adv/disadvantages to a scandi grind?

[cbach8tw]

I am getting a scandi ground knife, I know what it is, but I do not have any experience with a scandi grind, so what are your thougts about this kind of grind, examples please. I know it is a matter of preference so I am getting one to try, so I appreciate any advice.:thumbup:

 

[Sulaco]

They are easy to keep sharp because of the very large bevels. They aren't the best slicers and since the cutting edge tapers pretty thin, don't have a ton of strength like say, a full convex grind. But they are good enough for normal use in my opinion. I am not a huge fan and generally just put a micro-bevel on mine anyway because it's easier for me to keep up with them this way given my method of sharpening. But in a pinch, it's nice to know you can get one sharp on a concrete block!

 

[brets-ftw]

they are pretty nice grinds IMO. though any major chipping and youll have one hell of a night trying to get it out, scandis are great for people who arent used to freehand sharpening because of the large bevel

 

[Poez]

Come on people, make up your minds - are they easy to sharpen, or you can get one hell of a night trying get it right and it is better to have a micro-bevel on them for easier sharpening...
They are not easy to sharpen properly. You have to remove more steel than for any other grind, and you have to keep it really steady. The most difficult is to resist the temptation to make it convex or put a micro-bevel...
They are good for cutting wood and meat. But you will certainly not see many chief's knives with that kind of grind.
Otherwise - use the seach. I guess the same kind of topic was here just about 2 weeks ago. I think there should be plenty of wisdom already stored somewere down the list.

 

[CWL]

They are not easy to sharpen properly. You have to remove more steel than for any other grind, and you have to keep it really steady. The most difficult is to resist the temptation to make it convex or put a micro-bevel...

To each their own, that's why there are so may kinds of knives, but are you serious?

"Scandi" grinds have been around for centuries (millenia?) and have been carried by peoples from Scandinavia through Russia and the Arctic and probably all throughout Asia. I doubt that any of these people carried a pane of glass and sheets of emory paper around with them, but they still managed to keep & use these knives in sub-zero living environments.

 

[Thalestin]

they are pretty good for wood working types of tasks. I think this is the reason you see them on many bushcrafters belts. Overall I find the grind easy enough to sharpen but as mentioned, chips can be a real pain the the butt. Personally, they are not my favorite grind, but they arent a deal breaker either. I like the traditional aspects of the grind for sure.

 

[Nealgl1985]

Like a flat grind, the bevel begins at the spine and proceeds downward in a linear fashion toward the edge. The difference though is the knife has no secondary bevel and the grind proceeds to a zero edge. These knives can be made the sharpest of all and are also easy to resharpen. When sharpening a Scandanavian grind, the blade is laid upon the stone without tilting or raising and the entire bevel is worked at once. The edge is more delicate as it is thinner, but the advantage in sharpness makes up for it unless harder use is needed. This is straight off of knives town.com

 

[Alberta Ed]

My Scandi by Ivan Campos (handled by Kris Klammer of Edmonton, Alberta) in 1070 is one of my sharpest knives. The 1070 steel is very tough and I haven't had any issues with chipping. It slices beautifully IMHO.

 

[hiwa]

My Skookum Bush tool and Spyderco Bushcraft in G-10 have no problems either. You can put a micro-bevel on them if your going to put them to heavy service , but I've also had no edge problems with the zero-bevel.

 

[I be he]

If you are going to use it like a knife should be utilized, you will like it. If you think this is a hard use, high speed low drag fantasy crap, youll be replaceing it.

 

[HoosierQ]

One of the reasons for the scandi grind, as I understand it, is the ability to sharpen it with very simple tools. One can sharpen a scandi pretty well with a very small stone by moving up and down the length of the blade rather than the way we all do now. This would allow hunters and fishermen and herdsmen to sharpen one on a flat rock. Plus the scandi, once ground to full zero is indeed very acute. One can then, in the field, again with simple tools, strike a quick micro-bevel on there that itself is pretty accute. I have a couple of Moras that I use harder than the others and on them, I struck a 30 inclusive micro bevel with the Sharpmaker 30 degree "back bevel" slots. That's still a pretty acute edge.

Scandis are made to be used and maintained and with what I have (DMT diamond plates) it is not hard to get that whole bevel back to zero when the time comes. I will admit that would be a wrist aching chore with an Arkansas stone.

I like the scandi but I have sabers and ffg knives too. I cannot say any one is better than another.

 

[Poez]

To each their own, that's why there are so may kinds of knives, but are you serious?

"Scandi" grinds have been around for centuries (millenia?) and have been carried by peoples from Scandinavia through Russia and the Arctic and probably all throughout Asia. I doubt that any of these people carried a pane of glass and sheets of emory paper around with them, but they still managed to keep & use these knives in sub-zero living environments.

Why? I did not say it is hard... I did not even mention there any glass and sheets of emory paper - you have lost me there man, I do not know what it was about.
....
Well, I have just edited my post. I do not really want to make an argument about it.
I have used my Mora carpenter's knife on making holes in a ventilation duct - was adding a couple of vents yesterday. Could not sharpen a pencil with that knife after because the edge rolled. Now I do have some sharpening to do. If I had an micro-bevel that would take just a couple of minutes...
Sharpening ease is not the reason for the scandi grind. Not at all. And the talk about micro-bevels and some hell of nights - just show it. That's all.

 

[CWL]

They are not easy to sharpen properly.

I would say that is stating "hard to sharpen".

If you touch-up your knives like you should, you'll never need to do a major resharpening. You don't need to remove much steel at all. I have Scandis over 10 years old plus some that I've purchased 2nd hand, and they aren't much smaller than when new. All are hair popping sharp and would last for decades of daily use. Not difficult at all.

 

[yablanowitz]

Just don't drop your knife, especially on gravel. Spyderco O-1 at 20° (the edge angle on my BushcraftUK) does not deal well with rocks. Sharpening out that damage by taking the whole surface of both sides down takes some time. Not terribly difficult, but it does require removing more steel than the same task on a full flat or saber grind blade with a secondary bevel.

The scandi grind was one of those things I didn't think I'd like, but for some types of woodwork, it does quite well.

 

[Poez]

I would say that is stating "hard to sharpen".

If you just look at the second post, you will notice how it starts: "They are easy to keep sharp..." I was sort of answering that: "They are not easy to sharpen..." - so here comes our little misunderstanding. I hope you see that I did not exactly say "hard to sharpen" - did not mean that.
And you did not answer my question - is the scandi grind easier to sharpen compared to any other kind? What is your many years experience?
No need to carry on arguing about the point that actually was not there in the first place. What you are saying is absolutely correct and equally absolutely would apply to a knife with any other grind as well. Though I would also agree with those here who mentioned that there might be some extra challenge if the adge on scandi grind has happened to roll or chip. If it did - my personal experience is that there is a temptation to go for a shortcut - make a convex or a micro-bevel... What is your opinion there?
My apologies for the awkward wording again. I think you can guess that the English is not my mother's tongue.

 

[Amon81]

I have about 15 knifes and 12 of them are scandi.

I LOVE the grind. I'm a bushcrafter so most of my needs involve cutting wood. With a O1 4" scandi knife there is nothing I can't make, faster than say a flatground knife. I've also found if you want to be precise when carving the grind is better than convex.

The grind is great for eating through wood and I've found on my lekku (8" razor sharp scandi) it chops well too and splits better than a flat grind aswell (though I use an axe or hatchet normally). If you practice you can get them shaving sharp with something simple like a DC 3 of 4. When I'm out and about I take a DC3 and keep a strop in my bag, it's all I need. At home I use Japanese water stones, if you do it properly you don't need to take loads off the edge when sharpening. Infact other than the first time I sharpened them using a 800 grit stone to take off the marking of the beltsander marking on the bevel I've only ever used 1200 and 6000 to sharpen them. I've said it before and I'll say it again, STROP! Most the time, even out in the field you can normally bring the edge back without the need of a stone.

The only real downside I can think of is food prep. Cutting up a steak is easy, but as most are about 3mm thick slicing anything thin isn't the fastest thing in the world (although say a 1mm Mora it's easy). But thats why I carry a folding knife, the fixed scandi for any tasks and the folder for food.

 

[Sulaco]

I use a 911 Mora as my "yard knife". My wife and I have a jungle for a backyard which requires constant pruning, cutting, clearing, etc. It's a designed landscape, not just a mess of plants. Anyway, one of them, a Wisteria vine (beautiful, bit prolific grower), happened to have grown over some concrete blocks I had down behind a privacy fence. I laid the vines against the blocks when cutting them and later, noticed there were some good nicks in the edge. I decided to go ahead and put a secondary bevel on it with my SharpMaker which strengthened the edge considerably. I haven't used it again since, but I am certain the edge will stand up to much more abuse now that there is more steel backing up the point where the two sides meet.

I am sure Scandi's have their pro's, but they don't seem to perform very well for me in actual use.

 

[Sulaco]

I have about 15 knifes and 12 of them are scandi.

I LOVE the grind. I'm a bushcrafter so most of my needs involve cutting wood. With a O1 4" scandi knife there is nothing I can't make, faster than say a flatground knife. I've also found if you want to be precise when carving the grind is better than convex.

The grind is great for eating through wood and I've found on my lekku (8" razor sharp scandi) it chops well too and splits better than a flat grind aswell (though I use an axe or hatchet normally)..

I've actually found a full convex grind to work better for me for most of my wood related tasks. It seems to grab and remove much more material than a Scandi grind. Just my experience though. My Fallkniven F1 is a wood-eating machine compared to any Scandi grind I've used before.

 

[foxx]

Thing is, I've seen variations of both convex and scandi grinds. So, not all convex are the same, nor are all scandi grinds the same.
The Bark River STS-3 was a very tall blade with a thin convex grind, it cut through wood better than my Bravo-1. It's just the geometry.

So, we can't always compare the two grinds, we can only compare two specific knives with their own grinds.

My Fiddleback Nessmuk has an awesome edge for wood cutting. I don't use it hard, that's why I carry a hatchet or machete. That FB is 1/8" thick, and isn't good for food prep, apples and veggies just get split not sliced. Maybe a thinner blade with a scandi would be better for food, but still not what they were made to excel at.

 

[CWL]

If you just look at the second post, you will notice how it starts: "They are easy to keep sharp..." I was sort of answering that: "They are not easy to sharpen..." - so here comes our little misunderstanding. I hope you see that I did not exactly say "hard to sharpen" - did not mean that.
And you did not answer my question - is the scandi grind easier to sharpen compared to any other kind? What is your many years experience?
No need to carry on arguing about the point that actually was not there in the first place. What you are saying is absolutely correct and equally absolutely would apply to a knife with any other grind as well. Though I would also agree with those here who mentioned that there might be some extra challenge if the adge on scandi grind has happened to roll or chip. If it did - my personal experience is that there is a temptation to go for a shortcut - make a convex or a micro-bevel... What is your opinion there?
My apologies for the awkward wording again. I think you can guess that the English is not my mother's tongue.

I like all my knives sharp, hair-popping, scary sharp.
I have hundreds of knives and a workbench drawer full of pretty-much every different sharpening system available over the past 20 years, not to mention a belt sander and grinder/buffer, but the 2 items I use most are strips of 800-1200 grit emory paper for Scandi bevels and a leather strop for everything else. By touching up my work & kitchen knives after every use, I haven't needed to do any major sharpening on any of them. I only break-out the sharpeners if I want to re-profile a knife, or if it came NIB with a horrible edge. Luckily, I haven't encountered a Scandi knife that has ever needed more than a quick edge polish.