Wilkinson Sword/Allan Wood Woodlore Knives

[gurushaun]

Wayne

Give Alan a ring or email him, he is a nice guy. IIRC he recommends the Sharpmaker and used to sell them at one time.

Cheers

Shaun

 

[Hoodoo]

I would recommend sharpening the blade almost exactly as described by Mears in his book Bushcraft. This is done by laying the entire bevel flat on a stone. I like to hold the handle loosely and place one or two fingers of my other hand directly on the bevel opposite the stone. This keeps the blade flat on the stone. Then move the blade smoothly down the stone (forward or backward). I sharpen one region of the blade at a time. Mears gives a final touch to his edge by running it down a set of crockstick. Not a bad idea for a field knife. If you run it lightly on fine crocksticks, this will remove the wire edge and little or no stropping is required. If you run it a bit more on crocksticks, this will give you a small bevel on the main edge, which will be more robust but not as effective for woodcarving.

If you don't sharpen the entire bevel, you will eventually end up with a very thick edge and then you will have a lot of work to do to bring the main bevel down again.

 

[Wayne]

Thanks for the advice guys seems i have a lot to learn.

Wayne.

 

[Doc]

Thanks for the info on the terminology Col. With my scientific background, I like to use the right names for things. I think I've heard the term 'sabre grind' used for Scandinavian knives before.


I wonder about testing sharpness. I hear different things. Mors Kochanski (who certainly comes over in his writings as a man with practical knowledge) suggests painlessly shaving wet forearm hair. (OK - hands up all of us with bald forearms....?) However, playing around sharpening the Opinel, I find that I can get the blade to this level of sharpness, but it doesn't stay sharp long. Maybe too steep a bevel?

 

[Colin KC]

Yah Doc, sounds right, I'd recommend an included angle about equal to a relaxed "two finger salute" (@ 40o)

A good way of testing is to rest the edge on a fingernail & draw backwards (not slice, drag, edge trailing) the edge should grip, not slip

 

[sargey]

hands up all of us with bald forearms

do we only hold one hand up if we only have one bald forearm???

calf muscles are looking a bit thin on the insulation dept, does that count?

:shock:

cheers, and.

 

[Martyn]

Any advice on grinding these grind marks out then?
Whats the advantage/disadvantage of the flat grind & 0 bevel against the secondary one that's on the Micarta knife. Will the edge last longer or be stronger?

Any comments appreciated as I'm new to waterstones and don't want to ruin my knife by getting carried away with my grinding. :-?

Just so we all know what we're talking about here, I've drawn a quick pic...

Blade "A" is like the maple WS knife, and also the Alan Wood woodlore, it has a single bevel with 0 edge, that means that the big flat edge bevels go all the way right to the sharp bit. Knife "B" has two big primary bevels, and a small secondary edge bevel - this is what my WS micarta blade was like. It was sharp, but not ideal. You can either sharpen the secondary edge bevels, but the knife will be much better if you grind these secondary bevels away, so that the edge profile looks like blade "A". Please examine your knife edge carefully to see if it looks like A or B. If it looks like A, then you're almost home, but if it looks like B, there is some work to do (Col, what did you get?). Can we take a quick census as to what your micarta edge looks like? Mine had a secondary edge, like knife "B" but that doesn't necessarily mean they all do.

 

[martin]

Yep bald forearms and calf muscles here too! Forearms are for your knife, calf muscles are for your Granny B. Or you could buy a sharp checker from Razors Edge.

 

[johnboy]

Hi,

My Micarta Woodlore knife had a type 'A' bevel.

cheers

John

 

[Colin KC]

Yah Boss, mine's a zero edge too :-D

 

[JohnB]

Mine had the vertical grind lines exactly as in Martyn's picture, and, I think, a very small secondary bevel - it was also blunt, as think I mentioned before, so it's single bevel now.

 

[Martyn]

Hmmm, a disparity of results - a quality control issue perhaps?

 

[sargey]

all the cheapo WS knives were ground by apprentices, so it's pot luck wether they got it right or not

but they've got to learn somehow.

cheers, and.

 

[Colin KC]

all the cheapo WS knives were ground by apprentices, so it's pot luck wether they got it right or not

but they've got to learn somehow.

cheers, and.

's not so much as apprentices, as "bunging them all inna bin & sorting them, when we've re-tooled & decided on quality within the noprth/south divide/ whoever pisses us off

 

[Doc]

Just seen an Alan Wood Woodlore knife go for £240 on ebay. Yikes.

20% increase in value in 9 months. Maybe a good investment, so long as you don't actually use it!

 

[Tony]

The guy really wanted one right now

 

[Hoodoo]

Hey guys, I'd like to hear more about your WS Woodlore knives. I may be writing a magazine article on this and I'd like to hear more comments, good or bad. Anyone have any comments on edge holding? Ergonomics?

 

[Martyn]

In the middle of writing up a review at the moment. I'll give you a shout when it's done. But I would also like to hear more from people about the micarta knife - has anyone actually got one with a smooth ground bevel, with zero edge? It seems they all come with the vertical grind lines, and some have a secondary bevel, some dont.

 

[johnboy]

Mine came with the vertical grind lines but with the type 'A' bevel.

I seem to remember from my engineering days a rough surface finish when grinding was the by product of either excessive feed rate when machining or the grinding wheel being badly dressed.
Maybe if WS were in a bit of a rush to get the first batch completed. They cut a few corners?? It'll be interesting to see how the second batch of Micarta knifes turns out as presumably the pressure on WS won't be so great to deliver this second batch? Or perhaps the grind lines are just the way the cheaper Micarta knives will be as I guess they're very much made to a price point.

I think the knife is great. Its solid, well constructed and mine was ok sharpness wise when it arrived. I've used it a fair bit since it arrived carved a couple of spoons, split some billets of wood lit a few fires using it and the fire steel and it's stood up really well but I've only had it a short while. The sheath it came with is pretty good too holding the knife securely and it seems well made also.

I guess the idea behind it was to produce an affordable alternative to the Alan wood custom knife which woodlore offer with a strong emphasis on the knife being tough and well made down to a price rather than cosmetically perfect and a show item. I think that woodlore and wilkinson sword have suceeded in that.

Obviously they noticed a gap in the market and have produced a product to fill it, that the first batch of Micarta knifes seems to have sold out would point to the fact that they have suceeded.

Cheers

John

 

[Martyn]

I think that's fair comment John. The WS knives have taklen a bit of a bashing, a lot of it from me and you are right to point out the positives. I think the criticisms come from a knife design which is well understood and already used by many in the form of the Alan Wood model. I think there were high expectations from WS with this knife, and I think it fell short of those expectations, but that doesnt mean it isn't a good knife.

If the knife was produced as a "never seen before" blade, I think we would all be raving about it. There are issues of consistency, not all the knives are ground the same, some have 0 bevels, some have secondary bevels - that really "should" be put right - and hopefully, it will now the pressure is off WS to get em out the door.

The grind marks aren't really an issue, the knife will do as advertised in whatever form it arrives, it's just that ideally, the edge would be stone finished, single bevel with 0 edge. If you dent get that, that doesnt mean you have a faulty knife, just that if you want your blade in that configuration, with that level of perfection, which does seem to be most popular, then you have to work on it yourself.

For $95 you get a superb working knife. The leather sheath is well made (though I would like more than a single row of stiches securing the belt loop), the handle is spot on for field use (micarta is hard to beat in this respect), the blade is well made and the relatively minor issue of edge grind, would resolve itself over time with normal use sharpening anyway. The finish isn't "perfect" when put under the microscope - not by custom cutlery standars - and some would argue that for £95 is damn well should be - and they may be right. But if you buy the knife for field work, are you really all that bothered about this. It doesnt detract from the functionality of the blade at all - it makes it a little less pretty under close examination, but who cares? It's gonna get ulgier over time anyway.

Swings and roundabouts. The knife is produced as a functional working blade at a reasonable price point. For purists, the finish may be inadequate, but if you're that concerned about fit & finish, get the Alan Wood model. For those who just want to get down 'n dirty with a good working tool, this knife fits the bill perfectly well.