A question on Mora's and a question on Scandi grinds

J

jeff_c

Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
725
I know, its probably been asked a million times here.

Thoughts on Moras?

Im down stairs playing with my knives, enjoying the stove and I was just practicing some bushcraft "cuts", notches, tips things like that.

I mean, that 10.00 Mora sure is nice! I dont know that I would baton with it, but thats kind of a last resort to me...

So Im holding my RAT RC3 and this Mora... is the Rat really worth almost 10 times more?

Now on to the Grind. Im looking at my Rat, and is it not technically a scandi grind? To me the definition of a scandi grind is that it makes one angle turn... doesnt my Rat do that as well?(picture is my RC4).

Cost in Rats about 200.00+ (rc3-4 and Izula)
Cost in Moras is about 19.00 for two.

standard.jpg


standard.jpg
 
I baton with my mora. Fear not! You'll definitely get your $10 out of it. Nice sheath
 
Mora's will take a baton just swell. If I was starting all over again I'd pocket my dough and and just go with few different moras.
 
Last edited:
I love my Mora 711. It's the most comfortable handle I think I own.

On the grind, no because the total thickness of the stock is thinned from the spine down on a RAT, then the secondary grind makes the edge - that's a Flat grind. Scandi is when the thickness of the stock remains the same until it starts the edge angle. Hopefully that sort of made sense...
 
jeff_c said:
Now on to the Grind. Im looking at my Rat, and is it not technically a scandi grind? To me the definition of a scandi grind is that it makes one angle turn... doesnt my Rat do that as well?(picture is my RC4).
Click to expand...

A scandi grind has flat <PARALLEL> sides and a single wide bevel.They are equally wide at the spine and at the top of the bevel. That RC4 is flat ground, but it is wider at the spine than at the top of the edge bevel.

Remmm beat me to it.
 
I have an RC-4 and a couple moras, they're all good knives but I think the RC-4 would need more skill to make and is overall a better quality knife with better quality parts.
They're both sharp pieces of metal so they work the same way, basically they're both knives and made to cut things and they both do a fine job at that in their own ways but I think what sets them apart price wise is the build quality rather than what the user can achieve with it. Does that make the RC-4/3 worth so much more? Well I think it makes them worth somewhat more but there's a limit to how good a knife can get before they're just ripping you off.
I think the Rats are actually priced fairly well if you buy from a dealer. They're comparatively priced with other similar knives, made from similar materials, whereas a mora is a stick tang blade with a moulded plastic handle. Sure you can do alot with it but would you pay $100 for a mora? Probably not, because for that kind of money you'd expect a nicer looking knife, finished well and made with better materials (kind of like an RC-4 really...).

As far as the grind goes, if you base it just on how many bevels there are on the blade then you could say that they're both scandi grinds, but I think it also matters where those bevels are on the blade and what other features make them different. I consider a scandi grind a knife that's flat before the first bevel then it changes once and goes straight to the edge. Sometimes it doesn't even go straight to the edge because it has a secondary micro bevel as well to make it stronger, but does that make it a sabre grind? Well if you think that a sabre grind is just a blade with two bevels then you could say that, but again it matters where that change of angles occurs which makes that bevel larger or smaller than that of other grinds.

So basically what I'm saying is that you can't think of it so technically, you just have to see it with your own eyes so you can tell the differance.
 
Wow guys, that DOES make sense... thanks for the clarification on the grinds.

Man, you guys are good!
 
Well, it's been explained twice, but I'll do it again, if maybe a different perspective helps.

If you look at your RC-4 you'll see a "shoulder" right above the letters "RC-4" That is the first bevel, but it is hard to see since it is coated with the rest of the blade, and the second bevel turns into the edge. A scandi grind has only one bevel, when the steel starts getting narrower it keeps the same angle until it gets to the edge.

As you can see in this picture, the rc4 is a "full flat", it starts its angle and at the very end has another steeper angle that forms the edge.
grinds2.jpg


fullflat.jpg



Personally, I don't think the RC-4 is worth the price over the Mora, but that is personal preference, as I do think that there are other scandi knives that are worth a lot more than the mora. But that's because I like scandi's and a thick stock, thick edge knife like the RC-4 would be worthless to me.

P.S. Go ahead and baton. If you do it properly, you shouldn't have a problem at all. If you do it wrong and break it, you're only out $10. I baton mine all the time, and haven't broken one yet.
 
If my home made mora can take batoning, I'm sure the originals are fine. Especially since mine is thinner (0.05" vs. 3/32") and much harder (65 HRc vs. ~57-59 HRc). Mine was a full length half tang at the time, ie. a full length tang in a slotted handle with the tang half the width of the handle. It was only held on by epoxy and batoned well and dug through a 1x8 with no tip damage. Technique plays a big role.
 
Moras can baton, and can do it quite well for their size. Now, as for are the ESEE knives worth 10 times that? I believe so, but that depends on the individual. Each person is different with what they want/need out of a knife.

As far as grinds, that has been covered well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top