Thicker nakiris, what are some of the benefits?

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bob_loblaw

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Past and current nakiri owners, I'm looking to pick your brains a little bit on this topic. I recently decided to expand my small collection of knives and bought a nakiri. I wanted something a little more wieldy than a 240/270 mm gyuto for the small, quick vegetable tasks and was a fan of their flat profile. All of the j-knives I've had my hands on were pretty thin behind the edge, so I'm pretty used to that "falling through food" feeling.

My nakiri has a little bit of heft to it at 260 g and zero flex (which I find I like), but after spending more time with it I noticed it meets some difficulty cutting through anything that isn't just behind the edge of the food (vertical and horizontal cuts when dicing onion, halving a thick carrot). I know meatier nakiris are a somewhat common choice amongst makers, so what are some of the benefits of this style over the more laser-like grind? Am I just discovering something that many of you already know? Are thicker ground nakiris (or possibly any knife for that matter) a more focused tool for thin cuts of food with better release?
 
:whistling::spin chair: Nakiri users out there, I'm hoping you can provide a little insight. What are the pros in a thicker geometry? Adding my choil glammer shot.
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Maybee the thicker blade is more durable and less prone to chipping. I've only ever owned one nakiri and have chipped it. It slicces through produce amazingly though. I've worked with thicker nakiris and never seen or had them chip. Not an expert though.
 
Is it this thick all the way from heel to tip? There is a thread about something somewhat similar started by gic with not much feedback either:
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...-thick-quot-near-the-heel?p=354305#post354305

If it cuts like a laser near the tip then perhaps it's by design.

I'm going to put on my math/engineer/physics hat (warning it's been awhile) and hazard a guess that this allows for more convexing versus a laser? I like to think of it as concave up instead (rotate the choil shot 180 about the Z-axis) in terms of derivatives of the grind. That said there are also the forces of physics at play when cutting so a balance must be had. Another thing though is that the academic/theoretical aspect may not apply very well to the real usage in the kitchen.
 
There is also the general balance and feel. Some people like stiff workhorse knives with a weight distribution shifted towards the blade. The cutting abilities will be down to the maker, some achieve a remarkable level of performance with a thick blade as well as good food separation. On substantial items like pumpkins the blade above would be a bit of a difficult one unless you cut thin.
 
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