To help you in your understanding as you browse through all
the knives, accessories and gift items on eKnifeStore.com,
we offer this glossary. It is not yet complete and will grow
through time to include diagrams and pictures.
If there is a particular word, phrase or anything that you
don't understand here, please feel free to contact
us and we will try to explain what we can. If you feel
that a term is not accurately or fully defined, we welcome
you to send us your description of the term.
GENERAL TERMS
Back - The back of the blade is the opposite side of the
belly, for single edged pocket or bowie knives this would
be the unsharpened side. The back can contain lashing grommets,
jimping, it's own edge or false edge, and serrations. [Top]
Belly - The belly is the curving part of the blade edge.
Bellies enhance slicing and may be plain or serrated. One
note, the point of the knife becomes less sharp the larger
the belly is. When choosing a knife you should decide whether
penetration or slicing is the most important, and keep the
design of this part of the knife in mind. [Top]
Bevel - The bevel is the sloping area(s) that fall from
the spine towards the edge and false edge of the blade. [Top]
Blade - See Blade Steels.
[Top]
Blade Spine - This is the thickest part of a blade. On
a single-edge, flat-ground bowie knife, the blade spine would
be at the back of the blade. For double-edged blades, the
blade spine would be found right down the middle. [Top]
Butt/Pommel - The butt, or the pommel is the very end
of the bowie knife. The butt/pommel will be found in different
shapes, depending on what features it was designed to implement.
Some flat metal butts/pommels are good for hammering. There
are pointed metal butts/pommels, known as bonecrusher pommels
used on combat fighting knives, combat tactical knives, combat
survival knives and large bowie knives. They can be decorative,
or contain a lanyard hole. Some butt/pommels are designed
to be removed to be able to store items in the handle or may
contain an additional smaller blade or tool. [Top]
Butt Cap - A metal cap fitted over the pommel is referred
to as a butt cap. [Top]
Choil - The choil is the unsharpened part of the blade.
It is left at full thickness like the blade spine and is found
where the blade becomes part of the handle. Sometimes the
choil will be shaped (An indentation) to accept the index
finger. It also allows the full edge of the blade to be sharpened.
[Top]
Crink - A crink is a bend at the beginning of the tang
that keeps multi-bladed pocket knives from rubbing against
each other. [Top]
Edge - This is the sharpened side of the blade. Blades
will have a single or double edge (or dagger style) depending
on the design. [Top]
Escutcheon - this is a small pin or piece of metal attached
to the handle for engraving, branding, or just decoration.
[Top]
False Edge - Widely used on military and combat fighting
knives, a false edge blade is an additional bevel on the back
of the blade enhancing the blade's point. This edge can be
sharpened or not. The false edge can also be used for heavier
cutting that might be damaging to the cutting edge. [Top]
Guard - The guard is a separate piece of metal attached
between the blade and the top of the handle to protect hands
from the edge during cutting. [Top]
Hilt - The entire handle, including the butt/pommel and
the guard. [Top]
Kick - The kick is found on a pocket knife, usually Boker
pocket knives, and is the projection on the front edge of
the tang, the blade rests here in the closed position and
keep the front part the edge from hitting the spring. [Top]
Lanyard Hole - This is a hole to fit a lanyard, rope or
carrying implement through. [Top]
Lashing Grommets/Jimping - These terms refer to notches
that are designed into the back lower part of the blade for
better thumb control. [Top]
Mark Side - This is another pocket knife term and is the
side of the blade with the nail mark. [Top]
Nail Mark/Nail Nick - On a pocket knife blade the nail
mark is a groove cut into the blade so that it can be opened
using your fingernail. Most Case pocket knives use this method
of opening the blade. [Top]
Obverse Side - The obverse side is the front or display
section of a knife. [Top]
Point - The tip of the blade. For more information see
Blade Shapes. [Top]
Pile Side - The reverse side of the blade, opposite of
the obverse side. [Top]
Pocket Blade - This is the largest blade on a multi-bladed
knife. [Top]
Pen Blade - The pen blade is the smallest blade on a multi-bladed
knife. [Top]
Quillon - The quillon is the area of the guard that extends
past the section surrounding the tang and is the most protective
part of the guard. [Top]
Ricasso - The ricasso is the flat section of the blade
between the guard and the start of the bevel. This is where
you will most often find the tang stamp. [Top]
Scales - The scales are pieces that are attached to a
full tang to form the handle. [Top]
Scrimshaw - Scrimshaw is the art of etching decorative
designs into ivory or simulated ivory handles. [Top]
Serrated Edge - Serrations are a set of "teeth" or notches
on the back or front of the blade to aid in cutting. [Top]
Swedge - A swedge is a bevel on the back of the blades.
[Top]
Tang-Stamp - This is an imprinting that can show style
number, collector's number, manufacturer's name. This is normally
located on the ricasso. [Top]
Handle Materials
STAG
Derived from naturally shed deer antlers. When exposed to
open flame, stag takes on that slightly burnt look. Very elegant
material for pocket knives and gentlemens folding knvies.
[Top]
BONE
Derived from naturally deceased animals. Bone is usually given
a surface texture, most commonly in the forms of pickbone
and jigged bone. Bone can be dyed to achieve bright colors
(e.g. green, blue, and black). This is the most common handle
material for pocket knives. [Top]
G-10
A fiberglass based laminate. Layers of fiberglass cloth are
soaked in resin and are compressed and baked. The resulting
material is very hard, lightweight, and strong. Surface texture
is added in the form of checkering. G-10 is an ideal material
for tactical folding knives or fighting knives because of
its ruggedness and lightweight. It is usually available in
black. [Top]
MICARTA
The most common form is linen micarta. Similar construction
as G-10. The layers of linen cloths are soaked in a phoenolic
resin. The end product is a material that is lightweight,
strong, as well as having a touch of class (thus dressier
than G-10). Micarta has no surface texture, it is extremely
smooth to the touch. It is a material that requires hand labor,
which translates into a higher priced knife. Micarta is a
relatively soft material that can be scratched if not treated
properly. [Top]
CARBON FIBER
Composed of thin strands of carbon, tightly woven in a weave
pattern, that are set in resin. It is a highly futuristic
looking material with a definite "ahhhh" factor. Of all the
lightweight synthetic handle materials, carbon fiber is perhaps
the strongest. The main visual attraction of this material
is the ability of the carbon strands to reflect light, making
the weave pattern highly visible. Carbon fiber is also a labor-intensive
material that results in a rather pricey knife such as case
collectible knives. [Top]
ZYTEL®
Du Pont developed this thermoplastic material. Of all synthetic
materials, ZYTEL® is the least expensive to produce, which
explains the abundance of work or utility knives that have
this material. It is unbreakable: resists impact and abrasions.
ZYTEL® has a slight surface texture, but knife companies using
this material will add additional, more aggressive surface
texture to augment this slight texture. Sog Specialty Knives
is common for using zytel. [Top]
TITANIUM
A nonferrous metal alloy, the most common form of titanium
is 6AL/4V: 6% aluminum, 4% vanadium, and 90% pure titanium.
This is a lightweight metal alloy that offers unsurpassed
corrosion resistance of any metal. It has a warm "grip you
back" feel and can be finished either by anodizing or bead
blasting. Aside from handles, titanium is also used as liner
materials for linerlock knives for it is a rather "springy"
metal. Titanium is used usually on collectible pocket knives.
[Top]
ALUMINUM
Just like titanium, aluminum is also a nonferrous metal. Commonly
used as handles, aluminum gives the knife a solid feel, without
the extra weight. The most common form of aluminum is T6-6061,
a heat treatable grade. The most common finishing process
for aluminum is anodizing. [Top]
ANODIZATION
An electrochemical process which adds color to titanium, which
is especially conducive to this coloring process. Depending
on the voltage used, colors can vary (high voltage = dark
color, low voltage = light color). [Top]
BEAD BLASTING
A process by which steel, aluminum, and titanium are finished.
Bead blasting is commonly found on tactical folding knives
and fixed or bowie knife blades, for it provides a 100% subdued,
non-glare finish. [Top]
BLADE STEELS
1) AUS-8 (also referred
to as 8A) (some text courtesy of Boker Knife Company) - Commonly
found in a Kitchen Knife Set, the words "stainless steel"
are misleading, because, in fact all steel will stain or show
discoloration if left in adverse conditions for a sufficient
time. Steel is made "stainless" by adding Chromium and reducing
its Carbon content during the smelting process. Some authorities
claim that there is a serious performance trade off with stainless
steel: As the Chrome increases and the Carbon decreases, the
steel becomes more "stainless". But it also becomes more and
more difficult to sharpen and, some claim, the edge-holding
potential is seriously impaired. We have found that most stainless
steel blades are as sharp as other material blades and hold
the edge longer. AUS 8A is a high carbon, low chromium stainless
steel that has proven, over time, to be a very good compromise
between toughness, strength, edge holding and resistance to
corrosion. [Top]
2) ATS-34 - premium grade of
stainless steel used by most custom knife makers and upper
echelon factory knives. Also common with the making of quality
tactical folding knives or production collectible pocket knives.
It is Japanese steel, owned by Hitachi Steels. The American
made equivalent of ATS-34 is 154CM, a steel popularized by
renowned maker Bob Loveless. Boker pocket knives are usually
made of ATS-34. [Top]
3) GIN-1 (formerly known as G2)
- another low cost steel, but slightly softer than AUS-8.
[Top]
4) CPM-T440V - currently touted
as the "super steel", it outlasts all stainless steels on
the market today. It is, however, harder to resharpen (due
to its unprecedented edge retention). But the tradeoff is
that you do not have to sharpen as frequently. CPM-T440V is
widely used by custom knife makers and is slowly finding its
way into high-end or gentlemen's folding knives. [Top]
5) SAN MAI III - (text courtesy
of Boker Knife Company) An expensive, traditional style Japanese
laminate. Hard, high carbon stainless forms the core and edge
of the blade, while two layers of tough, spring tempered stainless
support and strengthen it. The resulting blade possesses the
best qualities of both types of steel. This laminate is 25%
stronger than the incredibly tough AUS 8A stainless . The
telltale sign of genuine San Mai III is a thin line near the
edge that runs the entire length of the blade. This line is
created in the grinding process as the layers of steel in
the blade are exposed. The distance the line is from the edge
varies from knife to knife because every piece of San Mai
III steel is unique. Like AUS 8A stainless, San Mai III is
treated in modern, precise conveyor furnaces and subjected
to a sub zero post hardening process. This improves the microstructure
of the steel by eliminating retained austenite. The resulting
blades are more elastic and have better edge holding characteristics
than standard stainless steels. [Top]
6) 420J2 - (text courtesy of Boker
Knife Company) Due to its low carbon high chromium content
this steel is an excellent choice for making tough (bends
instead of breaking), shock absorbing knife blades with excel
lent resistance to corrosion and moderate edge holding ability.
It is an ideal candidate for knife blades that will be subject
to a wide variety of environmental conditions including high
temperature, humidity, and airborne corrosives such as salt
in a marine environment. This extreme resistance to corrosion
via its high chrome content also makes it a perfect choice
for knife blades which are carried close to the body or in
a pocket and blades which will receive little or no care or
maintenance. [Top]
Carbon V (From Cold Steel) -
An exclusive carbon alloy steel, formulated and extensively
treated to achieve exceptional properties. Carbon V was developed
and refined by using both metallurgical and performance testing.
Blades were subjected to the "Cold Steel Challenge" as a practical
test, and then they were sectioned, so that their microstructure
could be examined. In this way we arrived at the optimum steel
AND the optimum heat treatment sequence to bring out the best
in the steel. Cold Steel buys large quantities of premium
high carbon cutlery steel with small amounts of elemental
alloys added in the smelting stage. These elements enhance
the blade's performance in edge holding and elasticity. The
steel is then rolled to their exact specifications to establish
optimum grain refinement and blades are blanked to take full
advantage of the grain direction in the steel.
The blanks are heated in molten salt, quenched in premium
oil and tempered in controlled ovens. Then they are ground.
The new blades are then subjected to expert heat treatment,
involving rigidly controlled austenizing temperatures, precisely
defined soak times, proper selection of quenching medium and
carefully monitored tempering times and temperatures. This
heat treatment sequence results in blades which duplicate
and often exceed the properties of the most expensive custom
forgings.
Premium U.S. High Carbon (from Cold Steel)- Cold Steel's
Premium Carbon Steel is used in a variety of our low cost
highly functional knives. Chemical content and microstructure
from the mill is specified by Cold Steel and each lot is subjected
to the same metallurgical examination before being used in
production as our world famous Carbon V. The Steel is a very
clean,fine grained material with a high carbon content for
toughness and response to heat treatment. Cold Steel has designed
a special heat treatment for this material which maximizes
toughness in combination with more than acceptable edge holding
ability, resulting in a blade which will satisfy even the
most discriminating user. [Top]
Blade Shapes
Clip Point – A clip point blade
has a concave or straight cut-out at the tip (The "clip").
This brings the blade point lower for extra control and enhances
the sharpness of the tip. You will often find a false edge
with the clip point. These types of blades also often have
an abundant belly for better slicing capabilities. [Top]
Dagger/Double Edge
- A double edge blade is sharpened on both sides ending with
the point aligned with the spine, in the middle of the blade.
[Top]
Drop Point – The drop-point
blade has lowered tip via a convex arc. This lowers the point
for extra control and also leaves the strength. This type
of blade also has a good-sized belly for better slicing. [Top]
Hook Blade – The edge of
a hook blade curves in a concave manner. [Top]
Santuko – Is a Japanese chef’s
knife. The spine curves downward to meet the edge and the
belly curves slightly. [Top]
Scimitar – This is a curved
blade with the edge on the convex side. [Top]
Sheepsfoot – The spine
of this blade curves downward to meet the edge. This leaves
virtually no point. This type of blade typically has little
or virtually no belly and is used mainly for slicing applications.
[Top]
Spear Point – The point
of this blade is exactly in the center of the blade and both
edges are sharpened. The point drops all the way down the
center of the blade. [Top]
Tanto – The point to this style
blade is in line with the spine of the blade. This leaves
the point thick and strong. There are quite a few different
variations of how tanto blades are designed. The way the front
edge meets the bottom edge, whether at an obtuse angle or
a curve is one difference. You will also find differences
in the point being clipped or not and whether there is a chisel
grind. [Top]
Trailing Point – The
trailing point blade’s point is higher than the spine. This
is typically engineered with an extended belly for slicing,
with the point up and out of the way. [Top]
LOCKING MECHANISMS
AND TYPES
Balisong - Also known as Butterfly
Knives. The handle to this style knife is in two separate
pieces and pinned to the tang. A third pin fixes between both
sides to lock the blade into an open position. eKnifeStore.com
offers a wide selection of Butterfly Knives for sale. [Top]
Block Lock - This folder
lock has a spring loaded block located on the center pin.
The block extends into a hole in the tang to lock the blade
open. [Top]
Clasp - This style folding knife
has no lock or backspring. [Top]
Lockback - This style of lock
has a spring-loaded locking bar with a tooth at the end. The
tooth falls into the notch cut into the blade tang and is
held there under the spring tension. A cut out in the handle
spine houses the release for the lock. These locks generally
require 2 hands to unlock and close. [Top]
Locking Liner - (a.k.a.
linerlocks) This particular locking system was refined by
knife maker Michael Walker. The actual locking mechanism is
incorporated in the liner of the handle, hence the name. If
there is a metal sheet inside the handle material, it is called
a liner. With a locking liner, opening the blade will allow
this metal to flex over and butt against the base of the blade
inside the handle, locking it open. Moving this liner aside
will release this lock allowing the blade to close. Disengagement
of the lock is performed with the thumb, allowing for one
handed, hassle free action. Locking liners are commonly found
on tactical folding knives, both production and custom. [Top]
Ringlock - This design has
been around since the 1890's. The Ringlock is similar to the
Slipjoint, but it has a rotating slipring instead of a backspring.
[Top]
Rolling Lock - This design
uses a sort of bearing that rolls into the locked position.
[Top]
Sebenza Lock - The concept
of this lock is comparable to the Liner Lock. A hollowed out
section of the scale is fixed into the handle cavity to lock
the blade open. [Top]
Slipjoint - The slipjoint
is one of the more common designs for folding and pocket knives.
Instead of a lock, the slipjoint utilizes a backspring to
create resistance to hold the blade open. [Top]
Swinglock - There is one
pivot pin and one locking pin used to design this style lock.
[Top]
Wood Lock - This lock was
designed by Barry Wood. The handles and blade are attached
to a central pin and pivot independently. A second pin is
fixed into the inside of one scale and extends into slot in
the tang to lock the blade open. [Top]
BLADE GRINDS
1) HOLLOW GRIND
The most common grind, found on the majority of custom and
production pieces. Hollow ground blades have a thin edge that
continues upwards, and is the grind is produced on both sides
of the blade. Since the cutting edge is relatively thin, there
is very little drag when cutting. Examples of knives with
hollow ground blades: Spyderco Howard Viele C42 and Kershaw
Ti-ATS-34. [Top]
2) FLAT GRIND
Flat grinds are characterized by the tapering of the blade
from the spine down to the cutting edge. This style of grind
is also referred to as a "V" grind, since the cross section
of this grind resembles that letter. The chisel grind, a popular
style for tactical blades, is a variation of the flat grind.
On a chisel round blade, it is ground on one side, and on
the other it is not. These blades are easier to sharpen, because
you sharpen one side only. Example of a knife with a chisel
ground blade would be the Benchmade 970 Ernest Emerson CQC7.
Examples of knives with a flat grind are the Benchmade Mel
Pardue 850 and Spyderco's C36 Military model. [Top]
3) CONCAVE GRIND
Similar to the flat grind in that the blade tapers from the
spine to the cutting edge, except the taper lines are arcs
instead of straight lines. [Top]
4) CONVEX GRIND
Similar to the flat grind in that the blade tapers from the
spine to the cutting edge, except the taper lines are arcs
extending outward instead of inward as in the convex grind
above or straight lines. If you picture a pumpkin seed, you
will get a good idea of what the cross sectional view of this
grind is like. Noted custom knife maker Bill Moran is credited
for bringing the convex grind into the focus of knife making.
[Top]
Chisel
The chisel grind is ground on only one side of the blade.
It’s easy to produce and easy to sharpen. It is often ground
at around 30 degrees which contributes to a thin and sharp
edge. [Top]
Sabre
The sabre grind has flat edge bevels that typically begin
about the middle part of the blade and runs flatly to the
edge. The edge is often left thick and thickens quickly past
the edge. This is a great grind for chopping and other hard
uses. [Top]
Scandinavian Single-Bevel
the Scandinavian single-bevel grind looks similar to a sabre
grind. The difference between the two grinds is that the Scandinavian
single-bevel grind has no secondary edge bevels. This grind
has an extremely thin and incredibly sharp edge. [Top]
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