Hey Sean,

Good questions. I'm especially interested in what folks have to say about edge geometry. I notice you didn't ask anything about steel and HT. I guess you have settled on something in that regards then?

All the best, Phil

Hi phil,

Im going to use either 5160 or 1080,Im still experimenting but im leaning towards 5160...sean

I gave this question a lot of thought too as I made my test knives. Everyone has opinions, but I believe that a blade is sort of like a fishing rod. A consistant taper will flex better. I say flex, because there is a difference between flexing and bending. Usually your test blade will bend some, but the more it flexes, the less set or bend will remain, all other heat treat related things being equal. So I am a believer in smooth consistant taper in my test blade. Lin

I understand what your saying Lin, kind of like a filet knife, it will flex quite a bit before the steel will give and then bend, destorting the metal, so that the blade is nolonger straight when relaxed. Insted of a thin blade helping the flex,the distal taper spreads the stresses of out along the whole lenth of the blade.

Yes, exactly. I would make it at least 1/8 to 3/16 thick at the ricasso, although I can only recommend this. Remember the heat treat has to be right no matter the thickness. Just as with any knife, it's a combination of several factors that make it a good knife. Lin

Thanks Mr. Rhea,

Ive done pretty well with my heat treatments,but the only way to know for sure is to bend one of my knives.building my foundation first then heat treating,thats why I have so many Questions on profiling. Thanks...Sean

Hello Sean, good questions. Like Lin says many different opinions, personally I tend to like the standard drop point design with a good distal taper. My JS and MS blades were close to 1/4" thick at the ricasso. I did a flat grind and after heat treating ground my edge to 30 thousandths before doing the convex grind near the edge. I did use 5160 for the JS knife. The main thing is to do some knives beforehand and experiment with different edge geometries and find what works for you. This is just my method. Like Lin says the heat treat must be right, good distal taper, and good edge geometry. I remember my first cutting competition at the old Spirit of Steel show in Texas. I showed a certain Mr. Fisk my knife and he looked at it felt the convex and said "this should be interesting". I asked him to explain and he said that the edge geometry was wrong, I had left the edge too thick before convexing and final sharpening. He also said you want to walk a fine line between too thick and too thin. Experiment to get it just right. I have never forgotten that. I hope this helps and good luck. Feel free to give me a call.

Brion

Thank you Brion,

Those are the kind of answers I was looking for.So we want a happy medium on our convex,Right? Enough of a convex to chop wood but not too much that the blade does not perform when cutting rope. I usually leave about .020-.040 at the edge of my blade,Does this seem somewhere in the ball park? Sean