How do you know if it is a good blade?
Is there an objective measurement to how good the blade of a knife is at keeping a sharp edge? I would like to know how to buy a good knife but all I know to go on is the reputation of the manufacturer
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8 Answers
well if you can bend it, it is rubbish. The blade should also have an imprint indicating the hardness of the steel in rockwell. the higher the better.
A good blade is usually in a good overall knife, which means it would have good ballance, and a protection against your fingers of the hand holding the knife touching the blade.
the metal also should go all the way through the handle.
That’s an interesting user name you’ve got there, fella.
I don’t think it’s at all common for a blade to be marked with its hardness, and there’s no reliable way to determine this yourself when shopping. Almost all kitchen knives sold for home use these days are stainless steel, which isn’t the hardest steel available, but is much easier to care for. You’ll get better edge-holding ability with a stainless alloy that’s magnetic (take a magnet with you when you shop).
You do definitely want a forged blade rather than a stamped one. A forged blade will have a thicker back (the side opposite the edge) tapering down to the thin edge, while a stamped blade is essentially uniform in thickness until the ground edge bevel begins.
Flexibility in a blade can be a desirable thing, depending on the purpose of the knife. A boning or fish knife needs some flexibility to work around bones, for example. But you want a general purpose chef’s knife to be thick enough to not deform during heavy cuts.
@ragingloli is right that you want a knife with a “full tang”, one that extends all the way through the handle. lots of knives come with molded handles now, so unless the packaging tells you it has a full tang, there’s no way to determine that by looking at it.
it doesn’t break when you hit a rib.
Judging by your username I’d say a good knife is the kind that retracts when you hit something with it .. like a stage knife.. that way no one gets hurt.
Hack through a baseball bat, then cut a piece of paper without tearing. Then put it in a vice and bend it 90 degrees in two places without it snapping.
If it passes this test its a good knife.
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