Knife

History

The first made knives of stone, Flint in particular, in the form of rough glares, are gone back approximately: 25000 years. They were sometimes in Os too. At that time, the knife is used as well as tool as of weapon.

As of the Bronze Age, the knives are made in Métal and for the first time are provided with a handle. The Romain S manufacture the first blades in Acier as they also manufacture as from the 1st century the first folding blade knives.

At the 14th century, they were usually used like Fourchette S and it is with the appearance of the fork that the knives took a round end to differentiate the uses.

The materials used to manufacture the knives evolved/moved progressively of the control of the Métallurgie. Thus in 1921 are produced with the the United States the first knives in Stainless steel.

The techniques of Trempe allow, as for other tools, to make metal harder and more resistant, authorizing finer and sharper blades.

The knives with teeth appear later .

Small, easy to manufacture like transporting, it belongs to the basic equipment of all those who can have of it the use, of which Chasse the USSR, Militaire S, craftsmen, cooks, etc

Traditional places of manufacture

England

Sheffield

Germany

Solingen

Belgium

France

Thiers
Laguiole
Saint-Jean-with-Maurienne
From the Dauphine
Nontron
Châtellerault
Nogent
Albiez-Montrond

Types of knives

Flick knifes

Knives with automatic opening, or more popularly notches of stop , on which one presses on a button to make leave the blade.

It there of the blades which open on the side, Italian - not reparable, French - reparable and German with a large strip in the place of the button - reparable.

There are the blades which emerge on the front, by pushing a strip: American, who has the shape of lighter biro, in longer, thicker and out of metal.

Kitchen knifes and trenchers

This knife is a Outil. The kitchen knifes make it possible to peel (Couteau of office), to cut broad meat sections (kitchen knife), or fine sections (carving knife), to bone, cut bread or tomatos, etc

Each knife was designed for a precise work:

Chief
Carver (longer blade and more fine)
Santoku (knife Japanese, shorter Chief)
Deba (to raise the fish nets)
Net of plate (flexible blade)
Sashimi (hard blade, for sushis)

Table knifes

Steak knife
knife fish
table knife, approximately twenty-four centimetres
dessert knife dessert, approximately twenty centimetres
fruit knife, approximately seventeen centimetres
knife with grapefruit, arched blade
knife cheese, point fourchue
butter knife, round end
breadknife, length and toothed
Multi-fonction pocket knife

Before the invention of the Stainless steel, one distinguished dessert knife dessert and fruit knife by nature from their blade: the Steel for the first and the Money for the second. Indeed, the fruits being acid and thus likely to oxidize metal, the blades of the fruit knifes were out of money, metal easier to deoxidize than steel.

Knives of voyage and clasp knifes

Certain knives intended to be transported are designed so that the blade is folded up in the handle. This makes it possible not to damage the edge of the blade while protecting the carrier. Some examples of such knives:

Opinel (registered trademark)
Laguiole
Sabatier
Balisong (knife butterfly)
Penknife
Douk douk
Victorinox
Vendetta , name of a Corsica model of knife

In this category also good number of regional knives returns:

Spur cutters

Simple and robust knives, they are generally of good size. One can distinguish:

military knives like the Dagger S, Scraping-knife S, Dirk S, kriss and bayonets;
knives of Trapper S commes the Bowie S or the Machete S;
knives of launching (see: To launch knives);
of the knives of art like the knives skeletons or crudes of forging mill.

Survival knifes and knives of the Swiss army or knives multi-blades

These knives are intended for various uses and generally include/understand several different blades and tools; in certain cases, the principal blade presents a side slicing and a side to the profile in teeth of saw.

The tools which one can find on such knives are particularly varied, but seldom all present at the same time:

Saw
even Grip
of Scissors
punch/switches
Tournevis
corkscrew
bottle opener
can-opener
Boussole
Loupe
grip with splinters
nail-cleaner
hook

Knives of Hunting

These knives are intended for the practice of the Chasse and can either be used for a Gibier (i.e. giving him death), or to cut it up once died. The handles can be out of wood, in horn, metal or synthetic matter.

Examples of hunting knifes

Bowie : right model whose handle out of wooden is sometimes covered with Cuir. The blade is right and longer than the handle.
Scraping-knife: the blade is long and fine. The scraping-knife is intended to easily transpierce the skin to directly reach the heart of a game. It can be equipped with a handle of which the length depends on the size of the animals for which it is used.
Buck: knife of slightly round form of mixed use for small the Game or the Poisson S.
Skinner: also said cutters, these knives are designed to detach the skin of game without damaging the meat nor to bore the internal organs.

Knife of painting

The knives of painting are used in painting to make Empâtement S or more generally to spread out thick painting.

Legislation

The knives are knives, they are thus weapons of category C in the classification of the European Union.

In France, they are weapons of 6th category (Article L.2331-1 of the Code of defense and Décret-loi of April 18th, 1939 fixing the mode of the weaponries, weapons and ammunition).

It is necessary to be eighteen years old to acquire a knife, or sixteen years with authorization of the legal person in charge. The port and the transport of the weapons of 6th category are prohibited “except legitimate reason”. It would seem, in spite of the blur of the concept of reason legitimate, that this one excluded the port with preventive measure in the event of aggression.

Other names of the knife

The knife bears various names, according to the areas, the history, the regional dialects, the slangs. Here is a nonexhaustive list:

Surin
Schlass : at the base the broken bottle held by the neck and extension knives in general.

Quotations

Isaac Asimov : “ the knives have a blade and especially a handle, so that one can use them without risk”. It made this quotation to justify the three laws of robotics
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg: “ a knife without blade to which only the handle ”

misses

Habit

According to the Book of the superstitions , like all the pointed or sharp objects (scissors, switches, pin), to offer a knife the friendship or the love crosses to less “to exchange it” against a coin.

See too

Sources, notes

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