Choosing a good knife set begins and ends with build quality. The first cutting tools were invented in the Stone Age and have been improved upon ever since. What was once created by banging two rocks together are now precision-cut and honed by lasers.

Knowing the basic parts of a knife will help you understand what makes a good knife worth the extra investment. A very detailed description would involve 14 different elements of a knife, but knowing them all will not help you select a good knife.

This will describe the essential elements of a knife in two parts: the blade and handle.

• The Blade

A knife blade has two main parts: the cutting edge and the spine. The cutting edge should be tapered 20-22 degrees for optimum cutting, and can be calibrated by laser in very fine knives. It should be free of visible nicks and look uniformly smooth from tip to heel, or bottom.

The most important thing about the spine is that it should extend fully down through the bolster into the handle to form the tang (see Handle). In other words, the knife should be made of one solid piece of metal. It should also closely maintain the same width through the extension as this will ensure the knife is properly balanced.

Another important part to note in the blade is the finger guard, located to the rear of the blade. In knives used on surfaces for chopping and dicing, this should extend down below the knuckles so a firm grip can be maintained while cutting. And, even in smaller knives there should still be some downward extension so the hand cannot slip up onto the blade.

• The Handle

It is important that the tang, or part of the spine that extends into the handle, come all the way down to the butt (end) of the handle. This is called a “full tang,” and indicates the knife is made of one piece of metal and is therefore much more durable.

You can further tell this by examining the bolster; the area where the spine meets the tang. If there is no seam it means that it is one piece of metal.

The parts of the handle that provide grip are called scales and can be made of wood, another metal or some type of polymer and are affixed to the tang with rivets. In some knives the handle will fully encase a full tang, which is then called an encapsulated tang.

It is important to select knives that provide a comfortable non-slip grip. Steel-on-steel handles look very nice, but can be dangerous if your hand gets sweaty or you are getting involved with something slippery, like fish or poultry.

These names are important to a knife, but need only limited attention from you to be useful. Once you have found the perfect knife set for your kitchen needs, they can forget the jargon and focus on enjoying a greatly enhanced cooking experience.