Bullnose breaking knife

[Ericfg]

Just got in a nice, large J.A.Henckels butcher's knife. 30-11 is the model number so the blade length is 11 inches. Henx made this model number(30) for a number of years with a couple different versions, mainly tang type and handle styles. They also made this model in lengths from 6 inches up through 12 inches in one inch intervals.
Nice and heavy with a 2.7mm spine at the bolster that only tapers to about 1.7mm at the top of the upsweep near the tip.

And here it is with his other Henckels' cousins:

I actually used the second from the top for a few years when we got primals to break down in my kitchens. Nice knife, made in the 1990s.
The other two are household types. Light, thin and not very stiff. Both are mirror polished and I suspect both came as part of sets of knives.

 

[Ericfg]

Henckels sold, at the same time, a cimiter style profile model-numbered the '38'.
It too came in multiple lengths. An example:

Both also often had the added "for chopping not cutting' label on them:

I've seen it speculated that the knife was ground in a way that it was very thin behind the edge.

 

[Benuser]

Just got in a nice, large J.A.Henckels butcher's knife. 30-11 is the model number so the blade length is 11 inches. Henx made this model number(30) for a number of years with a couple different versions, mainly tang type and handle styles. They also made this model in lengths from 6 inches up through 12 inches in one inch intervals.
Nice and heavy with a 2.7mm spine at the bolster that only tapers to about 1.7mm at the top of the upsweep near the tip.View attachment 292463
And here it is with his other Henckels' cousins:
View attachment 292464
I actually used the second from the top for a few years when we got primals to break down in my kitchens. Nice knife, made in the 1990s.
The other two are household types. Light, thin and not very stiff. Both are mirror polished and I suspect both came as part of sets of knives.

A bit shocked by the extreme flattening of especially the first and third ones. A lot of poor steeling, I guess? Victorinox used to make such bull nose cimeters.
Much smaller, and not for butchery: Robert Herder's Yatagan. With the small contact area with board, don't expect a spectacular edge retention. It's part of the softer carbon series.

 

[stringer]

A bit shocked by the extreme flattening of especially the first and third ones. A lot of poor steeling, I guess? Victorinox used to make such bull nose cimeters.
Much smaller, and not for butchery: Robert Herder's Yatagan. With the small contact area with board, don't expect a spectacular edge retention. It's part of the softer carbon series.

That recurve is definitely from steeling. But they wouldn't have been using it for anything that made board contact I bet. These would have been tools for rough trimming and breaking big chunks of meat.

 

[Ericfg]

A bit shocked by the extreme flattening of especially the first and third ones. A lot of poor steeling, I guess?

There's no recurves on any of those knives. It may be a photo effect or a trick of the eye.