flat or scandi? Bushcraft

[Oregon Knife Guy]

I am ordering a bushcraft dozier and would like your input on which grind you all prefer. Flat or scandi? I will be using the knife for batoning, carving, food prep, small game processing and basically anything we all us a knife for.
Thoughts???

 

[ZombaiO]

For small knife I like the scandi grind :thumbup:

 

[coote]

Hmm. So what is the difference, please, between a flat grind and a Scandi grind? Thanks in advance.... Coote.

 

[ZombaiO]

The scandi grind has a really wide bevel.And some scandies don't have a secondary bevel,which makes them really good for carving.An example for a scandi knife is the Mora knife in all of its forms

 

[Diomedes Industries]

Scandi:

Zero grind of about 1/2 inch - it is technically a secondary bevel - just very large and purposeful. These are not saber ground in my opinion. Single grind, 1/2 inch or less, zero ground.

Convex grind:

The blade is convexed from spine to edge, and sharpened in a convex manner. These can also be Sabre ground and convexed from the start of the convexing.

Example of a full convex edge:

Examples of two Sabre Ground Convex knives:

Flat Grind:

A zero bevel made from spine to tip. This can also be sabre ground - but the shorter the grind - the more like a scandi it becomes.

Example of a full flat grind:

In my opinion, the best knives for bushcrafting (using a lot of wood) is a Scandi grind.

If you are a bushcrafter that uses your knife for a lot more than processing wood - a Convex grind may be more your speed. It will hold its edge longer (all else equal) and cuts wood well enough to be used for that as well.

A flat grind with a convex edge would be the next thing I would use for bushcraft use. A full flat ground edge with a secondary bevel would be next, and last would be a full flat ground knife (although these are rare).

TF

 

[hollowdweller]

So is a Dozier flat grind a flat grind with a secondary or a full flat grind??

 

[silenthunterstudios]

Flat for me.

 

[ChapmanPreferred]

If your list of anticipated activities is prioritized from most frequent to least frequent, then I would say Scandi. If not, then Flat Ground.

 

[heheheq]

Scandi All the way

 

[dbltap45acp]

Order both, and sell the one that you like the least if you can swing it.

 

[shecky]

How thick will the blade stock be? If less than .100", then go with a Scandi. If more than .125" thick and the blade won't be more than about 1.5" wide, go full grind is the way to go, flat or convex if you'll be batoning. If the blade is wider than 1.5", do a sabre grind (flat or convex) with a zero edge. holow ground if there's a secondary bevel.

 

[coote]

Thanks for explaining the various grinds. I haven't fully grasped the terminology yet, but I must be better off than I was.

To me a knife has either a convex (appleseed) edge, or a straight flat grind. Any further distinction I make relates to the angle of the grind.... i.e. a good slicer will have a sharper, longer angle on the grind; a durable chopping edge will have a bigger (blunter) angle.

 

[BlackHills]

Thanks for explaining the various grinds. I haven't fully grasped the terminology yet, but I must be better off than I was.

To me a knife has either a convex (appleseed) edge, or a straight flat grind. Any further distinction I make relates to the angle of the grind.... i.e. a good slicer will have a sharper, longer angle on the grind; a durable chopping edge will have a bigger (blunter) angle.

Maybe this will help (from Brian Andrews blog).

 

[GEC]

Scandi all the way too. Just because of ease of sharpening and the fact that eats wood like potato chips.

 

[coote]

Ah! Thanks BlackHills. Now I get it. I've probably sharpened knives in nearly all the ways shown in the pics, but I just didn't use the terminology. Much appreciated.

The only grind that was mentioned earlier that I'm still hazy about is the sabre grind.

 

[BlackHills]

Ah! Thanks BlackHills. Now I get it. I've probably sharpened knives in nearly all the ways shown in the pics, but I just didn't use the terminology. Much appreciated.

The only grind that was mentioned earlier that I'm still hazy about is the sabre grind.

You're welcome. Sabre grind means that the grind starts below the spine so some of the blade is full thickness, like the 'high flat' in the pic. But a sabre could be convex, it just depends on how it's ground between the flat and the edge.

 

[coote]

Thank you. That has cleared it up.

I guess a lot of grinds become 'hybrids' eventually. For instance as we sharpen a Scandi without holding the blade flat enough on the stone. And I guess most edges would become somewhat convex because it is very difficult to achieve perfect flatness. But these terms are a good way of describing blade design.

Looking back, I'd say that I'd generally tried to achieve a shape pretty close to the Scandi grind for many of my knives. This wasn't necessarily the best choice in all cases, but boy this shape makes a good slicer.

 

[udtjim]

I really like to take a hollow grind then Convex it.

 

[ZombaiO]

Convex the cutting edge or the entire blade ?
When I use a strop all my blades eventually become somewhat convexed

 

[udtjim]

Just the lower edge. This one will tree top hair. Poor picture but you can see the edge pretty well.