

[kennethsime]

I noticed Eric calling out the Bodacious in his interview with the new BHQ guy, mentioning how proud he was of the edge going all the way back to the shoulder.

I concur, that example looked MUCH better than the Reveal, and I hope that the whole line follows this example!