Enzo blades

[IJ55]

Any links for these Enzo blades? would be appreciated as they sound really great and just what I am looking for.

 

[Chinkapin]

They are make in Finland. There are only a couple of people in the U.S. that sells them. The best source is the one mentioned above: Ben's Backwoods. As far as the U.K. is concerned, I do not know but I'm pretty sure I first read a mention of these on British Blades, so If they were discussing them, they must have had a source. The quality of these blades is so good and the handles, pins, etc. are first rate. Everything is made to fit with just enough wood and spacer for you to get a perfect fit, with a little sanding. Ben's has some instructions on his website as to how to put it together. Very minimal but all you need. Good luck finding one. Post back and let us know if you do so others might know. Thanks

 

[Bushcraft4life]

Any links for these Enzo blades? would be appreciated as they sound really great and just what I am looking for.

If you are in the UK you buy from here https://www.brisa.fi/portal/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Dennis, who runs and owns that site and is also a member here, designed the Enzo range, or some of them...can't quite remember

 

[Chinkapin]

Thanks for posting this Bushcraft4life. The only difference I can see is that the kit I got from Ben's backwoods comes semi-finished where the Brisa kits all contain the same things but are totally unfinished. This is either good or bad depending on your skill level and confidence.

Rapidboy who posted just above, showed some pics of kydex sheaths that he made for Mora Clippers on another thread once that were very nice and versatile. Who knows, IJ55, you might prevail on him to make up one for an Enzo. Good luck finding what you want. I went with the "trapper" as I thought it was the closest to what a bush knife ought to be. (IMHO)

 

[IJ55]

http://www.moonrakerknives.co.uk/kniveblades.htm

Found some beautiful blades here - I am aware that making my own 'home brew' is going to be a bit time consuming, but I would love a D2 bladed trapper with a lanyard hole.

So.. seems to me that this is the start of a very long,expensive and all consuming hobby.

I like it!

 

[Chinkapin]

IJ55: Both the O1 and the D2 "trapper" come with a lanyard hole already drilled. It is really not that expensive. When you are finished, you are going to have a knife that is very close or equals an expensive hand made one. FYI, I measured the lanyard hole at .250 inch or 6.25mm. You will need to know that measurement to get the proper hollow pin. Just spend the money! LOL.

 

[IJ55]

Hi Chinkapin - Yeah the good lady wife has said alls good for the funds to scope out a blade, set of scales and pins for a home brew project. Hope it goes well - guess i'll be reading all of the tutorials here and on BB about how to stat such a project.

Cheers folks.

 

[Chinkapin]

Hi IJ55 - Glad to see you quit messing around and went straight to the Top and got the O.K. to transfer some funds! LOL. I'm going to drive down from here in Kansas to Tulsa, Oklahoma, Saturday morning. I'm going to go the the Tulsa Gun Show. Three are always some vendors selling scales, pins, blades, etc. Usually at very good prices. I sure would like to take some of you Brits with me as It is quite an event to see. It is, of course, mostly guns, but here is the kicker: It is held in the Oil Exposition Building. This building was built to show large oil field equipment. It is eleven acres under one roof. 4000 tables. It will be filled with tables of vendors selling guns, knives, military gear, etc.

Anyway, I'm going to pick up some scales and some pins and hopefully, some lanyard pins for the trapper. If (and its a big if) I can find them I will mail you a lanyard pin. I'll pm you if I score one for the team.

 

[IJ55]

11 acres under one roof. Now thats class. Me thinks I will have to save my pennies and make a dash across one year just to see - thats if the USA doesn't go down the UK/Aus/NZ stupidity route and start banning guns whole sale.

4000 tables of shiny loveliness - the mind boggles it truely does.

A pin would be truely appreciated kind Sir. - Oh and yes, I always go through the Boss before using fundage. lol

 

[Chinkapin]

IJ55: Don't we all? I found an internet site here in the U.S. that has what we need, if I dont score at the gun show. They got 1/4 inch hollow rods (that is the measurement of the lanyard hole) in brass, stainless, and interestingly micarta. If I have to order from them what would be your choice material. None of them are expensive. (the damnable shipping rates will be more than the product!) They are sold by the foot, so you could get quite a few lanyard pins out of one. Let me know today if you can I'll try to find what you want at the show tomorrow. But I won't have time to check my computer tomorrow.

 

[IJ55]

Brass would be ideal please! that would look fabulous for what wood I have in mind.

I really appreciate this Chinkapin - very 'above and beyond' of you.

 

[Chinkapin]

IJ55: I didn't see your last post until I got back from Tulsa. So when I bought the lanyard tube, I didn't know what you wanted. Just took a wild guess and bought the old standard BRASS. So, I guess that worked out quite well. These 1/4 inch tubes are 1 foot long so you can get many pins out of one tube. Don't let the wife know! LOL. I tried it in my knife and it fit real snug. You may have to take some 400 grit emery paper and sand it down just a bit. I bought them from Janz, they are a big supplier of knife making equipment in the U.S. The man told me put a little epoxy on the tube before driving it into the handle and it would never come out.


PM me your post address and I will put it in the mail to you Monday.

 

[Javapuntnl]

I got an Enzo Trapper as well in D2 Steel with scandi grind. I love the feel of the knive, the weight and design, it takes a real good edge when sharpened but mine chips real easily as you can hopefully see in the pics below..
<a href="http://s583.photobucket.com/albums/ss277/javapuntnl/?action=view&current=DSCF5246.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss277/javapuntnl/DSCF5246.jpg" border="0" alt="enzo chip 1"></a>
<a href="http://s583.photobucket.com/albums/ss277/javapuntnl/?action=view&current=DSCF5246-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss277/javapuntnl/DSCF5246-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

This was after minimal and definately not abusive use on my first day in the woods with it. I contacted Dennis from Brisa and he told me he'd never had complaints about the knive before... I resharpened the knive twice but each time the same kind of nicks apeared in the blades edge.Dennis suggests to put a secondary bevel on it which I probably will do but I can't help feeling a bit disappointed with my Enzo experience...

Jacob V.

 

[Javapuntnl]

I got an Enzo Trapper as well in D2 Steel with scandi grind. I love the feel of the knive, the weight and design, it takes a real good edge when sharpened but mine chips real easily as you can hopefully see in the pics below..

This was after minimal and definitely not abusive use on my first day in the woods with it. I contacted Dennis from Brisa and he told me he'd never had complaints about the knife before... I resharpened the knife twice but each time the same kind of nicks appeared in the blades edge.Dennis suggests to put a secondary bevel on it which I probably will do but I can't help feeling a bit disappointed with my Enzo experience...

Jacob V.

 

[Spark]

Hi Javapuntnl, I too have the same issue with the D2 enzo. I've hardly used mine yet and have 2 nicks out of the edge already. I know D2 steel is quite a brittle steel but I didn't think the edge could be damaged so easily.

 

[Native Justice]

Gents, all due respect to Dennis being a nice guy and all but I don't think that steel has been heat treated properly. If it were mine, I'd request my money back or a replacement. Scandi's should be capable of handling a zero grind edge and Dennis shouldn't be advising a secondary bevel to "get by" with that steel. Your call ...

 

[rg598]

I don&#8217;t think the combination of D2 steel and scandi grind is ideal. D2 is a brittle steel to begin with. I have broken a D2 knife in the past (not an enzo) in cold weather. When combined with a thin edge like a scandi, chipping is a guarantee. I was thinking of getting an enzo camper kit, but when I saw that it only came in D2 I changed my mind. D2 makes for a hard edge, great for slicing, but can not handle any more serious use, especially with a scandi grind. Heat treating can help to some degree, but if you want to make D2 hard enough to be a great cutter, it will be brittle. It will not be as much of a problem on a thick edge like convex or a wide secondary bevel, but on a scandi designed with a very narrow cutting edge, you will have problems unless you are careful with the blade.

I don&#8217;t think however that that is an issue just with enzo knives. Any scandi grind that is ground to a narrow enough edge will face this problem. Some bushcraft knives of the woodlore variety are fairly thick and the edge is not as narrow, so the problem is not as serious. If you look at many puukkos however, they all face that problem. I recently bought a Kellam Wolverine, and the knife came wrapped in a piece of paper explaining that the edge will be damaged if you strike with the knife or force it through any hard wood. That being said, it slices great-it&#8217;s like a razor.

I don&#8217;t know about the specific blades shown above, maybe they are particularly brittle, but I don&#8217;t think the general problem can be avoided. Select a blade for the type of work you are going to do. I love my puukko, but I will not use it as a general bush knife. For that I need something a bit more robust.

If you look at the Brisa website, there is a review of the enzo trapper when compared to an RC3. Read the very end of the review, where the author discusses the drop test for the blades.

 

[Javapuntnl]

rg598,
So what do you think of Dennis' advise to grind a second bevel on the edge (quasi-quoting) "eventually creating a convex edge and keeping the characteristics of the scandi knife"... seems like it should do the trick...
As I understand it they didn't used to have the D2 steel with the scandi option but with a flat grind which seems to make more sense. They are offering the scandi option because they got a lot of request for it. Seems to me that wasn't a very good move and it kinda shows they knew better from the start...
I still really like the knife though, it is my first high quality non-chef's knife. Seems the secondary bevel will solve the edge problem. By the way, anybody have a suggestion of how to best get this bevel on a scandi using water stones?

Thanks

Jacob V.

 

[Native Justice]

Tenderfoot,
So what do you think of Dennis' advise to grind a second bevel on the edge (quasi-quoting) "eventually creating a convex edge and keeping the characteristics of the scandi knife"... seems like it should do the trick...
As I understand it they didn't used to have the D2 steel with the scandi option but with a flat grind which seems to make more sense. They are offering the scandi option because they got a lot of request for it. Seems to me that wasn't a very good move and it kinda shows they knew better from the start...
I still really like the knife though, it is my first high quality non-chef's knife. Seems the secondary bevel will solve the edge problem. By the way, anybody have a suggestion of how to best get this bevel on a scandi using water stones?

Thanks

Jacob V.

You can apply this secondary bevel easily by raising the knife to a higher angle on your stones. Many prefer a total angle of 30-45 deg for both sides. I'd select a 800 - 1200 grit stone to apply this bevel. Go light with modest pressure on your scandi grind, won't take much effort to get it where you want it. Check frequently. Strop when you're done.

You could also do what I have done and apply the bevel with a strop and use a more aggressive compound (I use excess slurry from my waterstones rubbed into some scrap leather). You'll be able to take your effort from a micro bevel to a more pronounced bevel the longer you strop.

Hope I've helped.

 

[littlebiglane]

Interesting. I have a D2 enzo trapper as my primary knife. I have had it a while now and it has not chipped. It is a scandi with a secondary though and this angle will stop the D2s rather large carbides ripping out of the matrix they are held in.

I would not buy D2 with a scandi zero because of this reason. D2 scandi with small secondary is a fine knife IMHO. But I guess I am not that tough on my knives?

I wonder if they have changed the heat treatment?