How to Properly Evaluate a Knife (a book in Russian)

A highly sought-after book (now practically available only on the second-hand market) for enthusiasts of knifemaking, bushcraft, and survival. You can find a wider selection of literature in Russian at www.knigi.pl.

Publisher's note (translation): Future historians of the knife industry may call the era we are living in the renaissance of the short blade. A quick look at the selection in any good knife shop makes it clear that the modern knife has long moved beyond the narrow confines of a functional tool designed for cutting various materials and objects. Today, a knife is a piece of techno-art, a fashionable men's accessory, a universal tool, a collector's item, and simply a piece of precision mechanics that is pleasant to hold. Competing with each other and striving to attract customers with new technologies and materials, knifemakers release a huge number of new products every year. The emergence of relatively affordable CNC machines and high-performance equipment, along with the policy of medium and large enterprises willing to work with extremely small orders for consumables and components, has led to individual makers more boldly competing with mass production, not only in the field of standard knives but even in high-tech folding models, where the dominance of mass production seemed unshakable just 10-15 years ago. This publication is an attempt to create a small reference guide that would allow the knife enthusiast and practitioner to navigate the kaleidoscope of brand names, makes, and abbreviations currently used to describe models. In addition, it provides recommendations on how to choose and care for a knife. It concludes with a small glossary of the most common terms.

The author hopes that the reader already has some basic skill in using a knife. Without such skill, many terms will simply be incomprehensible. One could write volumes on the various aspects of blade use, drawing on the principles of metallurgy, material resistance, and physics, but until the user picks up a knife and tries to slice at least a sausage, it will all be Greek to them. For such a person, there is only one piece of advice: start with practice. Buy a knife and try to slice a loaf of bread, whittle a walking stick, peel half a bucket of potatoes, gut a few fish, butcher a chicken, and after all that, sharpen the blade yourself. It is not at all necessary to get an expensive knife, buy what you can afford and what fits well in your hand. The main thing is to work with it, a lot and often, not missing the opportunity to use other models as well. And then, sooner or later, questions will arise. Why does this blade cut this way, and that one differently? Why is the handle of one knife so comfortable, while another of the exact same shape, but made of a different material, instantly tires the hand? Why does one type of "stainless steel" not require care, while another begins to darken and stain without it? This book attempts to answer some of these questions.

2nd edition, revised and expanded.

Contents: 

Chapter 1: Why a Knife Cuts  Chapter 2: Steels and Alloys  Chapter 3: Stainless Steel  Chapter 4: How Tribologists Put Strength Experts to Shame  Chapter 5: Complex Alloy Tool Steels  Chapter 6: Damascus Steel  Chapter 7: Blade Coatings  Chapter 8: Testing  Chapter 9: Blade Profiles  Chapter 10: Knife Sharpening  Chapter 11: Modern Knife Production  Chapter 12: The Simple Folding Knife  Chapter 13: Kitchen Knives  Chapter 14: How to Choose the Right Knife  Chapter 15: Handle Materials  Chapter 16: Choosing and Maintaining a Knife  Chapter 17: Some Popular Legends   

Glossary of Modern Knife Terms

Original title: A Guide for Choosing a Knife

Hardcover, format 21.5 x 14.5 cm, Ruchenkinykh Publishing House, Moscow 2008, 232 pages.