A knife is a tool in which the working part is a blade. What is a blade? This is a strip of solid matter on which there is a blade on one or more sides. The system is usually determined by the presence of a blade and a handle. Interestingly, the blade may have a sharp pointed tip.
What does a knife consist of?
Next, we will consider in detail the shapes of the knives, and now we will find out their structure. Each knife has a blade and handle. If the blade converges to its end wedge-shaped at one point, then this point is called the tip. The sharpened part of the blade is called the cutting edge or blade.
The blade can be smooth or sawtooth (serreitor, serrated blade). The surfaces of the parts of the blade, tapering to the blade, are called descents. The blade edge refers to the side opposite the blade. Very often, the side surface (golomen) of the blade has grooves - valleys that facilitate it. The fifth blade is called its unfinished part, adjacent to the handle.
What is black? This is the most important part of the handle that is grabbed by the hand. A cross is located between the hilt and blade, which is called a crosshair or guard: it protects the wrist.
The blade segment located inside the handle is called the shank. And now we will determine the most important ways to assemble the handle of a solid knife:
- If the handle is mounted on the shank with a longitudinal hole, this is a horseman method.
- If the handle is made of overlays attached on both sides to a shank that copies its shape, this is a plate method.
Of course, many people are trying to figure out which forms of knives are being made now. Photos of these products help them study this complex issue.
Do you know that the part of the handle located on the side of the butt of the blade and palm is called the back? And the opposite part, placed on the side of the blade, is called the abdomen of the handle. The farthest part of the handle is called the head. Very often a hole is made in it into which the lanyard is passed.
Blade Types
Knife blade shape known important for the consumer, but not every buyer understands such subtleties. Masters make many types of side profiles of blades:
- The blade, equipped with a direct butt, is able to cut and pierce the point.
- And if the drop-point is lowered? In this case, the point is placed on the axis of the force during the injection: the blade both cuts and pricks equally well. Such a blade is slightly lighter than a wedge of the same length without a lowered line of the butt. The front part of the butt is sometimes equipped with a false blade formed by descents without sharpening, or a second full blade (one and a half sharpening), which helps the blade to penetrate the cut thing when injected.
- With raising the line of the butt (trailing-point). A blade of this kind has the longest blade length, which is convenient when cutting non-solid material. The butt of some national knives with a similar blade has a sharpening.
- Bowie or fin blade (clip-point). On the butt you can see the bevel “pike”, which brings the tip closer to the line of force at the injection. This nuance of the blade is identical to the type of drop-point, but its tip is thinner, awl-shaped. Bevel butt can also be made in the form of sharpening. Knives of this type are very popular in the USA.
- Scramasax blade or goat leg. Thanks to the straight blade, this blade can accurately cut the material. This knife is safe: it has no point, and it is unable to pierce things. Such forms of knives Popular among professional buyers. There is a rigging knife and a garden knife, an electrician's knife and others. Very often, a similar form is found among folding multi-subject knives.
- American Tanto Blade. The story goes that this type came from Japanese knives. But in fact, it was invented in the United States quite recently by a branch of Cold Steel. This blade is necessary to reduce the cost of technological work. Some sources claim that this design was created by Bob Lumu. Today the “chisel sharpening” option is very popular: the cutting edge of this type is formed by descents from only one side. Such forms of knives are convenient for individual cutting manipulations. With a force injection, there is a small probability of a cleaved tip. This type of blade is usually used on combat knives.
- Lance-shaped blade (spear-point). Here the tip is located on the midline of a double-edged blade. Typically used on knives and daggers adapted for pricking. However, very often this blade is used in knives, with which the honeycombs are printed in the manufacture of centrifugal honey.
Blade sections
Now consider the shapes of the knife blades. The following main types are distinguished here:
- Straight wedge from the butt. It is a triangular blade in cross section, which is usually called the Scandinavian type of sharpening. Its cutting edge has a small angle, and it has flat descents. Thanks to these nuances, the blade can perfectly cut. This sample weighs much less than a blade with descents that are not made to the full width. But it is poorly adapted to chopping actions, since a thin cutting edge has less strength. This model is made only from high-quality raw materials and must be subjected to thermomechanical processing.
- Blade with straight descents. This sample is similar to the first type of blade, but its cutting edge forms a blunter angle. This nuance, while reducing the quality of the cut, contributes to greater strength and wear resistance.
- A blade having concave (razor) descents. With its help, the cutting edge can be given a special subtlety, while having a thick and durable butt. Used for the manufacture of hazardous razors and sharp-bladed knives. Very often the concavity of the descents is explained by technological aspects (the descents are made by rotating cylindrical cutting tools).
- A blade having convex (lenticular) descents. With chopping shocks, this product is particularly durable.
- A straight wedge that has leads to the cutting edge. Very often it is called the European type of sharpening. It looks like a blade of the first sample, but its cutting edge is formed by a more obtuse angle, which appears due to leads near the cutting edge.
Handles
Knife handle shape has many modifications. It varies depending on the work for which knives are purchased. The entire variety of handles is distributed in the following groups:
- Direct.
- Conical.
- Taper forward.
- Taper back.
- Concave.
- Convex (spindle-shaped and barrel-shaped).
- Flat.
- Stick-stop (T-shaped).
- In the shape of a hook.
- Free form.
So what are straight arms? They do not have extensions, narrowings or other changes in the relief. In general, this is one of the oldest classical forms. Interestingly, a straight handle allows you to equip the product with a pommel. Today, this form is found in kitchen knives.
Of course, this design is very convenient and has a huge amount of positive qualities. But she has no limiters, and this is unsafe for the owner. A straight-handed knife is not universal. The plane of his blade relative to space is difficult to determine, there is the possibility of palm sliding onto the blade, ergonomic properties are low. These nuances only reduce the credibility of straight arms. However, the story tells us the opposite: Japanese traditional aikuti knives were equipped with straight handles.
The cone-shaped arms are called conical: they have a narrowing back or forward. More recently, handles with a cone expanding backwards were known among daggers intended only for the left hand. The handle tapering to the blade is considered more comfortable and ergonomic. This type was popular among Muslims: they were proud of Turkish scimitar daggers and Persian cards.
Variety of handles
So, we found out that the shape of the handle of the knife is the most important nuance in its design. Interestingly, the concave handles are easy and convenient to hold in your hand. This species was popular both among Japanese masters and among the inhabitants of Ancient Russia.
And convex-shaped handles were always equipped with combat and hunting knives. In general, they are considered one of the most common and comfortable samples for work. Convex handles can have both symmetrical and one-sided shapes.
If the handle has a thickening in the middle part, it is called barrel-shaped. The thickened middle part allows you to work in difficult weather conditions, such as in cold weather. Of course, ergonomics suffer from this, but reliability increases. Barrel-shaped handles lack emphasis. Large products of this kind do not tire the brush, but it’s hard to do exact work with them.
And what is a flat grip? This form is completely inconvenient for work, as it contributes to the formation of corns. This type can be found with hidden carrying knives, ritual weapons and some other models. A knife with a flat handle is very easy to hide, but it is dysfunctional and completely uncomfortable. It is difficult and time-consuming to calculate the cut plane for a given species. It should be borne in mind that the force applied to a flat-handle knife should be extremely limited.
Now consider the handle-emphasis. This is an exotic and rare species. It can be found on various punch daggers, cutting devices and knives, made in the form of brass knuckles. It is interesting that punch daggers are known for their gambling gamblers of the 19th century, who, according to legend, launched this “dangerous” weapon without any thought. In fact, this miniature toy is an unnecessary and useless thing in the household: it can cause serious harm only when driven into a certain vulnerable place.
A hook-shaped handle is called a bent handle. This is a completely impractical thing in the household. This ridiculous device is capable of only stabbing. Today it is used in sports fencing.
There are still strange, unusual, unexpected forms of handles. As a rule, these are copies stored in a handicraft workshop of a craftsman or in private collections.
Bayonet
What is a bayonet knife? We will deal with this weapon. A bayonet is a piercing edged weapon attached to the barrel of a gun: a carbine, an assault rifle or a rifle. It is used for bayonet fighting. They can be worn on a waist belt or in any other place: it is included in the kit of military equipment.
Well, a bayonet-knife is a flat blade of a knife-type with a handle necessary to hold in hand. On his butt, you can sometimes find a sawtooth sharpening. It is equipped with a mechanism that connects it with a weapon and scabbard. The bayonet-knife can be used both as a saw and as a wire cutter (when connected to the sheath).
Damascus knives
What are damask knives? Their blades are known for their hardness and sharpness: they bend to ninety degrees and straighten like a spring, completely not deformed. The main advantage of these products is the sharpness of the blade. Indeed, many people know that blades made of simple carbon steel are very difficult to sharpen to the sharpness of a razor.
Interestingly, damask knives can retain cutting properties for a long time. In general, Damascus steel is characterized by hardness, elasticity and toughness, which in fact allows it to self-sharpen.
By the way, it is made from blanks that have different carbon contents. They are welded together and forged several times. An ideal damask steel is considered one for the production of which the correct proportion of various metals was selected. A prerequisite is the predominance of hard steels over mild.
But still, what is the best way to study the shapes of knives? The drawings of these products will always provide a lot of additional information about them.
Do you remember the trick using a knife, in which a person throws a thin scarf into the air and cuts it on the fly? It should be noted that the ordinary, perfectly sharpened steel blade cannot cut soaring fabric. This trick can be performed only thanks to the edge of the damask blade blade: it consists of jagged tiny tips - the original invisible micropila. Her teeth cut the silk threads of the scarf one by one, and the ordinary blade cannot complete such a task.
Now we know that a micro saw is automatically formed on the blade of the patterned blades. They can boast of high cutting performance, and ordinary steel blades can not.
Hunter knives
Let us now examine the forms of hunting knives. For every hunter, a knife is a true friend and helper. This is an initially practical tool. The value of hunting knives lies in the raw materials from which they are made. As a rule, this is a special, hard and durable steel of the highest quality. Their handles are non-slip, and the shape of the blade is functionally thought out. In general, hunting knives are similar to tourist knives, but they are more versatile.
Wow, what sometimes interesting forms of knives are found! Photos of these masterpieces can be found in any subject magazine. Let's try to learn how to choose a hunting knife. Firstly, it is necessary to clearly know the conditions in which it will be used. Secondly, you need to determine what kind of work it will be intended for. Perhaps you want to cut your moose or wild boar, or maybe you decide to pave the way through the pristine taiga?
And there are universal knives for hunting. They differ from specialized ones in that they are not able to completely perform a specific operation. If the buyer knows what kind of work he needs a knife for, he will easily pick up the necessary shape of the blade.
Unusual knives
In recent years, in the arms market you can see knives of an unusual shape a lot. Many of these products remain the standard of mythical design delights. Of course, fabulous knives contribute to the development of blade weapons, increasing its comfort and functionality.
One of these currents is the creation of multi-blade knives. Maybe this is the best shape of a knife? It should be noted that the idea of combining two blades in one weapon is quite ancient. An example is the sword of the prophet Muhammad with a forked blade - zul-fikar (or zulfikar). Today, United Cutlery produces such knives - Double Shadow Dagger. This product was designed by the skilled craftsman Gil Hibburn back in 1991.
And what other forms of knives exist in addition to two-blade? It is known that in India, the daggers of Qatar were famous for the presence of several blades.
In general, all unusual folding knives are divided into two groups: knives in which the blades are symmetrically located on both sides of the handle, and knives with blades placed on one side of the handle. As a rule, such products have identical blades.
"Scorpio"
Interestingly, knives of an unusual shape, equipped with blades located on one side of the handle, are called “scorpions” in the knife market. This name appeared due to the similarity of open blades with scorpion claws. The blades of such knives usually have a concave or convex blade. In a knife fight, these products are similar to knives with a double-edged blade: they can be cut on the forward and reverse paths without a brush extension. But if you compare them with knives that have a dagger blade, the stitching properties here will be much lower.
In the world there are various forms of knives. Photos of this weapon are fascinating! We are sure that now you can choose exactly the knife that will serve you without fail for many years! He will become your faithful friend in the taiga, household or work.