Whats the best grind for your ideal bushcraft knife?
- Thread starter British Red
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I voted Convex for its ease of sharpening, strength and splitting ability. I also like a full flat with a convexed edge and usually perform this on all my folders.
Sciurus vulgaris is a real fan of the Scandi, but there is so much history with the other blades we can't dismiss them.
Sciurus vulgaris is a real fan of the Scandi, but there is so much history with the other blades we can't dismiss them.
Its really hard to find a scandy folder too. I have one now with a beautifully narrow blade and almost surgical point. In use its a real dream, but I'd love someone to remove the scales and replace them with wood for me. I love the knife but it looks unpleasantly "tactical".
Red
Red
I've voted for the convex. If you'd asked me a year ago I would have told you where to stick convex blades. I bought a Fallkniven nl5 Idun from outdoorcode around a year and a bit ago and I absolutely love the knife but had a hell of a job getting used to sharpening it after being so used to a scandi grind. I'm happy to say I've now got the hang of it and it's as sharp as my scandi's ever were. It stays sharp longer, is great for feathering sticks and splitting, is robust and feels indestructable. It's my fav tool in the world ever
falling rain said:I've voted for the convex. If you'd asked me a year ago I would have told you where to stick convex blades. I bought a Fallkniven nl5 Idun from outdoorcode around a year and a bit ago and I absolutely love the knife but had a hell of a job getting used to sharpening it after being so used to a scandi grind. I'm happy to say I've now got the hang of it and it's as sharp as my scandi's ever were. It stays sharp longer, is great for feathering sticks and splitting, is robust and feels indestructable. It's my fav tool in the world ever
Me too
Put some Kiwi neutral on the handle mate and give it a good rub with mutton cloth, it fairly glows, and it doesnt make it slippery
I voted for Convex, but I have blades with each of the four types of grind. And the shocking thing? I take them all into the bush Surprising I know!
-I have a cutthroat razor with a hollow ground blade. I love it, prefer it more than the Gillettes I have in my bathroom cupboard.
-My Moras seem to have the Scandi grind. I like them for basic bushwork
-My Opinel and my Green River Sheath Knife -the newest addition to my knife collection- both have flat grinds, I love them for shaving the wood, and skinning game.
-Finally, my bowies, kukri machete and other large knives all have convex edges. The edge holds up better for the heavy duty work that I usually need a cutting tool for, felling and limbing trees for shelter, splitting kindling and larger hunks of wood, even butcher deer (three whacks from a good convex edge and you can halve a deer!).
Since I'm usually doing the heavy work at the camp (I'm the only guy big enough they claim), I like a blade that can keep up with the amount of work I have to do. Hollow grind won't do that job, a scandi and flat grind are either quick dulling, or will chip from a hardwood knot. So the Convex edge won my vote. I rarely have to sharpen my heavy hitters (the nick name I have for my big knives), and they always are willing to slice down a maple sapling, or section a cedar for me.
Surprising I know! -I have a cutthroat razor with a hollow ground blade. I love it, prefer it more than the Gillettes I have in my bathroom cupboard.
-My Moras seem to have the Scandi grind. I like them for basic bushwork
-My Opinel and my Green River Sheath Knife -the newest addition to my knife collection- both have flat grinds, I love them for shaving the wood, and skinning game.
-Finally, my bowies, kukri machete and other large knives all have convex edges. The edge holds up better for the heavy duty work that I usually need a cutting tool for, felling and limbing trees for shelter, splitting kindling and larger hunks of wood, even butcher deer (three whacks from a good convex edge and you can halve a deer!).
Since I'm usually doing the heavy work at the camp (I'm the only guy big enough they claim), I like a blade that can keep up with the amount of work I have to do. Hollow grind won't do that job, a scandi and flat grind are either quick dulling, or will chip from a hardwood knot. So the Convex edge won my vote. I rarely have to sharpen my heavy hitters (the nick name I have for my big knives), and they always are willing to slice down a maple sapling, or section a cedar for me.
Simon E said:Me too
Put some Kiwi neutral on the handle mate and give it a good rub with mutton cloth, it fairly glows, and it doesnt make it slippery
Thanks for the tip Simon. My lads got some kiwi neutral he uses for his ATC shoes, so I'll be nicking that off him.
Theyr'e good knives arn't they? I'm chuffed to bits with mine, especially now I've got the hang of sharpening the convex blade.
I absolutely love mine, I have a fair few (all ) of the Northern Light, but the Idun is by far my favourite. When people talk about how thick the spine is, they never mention how thin the cross section is from the edge to 10mm above it. I think my Frej is .4mm about 1mm or so up from the cutting edge, that is hardly a splitting maul.
If you look at Red's 5 pound sharpening thread I posted a pic of what I use on my convex blades and non-convex that I reprofile. I can get a Fallkniven back up to shaving sharp (when steeling just doesnt do it anymore) in about 1-2 mins. Surely in a conversation about the best of something, the maintenance of its cutting performance should have equal weight?
) of the Northern Light, but the Idun is by far my favourite. When people talk about how thick the spine is, they never mention how thin the cross section is from the edge to 10mm above it. I think my Frej is .4mm about 1mm or so up from the cutting edge, that is hardly a splitting maul.If you look at Red's 5 pound sharpening thread I posted a pic of what I use on my convex blades and non-convex that I reprofile. I can get a Fallkniven back up to shaving sharp (when steeling just doesnt do it anymore) in about 1-2 mins. Surely in a conversation about the best of something, the maintenance of its cutting performance should have equal weight?
I'm not a great knife nut like some folks here, but I'd say there's no such thing as an all-round knife. I've got a 9" Samekniv which also gets used and a little Attleborough Accessories Birch and antler handled 3" bladed knife which I can't remember the name of but I really like the size of it for carving and it sharpens beautifully, but if I could only take one knife with me for general hard graft and I had to rely on for a long period, it'd definately be the nl5 Idun. It'll do anything I need it to do round camp.
Convex.
Nothing else even comes close in overall performance.
You want a specialist tool - pick the grind of your choice and have done.
You want tough, long lasting, high performance, low maintenance knife, pick convex.
Since a bushcraft knife is, by definition, supposed to be a general purpose tool and not a specialist woodworking implement, I see no reason to limit its potential.
Physics and the characteristics of knife steels speak for themselves.
The only time convex gets bad press is when the people who are using them don't migrate their methods of sharpening properly.
It takes a totally different approach but once you get it you sharpen a convex far less frequently than any other grind and it's quicker to re-establish the edge when it eventually becomes dull.
I use a stone on my convex blades a couple of times a year. The rest of the time they get stropped and that's all they need to keep them running just right.
I'd sacrifice a little wood carving ability for a whole lot of other performance benefits any day of the week, although as I've said often enough in the past, I'd be grateful for a sharp piece of glass if the chips were down, and I wouldn't be too concerned over whether it had a secondary bevel, or a hollow...
Nothing else even comes close in overall performance.
You want a specialist tool - pick the grind of your choice and have done.
You want tough, long lasting, high performance, low maintenance knife, pick convex.
Since a bushcraft knife is, by definition, supposed to be a general purpose tool and not a specialist woodworking implement, I see no reason to limit its potential.
Physics and the characteristics of knife steels speak for themselves.
The only time convex gets bad press is when the people who are using them don't migrate their methods of sharpening properly.
It takes a totally different approach but once you get it you sharpen a convex far less frequently than any other grind and it's quicker to re-establish the edge when it eventually becomes dull.
I use a stone on my convex blades a couple of times a year. The rest of the time they get stropped and that's all they need to keep them running just right.
I'd sacrifice a little wood carving ability for a whole lot of other performance benefits any day of the week, although as I've said often enough in the past, I'd be grateful for a sharp piece of glass if the chips were down, and I wouldn't be too concerned over whether it had a secondary bevel, or a hollow...
I would agree with that mate! and that applies to all the grinds.
Ive voted Scandi, if it where a kitchen knife id have voted full flat with secondary and if it where a choppa i'd have voted covex.
For me Scandi fits right in the middle of them both, and i love the precise cuts that i can do with a scadi which i cannot do with the others. Obviously i am only talking on a personal note.
Also i see a lot of people that are saying there scandi's dont hold an edge very long? To be honest for me its not noticable compared to the other grinds, and i have used all of the grinds alot!
I wonder if people are failing to remove the wire edge??
As you can tell i am a scandi fan!
I guess that i do very slightly convex the edge when stropping but you can barely see this by eye...
Ill get my coat
Shinken said:
That's probably because they haven't modified their sharpening methods to take full advantage of a Scandi grind.
Each grind is sharpened in a different way. Some fundamentals stay constant regardless of the grind on a knife, but if you sharpen a Scandi the same way you do a convex it's doomed from the beginning, and vice versa.
I don't think many folks realise that.
It's easier to blame a grind, or the steel, or the maker, than the skills of the person sharpening it.
Incidentally, most of the Scandi knives I own which came from Norway, Sweden and Denmark aren't actually flat ground. They're slightly hollow ground, as is the Woodlore.
Scandi makers mostly use large diameter abrasive wheels so if you hold a straight edge from the top of the bevel to the bottom on a Scandi knife you can see light in the middle of the grind where the hollow dips.
Not too many make a true flat ground Scandi, and still fewer are able to consistently sharpen one to remain so.
And, let's face it, it's only nutters like us who are bothered by the geeky details
Shinken said:
I suspect Alan also does it this way because he has a large diameter contact wheel, which is far easier to use than a platen when turning around large numbers.
Except it wouldn't be easier if you (as most people with a flat ground "bushcraft knife" would) laid the bevel flat on stones a la Mears...Shinken said:
That particular knife was a bit of a 'special' anyhow. At the time, I don't know if the maker knew exactly what the "official buschraft method" or sharpening for many people was. The hollow grind is only suited to having a secondary bevel.
Thats what i do, but a lot of people put slightly more pressure on the high point of the grindline and after a while the edge isnt touching the stone etc
He made that knife that was reviewed after he had been making woodlore's
And due to the size of the stone its nearer to scandi grind that hollow grind.
