Knife parts, grinds, blade shapes

Knife parts

Knife parts
  1. Tip
  2. Point
  3. False Blade
  4. Blade spine
  5. Thumb rest
  6. Guard (bolster)
  7. Pins, rivets
  8. Handle
  1. Butt
  2. Facet (blade)
  3. Grind
  4. Plunge line
  5. Choil
  6. Ricasso
  7. Handle belly
  8. Hole for rope

When you order a custom-made knife, it is fine to be able to name the individual parts of the knife so that there is no mistake. Terms used for knife parts in other languages are mostly based on English translation, often backbreaking and incomplete. Even the English terminology is not completely uniform. The most complete overview of the used names of knife parts in English and a lot of other information about knives is probably on the website of the great American knifemaker Jay Fishera.

You can send me your idea of your knife here.

Blade shapes

Tvary čepelí
  1. Straight back
  2. Clip point
  3. Drop point
  4. Tanto
  5. Spear point
  6. Trailing point

The picture shows only the basic variants of the blade shape. In addition to these, we can encounter a plethora of other variants and combinations.

In general, the higher the tip of the knife is compared to the back of the blade, the more dexterous the knife is. On the other hand, a lower tip adds to the knife’s robustness.

And what does it look like in reality? Look here.

Fixed blade design

Konstrukce nože
  1. Full hidden tang
  2. Long hidden tang
  3. Short hidden tang
  4. Skelleton tang
  5. Full tang

With full tang

In this case, the steel from which the blade is made fills the entire silhouette of the knife and is covered on both sides by scales of other material at the point of grip to facilitate holding. This is the strongest and most durable construction of the knife. A certain disadvantage may be the fact that the hand comes into partial contact with the metal at the handle. At the handle, the steel is exposed to the weather, which, especially with carbon steels, can be another disadvantage.

With a hidden tang

In this design, the blade in its rear part passes into a mandrel, which is driven into a hole in the material forming the handle. The hidden tang construction gives more freedom in the shaping of the handle, and since the handle is made of one piece of material, it allows the beauty of the handle to stand out better in the case of interesting materials. In quality knives, the thorn goes through the entire handle. Cheap knives have a shorter tang, which saves on expensive knife steel, but at the cost of significantly lower structural strength.

Types of blade grinds

Typy výbrusů
  1. Hollow grind with facet
  2. Flat with facet
  3. Scandinavian (without facet)
  4. Lentil (convex) without facet
  5. One-sided (chisel) cut without facet
  6. Compound grind
  7. Asymmetrical grind

Hollow grind

The hollow grind has a concave curve from the top of the spine down to the edge. The advantage is that when sharpening, the thickness of the blade remains thin, it does not increase with sharpening. Knives with this type of cut are excellent at cutting, but are more susceptible to blade damage.

Flat grind with facet

The flat grind is the most common type of grind. The blade itself consists of a bevel ground at a steeper angle, most often between 20 and 32 degrees. The grind may start at the back of the blade, or lower down on the so-called plunge line.

Scandi grind

It is sometimes referred to as sabre-cutting. The Scandinavian cut is often used on knives designed for cutting wood. In this type of cut, the blade is not formed by a bevel, but the cut ends with the blade itself. Thus, the entire surface of the blade is always sharpened. Because the blade does not have a chamfer, the edge is formed by a smaller angle and these knives therefore cut perfectly.

Lens cut

It is commonly referred to as concave or convex cut. It is the most durable type of cutting because there is still a large thickness of material behind the blade. The price for durability is poorer cutting properties. A facet is not used in this cut. The convex cut is used on large heavy duty knives, machetes and axes.

Chisel grind

This cut is made only on one side of the blade and has no facet. It is basically half of the Scandinavian cut. It is mainly used on chisels and some special knives.

Compound grind

It is a combination of two types of grinds on one blade to take advantage of both. Aesthetic considerations often play a role as well; a blade with a combined cut looks interesting.

Asymmetrical grind

The asymmetrical cut, like the combined cut, uses two different types of grinding on one blade. In this case, however, each side of the blade is ground differently.