Steel thickness?

[skipknives]

Ok guys help me with this question please:
I am wondering if there is somthing about steel thickness that I havn't grasped yet.
(the back story) I bought a graph from K&G about wheel diameters and studied it.
I drew circles on graph paper and studied them.
I considered the thickness of the blade at the cutting edge (before heat treating) and the desired width of the plunge cut.
Realising that some folks like a saber cut like a Randall knife and some like a wide plunge cut like a Criss Revese. And I also considered that there are thousands of types of knives for diferent jobs.
That said, is there somthing about "choosing steel thickness" that I havn't grasped yet?
Skip

[DaveL]

I can remember when most custom knives were made of 1/4 inch stock. That became old, fast and pretty soon, 3/16 was the rage. It has since moved more to 1/8 inch stock. These are fixed blades of course. Steel has gotten thinner, probably better in most regards and the choice of both customer and maker today.

[Ray Rogers]

Choose the steel thickness according to suitability of purpose on the intended knife. Thickness is just one of many design criteria that have to be accounted for when designing a blade. As far as that hollow grinding chart is concerned, try to think of it as a suggested starting point. Very few blades actually get ground that way, I would imagine. If they did, every hollow ground blade of a given size and thickness would have the same grind. You'll see what I mean eventually, it comes with practice.

My rule of thumb is use the thinnest steel that will make the blade behave as you want it to, for whatever size blade you're making and the type of heat treating you can apply to it...

[skipknives]

Ok so there isn't another "rule" about thickness ,,??
And Dave you are saying that as steel quality improves then the need for a thicker blade is now reduced.
And yes I agree with you as well Mr. Ray but other then looks and thick enough to work, thats prety much the whole subject then and I wasn't missing somthing more.
Thank you,
Skip

[SVanderkolff]

For the most part, blade thickness comes down to usability and esthetics. There are very few blades out there that would not do thier primary job of being a cutting tool with a maximum of a 1/8" thick blade. That being true a big assed bowie just doesn't look right with 1/8" steel. I know I made one. On the other hand I am sure that you could sharpen a chunk of 1/4 steel as sharp as any dainty pocket or purse knife from Mr Cowles but it to would look wrong with 1/4 steel thickness. After making a bunch of knives you will come to what you think works for the knives you design.
Hope that helps
Steve

[John T Wylie Jr]

one thing I learned is when using thick steel to go wider on the blade. I had some 1 x 3/16 O1 , that one I flat ground it , even though I took the edge down to .030 , it still didnt cut the way I wanted to , felt more like a wedge as the grinds were so steep. I am going to try 5/32 on the next batch of blades.

[skipknives]

Iv'e been working with ATS-34, 1/8" thick stock and there is this guy that sees my work and the only thing he says is "Stake knife"
(I grumble to myself)
So I got some 5/32 stock (ATS-34) and I tapered the tang then hollow ground it.
sence it was at the end of the day i brout it in the house with me and looked at it while the computer wormed up.
sence i tapered the tang down to .040 at the butt end, the only part of the knife that was still 5/32 was a short section at the spine an inch ahead of the bolster area.
It seemed a shame to spend all that money for a short section of spine thick enough to move it out of the "stake knife" catagory and into the utility knife catagory.
I know I'm being petty but I want my work to be taken seriously.
I call it the "wife-responce" I pore my heart into a piece and proudly show it to the wife.
she responds with,,,yup,,its a knife.(as i slink back out to the garage)

[John T Wylie Jr]

your wife and my wife must know each other....

the other day she blew me away though... " Nice , you even tapered the tang ! what is this ? Stabilized Koa ? ".....

some things just make you smile