Baton a Zomstro?

G

Gun Doc

Joined
Oct 9, 2017
Messages
193
All,

I asked this over on the Becker sub-forum. I got a few answers, but not that many. Thought I would see if I could get a few more over here.

I am more of a saw user when it comes to cutting up stuff. This raises some interesting "energy expended" questions better left for another thread. Apart from that, another reason I favor a saw is because I don't chop enough to be accurate enough to suit me. For the same reason, I am a fan of batoning. I actually own a froe! But I also baton knives. I understand KA-BAR 1095 is quite tough, but the more expensive the knife, the more I hate to, using Ethan Becker's words, "club it." Things can happen, and some knives are not easily replaced.

So, with too much background already, I just jumped on a Zomstro at closeout price. How good is this thing for batoning? It is 1/4" thick 1095 Cro Van, which is good. But it is a deep, flat-ground blade. This means the blade might be a bit thin at the edge, meaning less robust, and that is not good. The blade might also be nice and "wedgie", but I don't know if that is a good thing. For one thing, it contributes to drag. Another point many don't consider is that froes, which are designed to be batoned (clubbed), tend to be thick, not deep, and dull ("dull as a froe" being an old saying.) Some believe that if the froe blade is shaped correctly, the wood is actually splitting "ahead" of the edge, meaning the edge is important only to start the process, and doesn't have much contact once the blade is fully in the wood. The shape of the Zomstro blade does not promote such a splitting action.

Anyway, short version: How well does the Zomstro baton?

Thanks all,
Gun Doc
 
it'll work just be, as always when batoning, careful... obviously no matter the knife i wouldn't baton knotted wood and try and use the woods weakness to your advantage
 
I have bayoned a couple times with mine. I consider it an excellent chopper. Among my all time favorites with blades that cost half a grand. However, it is a terrible tool for batoning. I assume it's a combination of the deep grind, thinness of the blade and how wide it is. But I used significantly more force to get it through the same wood I was able to put other knives through more easily.
 
scrappy said:
I have bayoned a couple times with mine. I consider it an excellent chopper. Among my all time favorites with blades that cost half a grand. However, it is a terrible tool for batoning. I assume it's a combination of the deep grind, thinness of the blade and how wide it is. But I used significantly more force to get it through the same wood I was able to put other knives through more easily.
Click to expand...

Scrappy,
Thanks for the reply. And thanks to others who have replied as well. I think I am learning (which makes sense if you give it some thought) that the characteristics of blade grind that make a good chopper are not the same that make a blade good at splitting by batoning. Carrying that concept a bit farther, a blade that excels at one of those tasks may be particularly poor at the other. This might explain your experience.
 
Gun Doc, in the case of the zomstro that may be true but there are edge geometries that make excellent choppers and the blade will still baton well. For example, a saber ground blade or a flat ground blade that isn't so long in blade height
 
I batoned once with mine. Once. It got stuck so bad in a 4" diameter piece of dry wood, I had to beat it at many different places to get it unstuck. Good chopper, not so great at batoning. The above statement has held true, I can baton my ZK war sword with far less effort, due to a not so wide blade, even full flat ground.
 
works well enough. you thicken the edge up some. convex even.

Buck makes a froe out of 5160 and 1/4 inch thick, with interesting angles. been told a few times it can't (or shouldn't) work well, by people that don't own one ;) funny. works well for me.

have a nice old froe too that works a treat...
 
....have a nice old froe too that works a treat...

Is it....a merry old froe, too?

My zomstro hangs on a nail inside my garage and gets pulled out for all sorts of chopping and wood processing. I have used it to cut strips off of wood, much like a froe but with considerably less force in the whacking due to needing thin strips.
 
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