We seem to be getting a lot of repeat questions about knives. The first thing that came to my mind was that the people asking could not be bothered to use the search function, or go look on the dedicated knife sites. On reflection though I realize that we have reached a point where searching this forum can be hit or miss, not everyone names their threads according to the content, and threads often wander a bit. Also, the dedicated knife sites offer so much information that it can be daunting.
I have started to try to pull together links and short explanations to some of the most commonly asked questions. I started, then found that it was taking a l…o…n…g time! So I am asking for some help.
First, can you think of any additional oft asked questions about edged tools, not just knives? Secondly, and much more importantly, if you can remember threads that you have found particularly informative can you post a link up on this thread? I reckon that links to good information are better than trying to write all the answers in a thread. Links don’t have to be just within this site, like the articles on Knifeart.
Is carbon steel better than stainless steel?
http://knifeart.com/steelfaqbyjo.html
http://knifeart.com/tabofdifstee.html
Types of steel
http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml
This is like asking are oranges better than apples. The simple answer is no, carbon steel isn’t better or worse than stainless. The real question is whether the knife you are looking at is made of a good grade of steel and whether that steel is suited to the use you want to put it to. In general carbon steel can make stronger knives which are more shock resistant and more flexible than stainless steel, but unless you are chopping and prying with a long blade that isn’t an issue. Knives used in the kitchen, or for cleaning fish, or for hunting, or anywhere that is very damp are going to hold up better as stainless steel, but plenty of people use carbon in exactly these conditions and manage with a bit more maintenance.
Hard steel is harder to sharpen than softer steel, high alloy steel is more wear resistant than low alloy and fine grained (properly heat treated) steel is easier to sharpen than co**** grained steel. There are hard low alloy carbon steels and very hard high alloy carbon steels used in knives, there are also very high alloy very fine grained stainless steels that are fairly easy to sharpen. Modern sharpeners, diamond and ceramic, as well as Japanese water stones make light of sharpening hard steel.
For a first bushcraft knife there are more high quality carbon bladed knives than there are quality stainless knives. The Moras are excellent, inexpensive knives, there are also many traditional puukos that won’t break the bank. When you are ready for a more expensive knife you will probably not need to ask what steel is better, its mostly a matter of preference and by then you will have a better idea of what you like.
Will stainless steel work on a firesteel.
Yes. Anything that is harder than a fire steel and has a sharp edge will strike sparks. The chromium content of the steel, that which makes it stainless or not, is irrelevant.
My knife won’t cast sparks from fire steel.
There are only three things that this could be.
1. Your knife’s spine does not have sharp enough corners on the spine. Use a file or a sharpening stone to grind the spine square. You are trying to machine (mechanically cut into) the ferro rod. Its no different really from a high speed saw or grinder throwing sparks as it cuts steel.
2. Your knife’s spine is too soft. If your knife has had a differential heat treatment to give it a hard cutting edge and a soft/springy back it may not be hard enough at the spine to throw really good sparks. The Kellam Wolverine and all other Precision Tempered blades fall into this category, as might some customs that are differentially tempered or hardened.
3. Your blade has a coating. If your blade has a baked on coating, or laquer to prevent rust you will have to remove it from the area of spine you want to use for striking sparks. See No 2 above. If you want to have the knife spine bite into the ferro rod you need a hard sharp corner. No coating. Some coatings are thin enough (those on Falknivens) that they move out of the way all my themselves when the spine is applied to the rod.
What folder should I get?
A slipjoint (non locking) folder with a three inch or less blade should be the first knife that you buy. A Swiss Army Knife (SAK), more than a multi-tool, is something that you can carry every day and use for a multitude of jobs. You might want to get a knife with a better blade steel than that used in a SAK. If you want it for everyday use then the Spyderco Penknive, or one of the stockman style knives from Queen Cutlery or Cold Steel will work. Before locking knives came along slip joints were often put to fairly hard use and can accomplish surprising things.
For real bushcraft a folder will have to be treated with care, few will hold up to anything like the abuse that even a cheap fixed blade knife can take. However, most of the time, in post places in the UK, a day in the country doesn’t require more than an unobtrusive folder.
Recommend a knife
This is like recommending a car. There are LOADs of good ones to choose from. People swear by the Mora and Opinel. Kellam Wolverines and Wildfinns are excellent, as is the range carried by Tregor. Allan Blade makes good working knives, as does Bark River. There are a host of people making or assembling knives over on British Blades, let along on US sites like BladeForums.
Where can I get a blade:
Try British Blades. www.britishblades.com
Try Brisa, https://www.brisa.fi/portal/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
How do I make a knife.
There is enough information out there in books and on the Net that you can go as deeply into the subject as you want. Here follow some links to the more useful sites that I have come across, there are doubtless many more.
Forums
www.britishblades.com
www.bladeforums.com
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/
Tutorials
One way of doing a hidden tang
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=23
And another
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=27
Here is a good tutorial by our own Klenchblaize on fitting slab handles. Entertaining AND informative
http://www.deerstalker.com/stalker2.htm
Nick Wheeler's tutorial for handle slabs, with photos.
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/cache/articles/nw1/scales1.htm
Mortice tangs. The same things can be done with files and sandpaper and sharp chisels
http://www.primosknives.com/articles/mortised_tangs/mortised_tangs_1.htm
Compendiums of articles and instructions
Bob Engnath’s site, gives step by step instructions on nearly all aspects of knife making.
http://www.engnath.com/public/manframe.htm
A little more advanced, info on making equipment too
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html
All you ever wanted to know about materials (almost)
http://ajh-knives.com/material.html
I can also thoroughly recommend Wayne Goddards books, The Wonder of Knifemaking and The $50 Knife Shop. The Barney & Loveless book How to Make Knives is also very good and shows how to make slightly better finished knives than those seen in the Goddard books (though the b/w photographs aren’t so clear).
How do I sharpen a knife?
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=99256&highlight=stroke#post99256
http://knifeart.com/sharfaqbyjoe.html
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26036
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11571
An excellent thread on setting up a cheap sharpening system using wet and dry paper.
Grind style / Blade Geometry
http://knifeart.com/bladgeomfaqb.html
http://knifeart.com/plainbyjoeta.html
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364248 possibly a bit too much of a debate
Legal FAQ Courtesy of Martyn and British Blades
http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8336
I have started to try to pull together links and short explanations to some of the most commonly asked questions. I started, then found that it was taking a l…o…n…g time! So I am asking for some help.
First, can you think of any additional oft asked questions about edged tools, not just knives? Secondly, and much more importantly, if you can remember threads that you have found particularly informative can you post a link up on this thread? I reckon that links to good information are better than trying to write all the answers in a thread. Links don’t have to be just within this site, like the articles on Knifeart.
Is carbon steel better than stainless steel?
http://knifeart.com/steelfaqbyjo.html
http://knifeart.com/tabofdifstee.html
Types of steel
http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml
This is like asking are oranges better than apples. The simple answer is no, carbon steel isn’t better or worse than stainless. The real question is whether the knife you are looking at is made of a good grade of steel and whether that steel is suited to the use you want to put it to. In general carbon steel can make stronger knives which are more shock resistant and more flexible than stainless steel, but unless you are chopping and prying with a long blade that isn’t an issue. Knives used in the kitchen, or for cleaning fish, or for hunting, or anywhere that is very damp are going to hold up better as stainless steel, but plenty of people use carbon in exactly these conditions and manage with a bit more maintenance.
Hard steel is harder to sharpen than softer steel, high alloy steel is more wear resistant than low alloy and fine grained (properly heat treated) steel is easier to sharpen than co**** grained steel. There are hard low alloy carbon steels and very hard high alloy carbon steels used in knives, there are also very high alloy very fine grained stainless steels that are fairly easy to sharpen. Modern sharpeners, diamond and ceramic, as well as Japanese water stones make light of sharpening hard steel.
For a first bushcraft knife there are more high quality carbon bladed knives than there are quality stainless knives. The Moras are excellent, inexpensive knives, there are also many traditional puukos that won’t break the bank. When you are ready for a more expensive knife you will probably not need to ask what steel is better, its mostly a matter of preference and by then you will have a better idea of what you like.
Will stainless steel work on a firesteel.
Yes. Anything that is harder than a fire steel and has a sharp edge will strike sparks. The chromium content of the steel, that which makes it stainless or not, is irrelevant.
My knife won’t cast sparks from fire steel.
There are only three things that this could be.
1. Your knife’s spine does not have sharp enough corners on the spine. Use a file or a sharpening stone to grind the spine square. You are trying to machine (mechanically cut into) the ferro rod. Its no different really from a high speed saw or grinder throwing sparks as it cuts steel.
2. Your knife’s spine is too soft. If your knife has had a differential heat treatment to give it a hard cutting edge and a soft/springy back it may not be hard enough at the spine to throw really good sparks. The Kellam Wolverine and all other Precision Tempered blades fall into this category, as might some customs that are differentially tempered or hardened.
3. Your blade has a coating. If your blade has a baked on coating, or laquer to prevent rust you will have to remove it from the area of spine you want to use for striking sparks. See No 2 above. If you want to have the knife spine bite into the ferro rod you need a hard sharp corner. No coating. Some coatings are thin enough (those on Falknivens) that they move out of the way all my themselves when the spine is applied to the rod.
What folder should I get?
A slipjoint (non locking) folder with a three inch or less blade should be the first knife that you buy. A Swiss Army Knife (SAK), more than a multi-tool, is something that you can carry every day and use for a multitude of jobs. You might want to get a knife with a better blade steel than that used in a SAK. If you want it for everyday use then the Spyderco Penknive, or one of the stockman style knives from Queen Cutlery or Cold Steel will work. Before locking knives came along slip joints were often put to fairly hard use and can accomplish surprising things.
For real bushcraft a folder will have to be treated with care, few will hold up to anything like the abuse that even a cheap fixed blade knife can take. However, most of the time, in post places in the UK, a day in the country doesn’t require more than an unobtrusive folder.
Recommend a knife
This is like recommending a car. There are LOADs of good ones to choose from. People swear by the Mora and Opinel. Kellam Wolverines and Wildfinns are excellent, as is the range carried by Tregor. Allan Blade makes good working knives, as does Bark River. There are a host of people making or assembling knives over on British Blades, let along on US sites like BladeForums.
Where can I get a blade:
Try British Blades. www.britishblades.com
Try Brisa, https://www.brisa.fi/portal/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
How do I make a knife.
There is enough information out there in books and on the Net that you can go as deeply into the subject as you want. Here follow some links to the more useful sites that I have come across, there are doubtless many more.
Forums
www.britishblades.com
www.bladeforums.com
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/
Tutorials
One way of doing a hidden tang
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=23
And another
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=27
Here is a good tutorial by our own Klenchblaize on fitting slab handles. Entertaining AND informative
http://www.deerstalker.com/stalker2.htm
Nick Wheeler's tutorial for handle slabs, with photos.
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/cache/articles/nw1/scales1.htm
Mortice tangs. The same things can be done with files and sandpaper and sharp chisels
http://www.primosknives.com/articles/mortised_tangs/mortised_tangs_1.htm
Compendiums of articles and instructions
Bob Engnath’s site, gives step by step instructions on nearly all aspects of knife making.
http://www.engnath.com/public/manframe.htm
A little more advanced, info on making equipment too
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html
All you ever wanted to know about materials (almost)
http://ajh-knives.com/material.html
I can also thoroughly recommend Wayne Goddards books, The Wonder of Knifemaking and The $50 Knife Shop. The Barney & Loveless book How to Make Knives is also very good and shows how to make slightly better finished knives than those seen in the Goddard books (though the b/w photographs aren’t so clear).
How do I sharpen a knife?
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=99256&highlight=stroke#post99256
http://knifeart.com/sharfaqbyjoe.html
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26036
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11571
An excellent thread on setting up a cheap sharpening system using wet and dry paper.
Grind style / Blade Geometry
http://knifeart.com/bladgeomfaqb.html
http://knifeart.com/plainbyjoeta.html
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364248 possibly a bit too much of a debate
Legal FAQ Courtesy of Martyn and British Blades
http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8336
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