What's good about a rounded spine?

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How many guys have cut their hands on a non rounded spine? All the reason I ever needed.
 
foody518 said:
Broke skin in 2-3 hours straight use of Tojiro DP. Then the next thing I did was ease the spine and thin it
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Interesting. I guess it comes from having never used a knife in the kitchen for hours on end. 30 minutes of prep is a lot of me let alone 3 hours! Is that actually a cut or a broken blister, though? Curious. I was thinking, reach for the knife and cut yourself sort of thing. :rofl2:
 
I've bled from the spine of a knife a few times. On guide knuckles from chopping.. from continuous use.

Also my inner index finger has a callus (from knives).. sometimes the spine will open this up.

Overall, the comfort of the spine is a big deal for a professional .
 
Mucho Bocho said:
a rounded spine on a 4+ mm spine is nonsense.
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0 for 2 Mucho. Do you even knife bro? :lol2: My Tojiro Yo Deba and I disagree with you. When you have to split, crack and shell 24 cases of lobsters in one night you really wish that you had rounded that spine.

[video=youtube;VleV5O0pVgc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VleV5O0pVgc&t=8s[/video]


After the massacre that night my calluses were basically ripped off of my finger. It's the very reason I rounded that spine.


Here's a less extreme example. 6 cases of whole chickens broken down with the bones left in for fried chicken dinner.

[video=youtube;urIeUid1TMo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urIeUid1TMo&t=57s[/video]

Yeah, shoulda rounded that spine prior but at that time I didn't have a belt grinder. I think if there's a pattern here it's that there's a heavier knife being used with more force and impact. Why would you want a sharp corner digging into your finger with high impact repeatedly? I ended up borrowing a dremel tool and grinding down the corners. I did a **** job and I even slipped off the spine and scarred the blade face but it didn't matter. I never had to deal with that ever again. Long ago I had since fully rounded that spine and scotch brite belt polished the face and installed a coke bottle handle.

IMG_20170720_005626.jpg


IMG_20170720_005641.jpg


IMG_20130608_011437.jpg


IMG_20130608_011327.jpg


IMG_20130608_011036.jpg


Now THAT'S a comfortable knife.


Never had a problem with that knife again. In fact it is probably one of the most comfortable knives I've used. Most likely because when you place force or pressure on a small surface area especially thin or angled surfaces the impact is greater than when you distribute that force amongst a larger surface area especially a smooth or rounded one.
 
ThEoRy said:
0 for 2 Mucho. Do you even knife bro? :lol2: My Tojiro Yo Deba and I disagree with you. When you have to split, crack and shell 24 cases of lobsters in one night you really wish that you had rounded that spine.

[video=youtube;VleV5O0pVgc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VleV5O0pVgc&t=8s[/video]


After the massacre that night my calluses were basically ripped off of my finger. It's the very reason I rounded that spine.


Here's a less extreme example. 6 cases of whole chickens broken down with the bones left in for fried chicken dinner.

[video=youtube;urIeUid1TMo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urIeUid1TMo&t=57s[/video]

Yeah, shoulda rounded that spine prior but at that time I didn't have a belt grinder. I think if there's a pattern here it's that there's a heavier knife being used with more force and impact. Why would you want a sharp corner digging into your finger with high impact repeatedly? I ended up borrowing a dremel tool and grinding down the corners. I did a **** job and I even slipped off the spine and scarred the blade face but it didn't matter. I never had to deal with that ever again. Long ago I had since fully rounded that spine and scotch brite belt polished the face and installed a coke bottle handle.

IMG_20170720_005626.jpg


IMG_20170720_005641.jpg


IMG_20130608_011437.jpg


IMG_20130608_011327.jpg


IMG_20130608_011036.jpg


Now THAT'S a comfortable knife.


Never had a problem with that knife again. In fact it is probably one of the most comfortable knives I've used. Most likely because when you place force or pressure on a small surface area especially thin or angled surfaces the impact is greater than when you distribute that force amongst a larger surface area especially a smooth or rounded one.
Click to expand...

Nice looking kato! 😀
 
foody518 said:
Broke skin in 2-3 hours straight use of Tojiro DP. Then the next thing I did was ease the spine and thin it
Click to expand...

Yes the spine on Tojiro is one of the sharpest I've come across. Definitely needs improvement even for home user, let alone pro use.

Also +1 foreased shoulders over fully rounded IMHO.
 
ThEoRy said:
0 for 2 Mucho. Do you even knife bro? :lol2: My Tojiro Yo Deba and I disagree with you. When you have to split, crack and shell 24 cases of lobsters in one night you really wish that you had rounded that spine.
when you place force or pressure on a small surface area especially thin or angled surfaces the impact is greater than when you distribute that force amongst a larger surface area especially a smooth or rounded one.
Click to expand...

Rick, HA, I didn't know we were keeping score. First off, if you believe that a knife is more comfortable with a fully rounded spine, I have not reason to doubt you. You spend more time with your knives in one day that I do in a month, and your knife skills have always been a reference for me.

That said, As a home cook I may only use my Deba to cut only one fish, very methodically mind you. I prefer to have a platform with distinct shoulders to use as reference for my eye/finger to control the knife, especially when I can't see the blade. I also feel that a flatter slightly eased spine distributes the pressure from skin on metal more. Also, we could be splitting hairs as the was we define "Rounded" vs "Eased."

Oh Robin, Your spines are silky, sexy and curvaceous, you must have made my knives female. HA
 
I had to round the choil of my Tojiro DP yo-deba out of necessity, it was so sharp that one slip downward from the handle and you'd slice yourself on the choil.
 
Mucho Bocho said:
Rick, HA, I didn't know we were keeping score. First off, if you believe that a knife is more comfortable with a fully rounded spine, I have not reason to doubt you. You spend more time with your knives in one day that I do in a month, and your knife skills have always been a reference for me.

That said, As a home cook I may only use my Deba to cut only one fish, very methodically mind you. I prefer to have a platform with distinct shoulders to use as reference for my eye/finger to control the knife, especially when I can't see the blade. I also feel that a flatter slightly eased spine distributes the pressure from skin on metal more. Also, we could be splitting hairs as the was we define "Rounded" vs "Eased."

Oh Robin, Your spines are silky, sexy and curvaceous, you must have made my knives female. HA
Click to expand...

Deba is different. I hold that with a pointed grip so I agree in this case eased is better than rounded.
 
I still think that as a home cook a rounded spine, for me anyway, is not needed. Eased, for sure, but fully rounded maybe not so much. I can see how it would be required for those of you who beat the hell out of your hands on a daily basis, though. I round my spines when I get new knives anyway so it is a moot point, in my case.
 
Over the years I've got so much conflicting feedback on this subject that it's crazy. Some people claim that eased is too rounded and others consider super rounded not rounded enough - can't make anyone happy. :dazed:
 
And I forgot to mention the pros who like to use the forward part of the knife for scraping so they want rounded/eased near the handle but not near the tip. :dontknow:
 
Dave Martell said:
Over the years I've got so much conflicting feedback on this subject that it's crazy. Some people claim that eased is too rounded and others consider super rounded not rounded enough - can't make anyone happy. :dazed:
Click to expand...

Repectfully disagree with your last point Dave. You can and do make lots of people happy :)
 
I've ripped the callous off of my pointer finger from a spine that's uneased. That was after slicing 100lbs of BBQ brisket. Funny thing is I'm in the group that doesn't like a "rounded" spine. The little bit of edge that digs into the base of my pointer finger feels right. Comfortable might be too strong of a word but the way a tight fitting pair of cleats feels good once your used to it.
 
Dave Martell said:
And I forgot to mention the pros who like to use the forward part of the knife for scraping so they want rounded/eased near the handle but not near the tip. :dontknow:
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I round a lot of spines for all of my employees and acquaintances but I never do near the tip. Everyone asks me when I give them their knife, "Hey why didn't you round it up here?" I tell them, "It's because I'm going to grind that part down anyway when you break the tip off." They always laugh but I'm like, "No seriously, I'll have to grind that off." :D
 
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