Cliff Stamp, Norwegian or Convex?

Q

Quy4n8

Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
659
I tried posting this in the general forum, but got little response, so we will try here. Cliff and anyone else that would like to join in, what do you think?
Full convex grind or Norwegian grind?
Assuming identical steel and heat treat and good quality steel, which would perform better? I would have the Norwegian grind set up for an included angle of about 25 to 30 degrees. This would be for a smaller knife, (3-5 inch blade) used for general cutting tasks; i.e. whittling tent pegs, slicing edibles for camp, cutting cardboard, cleaning deer or fish, etc.; in short any normal fixed blade cutting activity. To go with cutting performance, would edge holding be significantly different? For most cutting tasks, edge rolling most likely would be more of an issue than actual wear, I think.
It seems that as long as you don’t let them get too dull, convex ground might be easier to sharpen, using the cardboard trick, but could this also be done with the Norwegian grind? What about if for some reason you let the knife get pretty dull, which would now be easier to sharpen? My guess is that convex would overall perform slightly better, but I am not sure. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Richard
 
The Scandinavian grind tends to produce really thin edges. They cut great, but they can be susceptible to chipping and rolling. It also takes a long time to sharpen because you have to remove so much steel from the wide bevel. That's why you sometimes see a tiny secondary edge bevel added to a Scandinavian grind; it makes the edge stronger and quicker to sharpen.

Full convex grinds are a lot more robust. There are some huge chopping knives, like parangs, that have a full convex grind. Puukko-type knives are usually relatively small.

 
I'm not Cliff, but I think that both grinds would be a bear to resharpen unless you microbevel the Scandinavian grind or do the convex equivalent to a micro-bevel on the convex edge (i.e. hold the knive at 17 degrees when stropping if the initial convex was made by honing the knife at a lower angle). Left in their natural state, both grinds require that you hone a very large surface area. With microbevelling, the Scandinavian-style grind should be a lot quicker to resharpen with a small ceramic stick. Heck, if you microbevel the convex grind in the same manner (instead of stropping), it'll resharpen more quickly, too.
 
A scandinavian grind knife is likelier to have an inculded angle of around 15-degrees if you assume that it is ground flat out to the edge. This is part of why the edge can roll easily. If you micro-bevel it at 30 degree included angle(approximating a convex edge, but with less effort) you would get better durability and still high performance.
 
just a couple things to add/clarify...

1 - you don't sharpen the entire blade face on a full-convex knife. You only need to strop the very last bit...just like you would a micro-bevel. Easy as pie.

2 - A saber grind (which is what you're describing) would remove more material if you had to sharpen the entire bevel (rather than just a micro-bevel). More of a pain, but much easier to maintain the proper angle.


Anybody got pears? (to go with our apples and oranges)


:D




Seriously, though....you're going to get 100 different opinions here....Cliff too (waiting for him to jump in before I get into it...:D)
 
my latest Helle is a stainless laminate which makes it easier to sharpen with the softer outside layers .It has a 30 degree angle total which is max as far as I'm concerned .If you were to put a secondary bevel on it it would be too broad an angle.
 
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