To slice maple that thin is proof of its sharpness. I found that the thick spine actually helps in putting pressure on the back of the blade with my thumbs.
You know.....this is very interesting. Being able to do curls on a fuzz stick like that is a REAL test of sharpness. If the knife is not sharp enough they will just break off and you can't get a lot of curls on the stick. It seems natural to think that a thin knife would be best for that. However, I have found that as long as the edge is good (like this) the blade thickness really does not matter. The top of the spine never gets close to the wood anyway.
So now I have a shaver and a thick tank <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
