puukko vs RM style

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Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
one thing i like about damascus is, no matter how you beat it up, it still looks great and keeps its edge very well.

Totally agree about the look, well used damascus is lovely - especially if it wasn't etched to begin with. However, the edge retention is down to the quality of the components rather than the fact that it's damascus.

Good thread though. Personally, I can't stand woodlores, in profile or geometry. If I were to take a woodlore, I'd be throwing any finesse out the window anyway, so I'd rather just take a leuku, which is invariably better and chopping and splitting anyway. IMO, while I can see the 4mm thickness helping with splitting, I think that it's utterly bizarre to choose 4mm for strength.

My ideal knife is an Enzo 95 Nordic, in 105, 110 or 115mm instead. The blade is 3.5mm thick IIRC, but with a very high grind giving much better geometry (IMO) than the woodlore, and the edge retention problem of the acute edge is fixed by the small secondary bevel. There's very little drop, which I really prefer, and the threaded nut on the tang makes the thing lock solid, particularly when epoxied. It works excellently on its own, but I would love to see a narrower version in 3mm, to make it better for finer tasks when coupled with an axe or leuku.

And seeing as I didn't mention before, I will always take stick tangs over full tang.

Pete
 

Siberianfury

Native
Jan 1, 1970
1,534
6
mendip hills, somerset
enzos are great,
full tang vs stick tang, i dont realy mind, ill take either as long as its strong enough.
i dont like woodlores either, the spear point is hard to use for fine tasks, and ive never realy needed to "bore" into wood anyway, and if i did an upswept would do the job fine.

the Damascus on my knife is quite high carbon so it holds a decent edge.

hopefully soon ill be receiving another bernie garland knife, with a 3mm blade, scandi grind and upswept profile, ill do a youtube reveiw when it arrives and i recover from the excitment!! :D

the only advantage of 4mm is control and splitting (which it excels at)
its finre for cutting as long as the grinds good, but 3mm will always be better for slicing with the same grind.
atb
josh
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
enzos are great,
full tang vs stick tang, i dont realy mind, ill take either as long as its strong enough.
i dont like woodlores either, the spear point is hard to use for fine tasks, and ive never realy needed to "bore" into wood anyway, and if i did an upswept would do the job fine.
I agree, the gentler curve of a spear point doesn't sit right with me, and when holding the knife in hand, thumb-pushing with the left hand, it feels bizarre to me. And similarly, for the number of holes I find myself having to bore (not very many :p ) a straight spine is a fine compromise IMO.

the Damascus on my knife is quite high carbon so it holds a decent edge.

hopefully soon ill be receiving another bernie garland knife, with a 3mm blade, scandi grind and upswept profile, ill do a youtube reveiw when it arrives and i recover from the excitment!! :D
You're a lucky man, I wish I could afford a BG knife! What do you mean by upswept out of curiosity? Straight spine, or where the spine actually curves outwards (opposite to a drop)?

the only advantage of 4mm is control and splitting (which it excels at)
its finre for cutting as long as the grinds good, but 3mm will always be better for slicing with the same grind.
atb
josh

Yeah, height of grind is always a big factor, it just seems like a lot of extra metal for very little gain to me.

Pete
 

Siberianfury

Native
Jan 1, 1970
1,534
6
mendip hills, somerset
I agree, the gentler curve of a spear point doesn't sit right with me, and when holding the knife in hand, thumb-pushing with the left hand, it feels bizarre to me. And similarly, for the number of holes I find myself having to bore (not very many :p ) a straight spine is a fine compromise IMO.


You're a lucky man, I wish I could afford a BG knife! What do you mean by upswept out of curiosity? Straight spine, or where the spine actually curves outwards (opposite to a drop)?



Yeah, height of grind is always a big factor, it just seems like a lot of extra metal for very little gain to me.

Pete

hi pete,
by upswept, i mean the puukko blade profile, with a straight spine, makes it alot easyer to control the knife when using it, plus it gives the knife more belly thus increasing cutting ability. and grinds are also a big factor, the woodlores is far too small for a 4mm, think its like 6mm high, whereas i prefer 8mm plus on both thickness. as far as tangs go, i find a full tang easyer to trust from the outset, yet once ive tested a stick tang, im happy :)

ATB
Josh
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,995
4,646
S. Lanarkshire
Those high grinds chip more easily.....a deep thin edge. That's one reason why the convex grind is oftimes preferred.

British Red, that is one beautiful knife :D


cheers,
Toddy
 

Siberianfury

Native
Jan 1, 1970
1,534
6
mendip hills, somerset
Those high grinds chip more easily.....a deep thin edge. That's one reason why the convex grind is oftimes preferred.


cheers,
Toddy

thats why i slightly conxex the edge, like a micro bevel, doesnt effect cutting but makes the edge stronger. then again its all down to steel type and the temper, certain steels chip alot more readily than others wth the same geometry and HRC. i prefer to have a grind between 8mm to 14mm. in 4mm steel a 6mm or lower grind doesnt bit in quite so well and tends to roll off the work peice.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,995
4,646
S. Lanarkshire
The tempering is a real issue too, Buck knives that some folks love, are so hard they can snap. It does save on the sharpening much though :rolleyes:

Micro bevels can be a pain to keep in order on a knife that gets a lot of use.

cheers,
Toddy
 

Siberianfury

Native
Jan 1, 1970
1,534
6
mendip hills, somerset
The tempering is a real issue too, Buck knives that some folks love, are so hard they can snap. It does save on the sharpening much though :rolleyes:

Micro bevels can be a pain to keep in order on a knife that gets a lot of use.

cheers,
Toddy

i own a few buck knives, one with a very thin edge, "omni hunter" it was initialy intended for skinning, however its a bit on the large side for rabbits so i use it as a camp knife, it does this very well, ive chopped, battoned through knotty oak, dropped on pebbles and even used the knife to pry with. anyway the most damage ive had has been a small nick on the tip, when i cut through a hazel branch and hit a stone, this nick was then quickly sharpned out with a DC4, thuis knife holds a great edge, but with the hard use ive put it to, i doubt it would snap.

As for micrbevels, i find them vewry easy to maitain, all you need to do is apply pressure more towards the edge at a slightly steeper angle than the grind, alternativly you can use a hone steel.

ATB
Josh
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,995
4,646
S. Lanarkshire
Having seen three broken Buck knives I'm no fan. I reckon they 'need' that replacement guarantee they brag about :D

Just my opinion you understand :cool:

cheers,
Toddy
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,995
4,646
S. Lanarkshire
All of them had lost their tips, one a good 3cms in, and one had two deep chips in the edge too.

Sorry Josh, no idea of which models, I just saw 'Buck' and thought, "Nasty", when I saw them. Their owners might see this thread and comment though.

cheers,
Toddy
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
Toddy, regarding microbevels, could you clarify what you mean by a pain to keep in order? Just curious as I use them on all my scandis and while I've heard complaints about their impact on woodcarving (my sloyd is excluded from "all my scandis :p ) I'd not heard complaints about maintenance. I made a small strop out of a bit of leather glued to a 6" section of a steel ruler that does the job quite nicely for out n about touching up :)

I had heard about the Buck thing too, from what I've heard they seem to use the cheapest steel available and HT the bejesus outta it :rolleyes:
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,995
4,646
S. Lanarkshire
You know, only a busy man (who's building a new kitchen :cool: ) could forget a Stu Mitchell kitchen knife :eek:

Draven I suspect I ought to have made myself clear.........I don't think of honing and stropping as 'sharpening', I think of sharpening as slightly more aggressive use of stones or files.......I strop my knives all the time but I rarely sharpen......is that clearer ?

Micro bevels on a Scandi......and Josh said that he used convex ones.....yeah that would be fun to re-establish on a sharpened knife.

cheers,
Toddy
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
theyre not too bad realy, you just need to slightly modify the way you sharpen.
ist second nature after a while

Feel the same, my first attempts at microbevels didn't work at all, but once I got the hang of it I didn't look back - different strokes for different folks of course!

I tend to find that finishing on high-grit sandpaper over mousemat, at a slightly increased angle with very light pressure puts a nice secondary on, or just stropping on a relatively soft (mine is thin leather stretched over mouse mat glued to wood) hone will do the trick, all depending on knife stats and purpose of knife of course.

Pete
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,728
1,974
Mercia
You know, only a busy man (who's building a new kitchen :cool: ) could forget a Stu Mitchell kitchen knife :eek:

True :eek:

Mind you Sean offered to put the scales on as time permitted for me and he's been busier than me what with one thing and another. Life just gets in the way of fun some times.

Still BB finished another pair of kitchen curtains tonight (woohoo) and the first coat of paint is on the kitchen.....

Its a bit green though......

I thought a nice heritage green would look good......but man is it green!!

Red
 

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