Blade profile on Busse SH

iht@intekom.co.za · Jul 22, 2006

Nearly made up my mind to buy my first Busse. - hopefully when the next round of Steel Heart comes out. I intend using it for camping trips and as such it will be used to prepare food as well as more robust chores. Does anyone have a picture of the edge profile - is it thin enough to be a decent slicer as well as a solid chopper? In South Africa I will never get my hands on a blade to see before purchasse so reading posts and asking questions when a search doesn't quite help (and yes I have read Cliff Stamps review)
Many thanks in advance

Cobalt · Jul 22, 2006

The std FSH is nearly a 2 inch wide blade at 0.22 inch thickness. That is about as thin a profile as a big knife should have. They can slice quite well with the right edge.

You should look in the sale forums. There are a couple available right now. :thumbup:

Mulder · Jul 22, 2006

I thought that the thickness of the FSH line was as follows.

FSH = .250
HH = .270
HOFSH = .3125
MOASH = .34+

piglet dave

smithsnoh · Jul 22, 2006

hopefully when the next round of Steel Heart comes out

That could be a looong wait.

As Cobalt says, there are a couple on the for sale forum now, there have also been several this past 2 weeks, so they are available. As you probably know, there are a number of variants of the popular SH (which I am still trying to sort out) including blade thicknesses as Mulder has noted.

smithsnoh · Jul 22, 2006

Although I just noted that it looks like you may be outside the US/Canada from your registration name. That may make it a bit less easy but not impossible to do transactions with individual forum members in the US. You could also post your wants on the "wanted to buy" forum. Worked well for me.

Good luck.

iht@intekom.co.za · Jul 22, 2006

yep, it is a problem. I live in South Africa and most of the knives one sees coming up on ebay say shipping to US only. Pity as I have a good experience of knives arriving safe and sound here from the US. Tool or Edged Tool seems to help it through customs and mobody is fussed about big blades - even if they are stuck on the end of a long piece of wood with some feathers.
Quite happy to wait - as can't get the cash together currently. I emailed the Busse website and they said a couple of months was likely which would suit me well.

Broos · Jul 22, 2006

I have thinned the factory edge on my user Busse's that I use for purposes similar to what you mentioned. The factory edge can take a lot of abuse, and is a good profile for real hard use. The edges on my users have been thinned a lot, have held up very well, and will slice a tomato after beating on hardwood. Get one, and if you want better slicing than the factory edge provides thin the edge some.

smithsnoh · Jul 22, 2006

Quite happy to wait - as can't get the cash together currently. I emailed the Busse website and they said a couple of months was likely which would suit me well

Sounds like you've done your research. Great luck to you!

smithsnoh · Jul 22, 2006

The edges on my users have been thinned a lot, have held up very well, and will slice a tomato after beating on hardwood. Get one, and if you want better slicing than the factory edge provides thin the edge some.

You've ground them back? Do you have an idea what angles (inclusive)? Did you maintain a convex edge profile?

Broos · Jul 23, 2006

I'd estimate around 10-15 deg per side depending on the knife. A few are maybe 5 degrees or so more than the primary grind. I took my AK-47 to within <10 degree per side from the primary grind (so maybe 15 degrees per side), and have hacked at hardwood and bushes (some of these bushes I think are harder on a blade than the trees) extensively with some dulling, but very little edge damage yet (though going at a root and hitting some dirt/rocks dulled it and dented it a little). They are all convexed at least for the 5 - 10 degrees from the primary grind to the edge.

I know it's not for everbody, but I enjoy getting them sharp, and would much rather have a very sharp edge versus an edge that can better handle digging or other abuse. I usually finish with a few very light elevated strokes on a waterstone, or stropping on a paddle strop with diamond paste.