Folding Mora

M

mdsmith

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Jan 7, 2009
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I was out with my son today, just hanging out in the woods. While he was throwing rocks in the water, I was doing a little whittling with me GEC trapper, and I noticed that while its a very sharp knife, it's no where near a good at cutting wood as my Moras. I assume that's mainly due to the different grind., but it got me thinking, what's the closest thing to a Mora in the folding knife world. Are there any production knives that come with a Scandinavia grind ? I f not, what folders have you guys found to excel at wood working?
 
I have always heard that Opinels were referred to as the folding Mora, and quite honestly, I stand by those who have said that; it is not a Scandi, however. It is starting to kick the fixed blades that I have out of my forest gear, I love it :thumbup:
 
Dead - ya know, I have a Opinel, and its always been just a back up knife for me. It's either in the bottom of my hiking bag, or in the console of my Jeep. I'll have to take it out with me next time.
 
That's how it has always been for me. For some reason though, I always would grab for it when I was doing fire prep, but I never realized how much I liked it. I mean, it doesn't have to kick what you have from your hiking bag; if it's your backup, you'll always have it anyway.
 
I've never used a scandi ground blade, so I can't compare the Mora to the Opinel. But, I've used Opinel's a fair bit and will be the dutiful fan-boy in saying that it's the best wood cutting knife I've used by a long shot. I believe the convex grind is the reason.

The Opinel #10 is about a the same size as my Buck 110 and gets use a lot more often. Here's mine, converted to easy-open and drop point.


opinel #10 by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
Just got an Opinel #8 carbon steel a few weeks ago. Took it out this weekend for a Scout trip. Worked perfect for some woodcraft tasks. Took no time to sharpen back up to scary sharp once we got home.

Of course I am waiting on the Helle Dokka to come out. Nice looking birchwood lockback with a scandi-grind blade.
 
My Opinels can make quick work of nearly all wood. The 1095 has decent edge retention, but isn't a super steel. with that being said the super thin blades are quite easy to sharpen/strop and can take an incredible edge. Also the Stainless (12C27 Sandvik) are great too.
IMG_0166.jpg
 
Halfneck - that Helle folder looks like it might be a good option. I even like the design of the sheath.
 
Opinel.

Period.

For cutting wood, or even just cutting, Opinel has to be experienced. In all honesty, I don't know if there is an equal to a nice freshly sharpened Opinel for sheer cutting pleasure. Maybe thats why I've always had one around since 1982.

Carl.
 
IIRC, that Helle Dokka has been rumored for awhile but I don't know if it's actually been put in full production as of yet. It would be nice to read some reviews.
 
I agree Bemo. I'm not looking for a new everyday carry, just a good option for wood cutting/whittling when I don't want to carry a fixed blade.
 
mdsmith said:
I was out with my son today, just hanging out in the woods. While he was throwing rocks in the water, I was doing a little whittling with me GEC trapper, and I noticed that while its a very sharp knife, it's no where near a good at cutting wood as my Moras. I assume that's mainly due to the different grind.,
Click to expand...

You may want to slightly adjust your sharpening method by stropping with the blade flat on the strop (possibly with some wet/dry paper) to soften the shoulder of your edge.

Here's a tip that came to me from 2 different sources: David "Obsessed With Edges" from this forum and a book I read a while back on whittling. Here's my understanding of the problem, the goal and a simple repeatable (for me) method.

PROBLEM - As I understand it, the problem is the shoulder of the edge when you have a thin ground blade. The scandi ground Mora effectively has no shoulder, or more correctly, the shoulder is so big and pronounced that the wood has split by time you get to it that it doesn't matter. The Opinel has a full convex grind, so even if you put a traditional flat cutting edge on it, the angle between the cutting edge and the blade grind is still relatively shallow. This allows the Opinel's convex grind to work it's magic and split away the wood, much like a mini-axe head. In contrast, when you have a thin flat ground slip joint or a thin convex ground blade (like on my Bucks) then you get a very severe angle at the shoulder of the edge. This sharp angle can cause drag when you push the blade through wood.

GOAL - The goal of fix is to round off the shoulder of the cutting edge. In short, the goal is to approximate the benefit of a fully convexed edge and to get less drag and a more effective split. One approach (which I'm not good enough to do) is to learn to put a full convex edge on the knife. This is the approach suggested by the whittling books. Lacking that...

METHOD - Another method is as follows.

1) Put on a double angled edge using a sharpener that allows you to closely control the edge angle. I use the Lansky and "break in" the edge at 17 degrees (the back bevel) and then put the cutting edge on at 20. This is already somewhat moving towards an angular approximation to a convex edge.

2) Soften the shoulder between the blade's primary grind and the back bevel. To do this, put some 2000 grit wet/dry paper on a strop and then place the blade flat on the paper. The cutting apex should not touch the paper. The draw the blade backwards away from the edge. This will polish the shoulder of the edge (and on a convex blade, the shoulder between the convex grind and the spine).

3) Strop to polish the cutting edge per normal.

I whittle using a flat ground 1095 Schrade, a Carbon Opinel and several hollow ground Bucks. The Bucks sharpened normally were horrible. The Schrade was OK. The Opinel is just amazing. Ditto for making shavings for camp fires. The Opinel is heads and shoulders above the rest.

With this trick of softening the shoulder, the gap has been closed considerably. The Bucks are now fun to whittle with. Not *AS* good as the Opinel but better.

One thing that most slip joints won't give you that the Opinel (and Mora) will is a nice handful of handle. For whittling, I've come to like more handle than blade. Lots of comfort and control.
 
Thanks Pinnah, I've considered the convex edge, but I've never done one, and am afraid I'll mess up the knife.
 
I can't do a true convex edge.

I can use a Lansky system though. Pretty fool proof.
1) Lansky at 17 for back bevel
2) Lansky at 20 for cutting bevel
3) Strop flat to soften the shoulders
4) Strop normally to polish cutting surface

That's not a true convex edge. But, it's an edge I can replicate easily with my poor skills and it's one that goes through wood noticeably better.

FWIW, an Opinel #8 is about $15. That may be in your "experimental" budget.
 
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