Stiffest thin knives you ever used

[Barmoley]

People always say honyaki are so stiff on the board. Guessing cuz so many honyaki are really thick.

I was just about to suggest we discuss that next. How honyaki are stiffer and harder than mono steel and the edge lasts ages longer and feels bouncier.

 

[blokey]

Honyaki also have +2 int and +3 melee damage

 

[jedy617]

chad honyaki enjoyers like me just enjoy the squiqqly line knives

 

[M1k3]

Honyaki also have +2 int and +3 melee damage

-50 lifetime

 

[Matt Jacobs]

Thin spine with a super stiff blade is HSC ///. I was surprised how firm it was with a 2-2.5mm spine.

Can confirm with HSC///. Actually surprised how confident and stiff it is while still nail flexing thin at the edge. Wonderful to use

 

[Jovidah]

The Young's Modulus of iron is also 200 GPa, so even if the cladding is pure iron (rather than just a really low carbon steel), being san mai shouldn't change the stiffness much.

How about stainless clad? Or even stainless mono for that matter?
I definitly do notice a difference in cutting feedback between my mono and most of my san-mai but it's hard to explain the why. But all of the springy feeling ones are stainless clad. Felt it a lot less on my iron clad... but most of those were also a bit chonkier so not necessarily a fair comparison.

 

[daveb]

Asked Marko to sell me a "stiffer" 180 petty. Took a minute but he delivered the stiffest thin knife I've used. My HSC 180 in Zwear is very stiff but a bit thicker throughout. Heiji 180 is another that's very stiff but not a thin knife. Never used a laser petty that I found acceptable.

 

[JPAU]

How about stainless clad? Or even stainless mono for that matter?
I definitly do notice a difference in cutting feedback between my mono and most of my san-mai but it's hard to explain the why. But all of the springy feeling ones are stainless clad. Felt it a lot less on my iron clad... but most of those were also a bit chonkier so not necessarily a fair comparison.

I’ve been considering a mono sheffcut or wolfram special 180mm petty. Do you think I’d notice a difference from a sanmai with the same core steel?

 

[Nemo]

How about stainless clad? Or even stainless mono for that matter?
I definitly do notice a difference in cutting feedback between my mono and most of my san-mai but it's hard to explain the why. But all of the springy feeling ones are stainless clad. Felt it a lot less on my iron clad... but most of those were also a bit chonkier so not necessarily a fair comparison.

It's all steel, so should have similar elasticity.

Disclaimer: this is just pure speculation: Whether the hardness plays into the feedback some people feel- IDK. Or maybe monos need a slightly thicker geometry to achieve adequate toughness?

 

[Barmoley]

I’ve been considering a mono sheffcut or wolfram special 180mm petty. Do you think I’d notice a difference from a sanmai with the same core steel?

No.

 

[JPAU]

than

No.

Thanks, that’s helpful. I will take the cheaper option, if all else performance-wise is equal.

 

[Barmoley]

than

Thanks, that’s helpful. I will take the cheaper option, if all else performance-wise is equal.

If the geometry is the same and core steel is same as mono steel and heat treated the same you won’t be able to tell the difference especially in a petty.

 

[ian]

It's all steel, so should have similar elasticity.

Disclaimer: this is just pure speculation: Whether the hardness plays into the feedback some people feel- IDK. Or maybe monos need a slightly thicker geometry to achieve adequate toughness?

Maybe it's related to the damping capacity? I could see that being different for soft iron vs hard steel, I guess, although I barely know what `metal' is. At least wikipedia thinks steel and cast iron are different...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping_capacity

Re: flexibility, it's possible that people also just *think* of knives that plastically deform more easily (e.g. san mai knives) as more `flexible', so they're not thinking solely about elastic deformation. Like if you're worried about something bending, you're more careful with it and you might think of it as more flexible, even if it really isn't. Idk.

 

[Mikeadunne]

Asked Marko to sell me a "stiffer" 180 petty. Took a minute but he delivered the stiffest thin knife I've used. My HSC 180 in Zwear is very stiff but a bit thicker throughout. Heiji 180 is another that's very stiff but not a thin knife. Never used a laser petty that I found acceptable.

Please sell me that marko on your deathbed

 

[Benuser]

Got by @Jovidah a 1.2519 carbon slicer by Robert Herder, K6M, 230mm, 100g, spine 1.8mm, 2.5cm width, 60Rc, strongly nail flexing. With those figures one would expect at least some flex. There's none. I'm wondering whether the very slightly curved profile is a factor.

 

[Jville]

Monosteel has always felt stiffer when it’s a thin blade than thin San Mai blades. Plenty of stiff thicker San Mai blades. Takeda is an extreme example of a thin flimsy San Mai blade, not saying they are all like that. But still a good example.