looking for recommendations for a cheap durable shopknife

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Hi all, looking for a recommendation for a shopknife that can take some abuse. mostly I mean to tap its spine with a hammer for making pegs, that sort of thing. not looking for a high end item.

features I'm looking for:
rock solid
folding
robust locking mechanism
fairly easy to sharpen
have a spine that can take a beating
suitable for riving small wooden parts
relatively cheap

bonus:
if it is on amazon with international shipping

thank you,

[Derek Cohen]

Assaf, Lee Valley sell a knife designed with your needs: https://www.leevalley.com/en-gb/shop/tools/hand-tools/knives/58313-woodworkers-knife?item=06D0710

Although this style of knife is sometimes called a cable knife because it can be used for peeling electrical wire, it has unique advantages for woodworking. The sturdy curved-tip blade is not only safer than a straight blade in paring jobs, but is both better and easier to use than a pencil for marking cut-lines.
It is 1/8" thick at the spine and can be struck with a hammer for splitting wedges, cutting rope, etc. The 2 1/2" blade is stainless steel with a hardness of Rc54-56.
With hardwood handle scales that transmit heat and cold less than the usual plastic handles, it is comfortable to hold, a good working knife. Open length is 7".

https://assets.leevalley.com/Size4/10051/06D0710-woodworker-s-knife-f-17.jpg

Note that it has a curved blade ...

https://assets.leevalley.com/Size4/10051/06D0710-woodworker-s-knife-f-12.jpg

I did not like the curve and reground and shaped this area ...

https://i.postimg.cc/zvZqh6v5/Knife-mod1-zpsus4tntbr.jpg

Great knife.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[John Keeton]

When I was a kid we called those hawk bill knives! And, yes they are handy. Your regrind made it a spayed blade, Derek. Memories of more than half a century ago.

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Thank you, its going on my shopping list.

[George Yetka]

https://www.eseeknives.com/

The 5" is 1/4" thick. I have one for camp fires, you can beat on it all day with a log to split wood.

[John Keeton]

Hey George, you may have missed the part about "cheap!!" I doubt $272 qualifies.:D

[Keegan Shields]

If you can do without the folding feature, you’ll get a lot more knife for your money.

I use Morakniv’s around the shop. Cheap, easy to sharpen, thick spine, and you can regrind them if you don’t like the single flat bevel.

For folding knives, I prefer the Benchmade Axis mechanism. It locks up really tight, no wobble.

[Ben Ellenberger]

I recently got a Brisa Wharncliffe blade and put a walnut handle on it. A Wharncliffe blade profile is good for general work, and Brisa’s version has a nice thick back that would hold up to some heavy use. It is not a folding knife, so may not work for you.

I just wanted to throw the idea out, since putting a wooden handle on a blade is a pretty quick/easy project and a way to get a nice knife relatively inexpensively.

[Richard Coers]

Hi all, looking for a recommendation for a shopknife that can take some abuse. mostly I mean to tap its spine with a hammer for making pegs, that sort of thing. not looking for a high end item.

features I'm looking for:
rock solid
folding
robust locking mechanism
fairly easy to sharpen
have a spine that can take a beating
suitable for riving small wooden parts
relatively cheap

bonus:
if it is on amazon with international shipping

thank you,
You have a few requirements that are hard to give advice on. "fairly easy to sharpen". Does that mean you want softer steel? You could say every knife is fairly easy to sharpen if you know what you are doing. Nothing to do with the knife. Then the spine to take a beating. Does that mean you want to hit it with a hammer? Finally, relatively cheap is very hard to give advice on. What does that mean to you? Sounds to me like a worn out jointer blade converted into a tiny froe would serve you quite well.

[Warren Mickley]

I once was on a solo hiking trip and lost my spoon. I used my knife to rive material to carve a spoon. This worked, but I had to replace the pivot pin on my knife, which got bent.

In the shop we don't use knives for riving. More common is a chisel or a hatchet or a froe.

[steven c newman]

OP: Go and watch Paul Sellers do lay out work....with his Stanley Folding Knife....
Or...
Just about any Hardware Store has a version of one of these...
504681
Comes in about any colour, depending on the brand name...
504682
Sharpen? Just change out the dull blade for a new one....Knife will lock in both the open and closed positions ....

Usually run (depending on the brand name) around $10 USD...

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Fairly easy to sharpen means that there are no concavities or a handle that interferes with the blades contact to the stone (or makes it akward to sharpen). If it is a straght or lightly convex blade, i can put an edge on it. Im not set up for concave or hollows

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

I looked at those in person, arent they too flimsey?

[steven c newman]

Haven't had any issues with mine....

[Derek Cohen]

I use this Stanley knife all the time for marking out.

https://i.postimg.cc/09ZVJrS6/DSC_0502.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Like it a lot. But it has limitations. The flexible - thin - blade is great for fine line cuts, but it lacks rigidity for cleaving or paring. The folding LV knfe is better for heavy work, and I would use it to rive thin blocks for pegs.

Further, the Stanley knife is double edges, which makes it less accurate when transferring narrow dovetails. That when I use one of my own knife designs (now made by Chris Vesper) ...

https://i.postimg.cc/hjknVTXm/Marking-Knife2.jpg

Lastly, always have a Kiridashi. These are great for marking against a wall or fence ..

https://i.postimg.cc/Zq4TtWhn/KIRIDASHI.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Richard Coers]

Fairly easy to sharpen means that there are no concavities or a handle that interferes with the blades contact to the stone (or makes it akward to sharpen). If it is a straght or lightly convex blade, i can put an edge on it. Im not set up for concave or hollows
Thanks. You have plenty of options. I just don't know how to help when specifications are listed in general terms. Don't break the bank is the worst one.

[Joe A Faulkner]

You might want to consider the batoning chisel for riving work: https://www.leevalley.com/en-gb/shop/tools/hand-tools/chisels/specialty/67735-batoning-chisel

[James Pallas]

The “folding” part of your requirements makes this very difficult. For 90% of my marking requirements I use reground mill knives. When away from the bench I sometimes use one of those small Stanley folding knives. I always have my Victorinox SD in my pocket which can stand in marking but also has tweezer and small scissors which are very handy. I do keep a hawksbill at the bench (I was taught to call them a linoleum knife). I guess I should say I don’t have problems marking dovetails with the right and left ground mill knives because I’m one of those rare people that do pins first. You can pretty much beat on those mill knives anyway you like. I also have Lee Valley Batoning chisels, perhaps the most dangerous tool in the kit. Only get them out to do a particular task and put them away.
Jim

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

jeez, I cut my fingers on the sides of my chisels enough as it is. no thank you!

[Edward Weber]

You might want to consider the batoning chisel for riving work: https://www.leevalley.com/en-gb/shop/tools/hand-tools/chisels/specialty/67735-batoning-chisel
Thats the same type of tool that came to my mind
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-FATMAX-1-in-Utility-Chisel-FMHT16693/318034618?g_store=&source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D25T-025_001_HAND_TOOLS-NA-Multi-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-Hand_Tools&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D25T-025_001_HAND_TOOLS-NA-Multi-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-Hand_Tools-71700000086053656-58700007291967538-92700076258964029&gclsrc=ds

[George Yetka]

Hey George, you may have missed the part about "cheap!!" I doubt $272 qualifies.:D

You may be right. The one I spoke of sells for $135 now. I got mine at $85. But still not the cheepest.

[steven c newman]

Those Mill Knives....I used to work in a factory that made rubber hose....Anf they made their own rubber compounds in a Banburry Intermixer....that when done with a batch, it would drop it down onto a roller Mill...Then we'd take the still HOT compound off the mill in 2 strips for the extrudes to use. Cut and roll to keep feeding the area where the strips were leaving the mill, we'd use the Mill Knife....it also came in handy to cut open the bags of fillers required in each batch...along with the opening of the Nordel boxes with the rubber bales inside...EPDM, SBR, and the like...we also did a "Master Batch" on the fuel line compounds....run the batch through once, without the "Cure", let it sit a day, then load the batch back into a tub with the "Cures" and run it through the mixer again....Used the mill knife to cut the rolls of Master Batch to weight, as there MIGHT 4-6 batches in one strip (12" wide)

22 years of this...and now I have COPD in the right lung.....