I have had it with the convex grind-No more convex for me.

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gazaati

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Took me a while to learn to sharpen it. Still its a pain to sharpen in the field. Nothing beats taking out the stone and giving your knife a few passes. The sandpaper- mouse mat method is a pain for me.

The second reason is that I took my bark river auroura. It does not carve hard wood as the scandi grind. I had to carve a few sticks of very hard wood yesterday and I was not impressed with this grind.

In my opinion, convex is good for an axe maybe but not for a carver. I am not sure even if a convex axe is suitable for hard wood.

No more convex for me.
Scandi, here I come.:)
 
Alright, Scandi, scandi, scandi!!!!

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P.S. I hope you can handle the heat that this post is going to bring :D
 
I chose a scandi ground Bushcraft for ease of sharpening in the field. I think the convex is superior for slicing (given good blade geometry) but I cannot see being able to sharpen it in the field without bringing along too much kit.

TF
 
Talfuchre said:
I chose a scandi ground Bushcraft for ease of sharpening in the field. I think the convex is superior for slicing (given good blade geometry) but I cannot see being able to sharpen it in the field without bringing along too much kit.

TF
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Intriguing, I have totally the opposite results, but admittedly I rarely sharpen in the field. I couldn't sharpen a Scandi properly in the sticks without more kit. The small DMT I use just wouldn't do it well for me and I'd end up adding a second / micro bevel and creating some mongrel pseudo saber ground monstrosity. By contrast, I always go in on a convex grind with just stropping it on a bit of cardboard on a upturned mess tin. That always seems to work unless I've been at the beach or using it extensively since the last go.
 
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I have issues with sharpening scandi's. Takes me forever. Can't get it right without a micro bevel. Frustrating. I find convex to really excel in wood too. And the Kit you bring for convex isn't fragile like stones are for scandi.

To each his own. Your opinion is just as valid.
 
I have a major prejudice against Scandis. I think they are about as crude a knife as one can get. Essentially, a bit of bar stock with an edge dubbed on. Drill a couple of holes to poke pins through and lay on some epoxy and that's it, job done. All the pleasing features of poise, balance and taper are pretty much incidental. They are the kinds of things a prisoner might make. They are very popular here with the reenactment people though. That makes a certain amount of sense to me because the bulk of the reenactment stuff they do calls for using the knife as a chisel, and it's an ideal choice for that. As a field knife rather than a reenactment / bushcraft tool they don't cut it for me though.
 
I like both:thumbup:

I actually think that the convex is easier for me to sharpen than a scandi.

As far as cutting in my mind it really depends on the angle of the edge rather than the grind.

I have a few from Bark River that are full convex, you know highest part is in the middle of the blade coming down to a really fine edge and they cut as efficiently as a scandi. I have a couple scandis with 4mm blades and fairly steep bevels and they cut on par with say the Aurora and Northstar.

I'd agree that in general it's probably easier to get a really fine edge in a scandi grind than a convex. However to give the other side in general your average convex edge is going to be a bit more resistant to rolling and chipping than your average scandi.

I think the whole fan club of a certain grind is funny. It's sort of like the steel thing.

Due to the machinery and ease of putting it on a lot of knifemakers do convex. So they are gonna tell you that that is the best grind. Then people pick that up and regurgitate it like it's gospel:rolleyes:

I'm not a knifemaker and I have no allegiance to any particular brand of knife either and I think that really ANY blade grind can be easy to sharpen and cut very fine depending on the grind angle, the blade thickness and the shape of the blade.:thumbup:;)
 
It's a lesson learned by those that actuallly try to do the wrong task work with their skinning knives realize when attacking wood in the real-world. Convex edges are excellent Machete, Axe, Filet, Kitchen and Skinning blade profiles. Flats are OK for wood but ONLY chisel ground scandis can properly carve wood with a knife with the maximum efficiency. That's why there's a proper profile for every task and most "general purpose" knives are not very good at only one task alone.

gazaati said:
Took me a while to learn to sharpen it. Still its a pain to sharpen in the field. Nothing beats taking out the stone and giving your knife a few passes. The sandpaper- mouse mat method is a pain for me.

The second reason is that I took my bark river auroura. It does not carve hard wood as the scandi grind. I had to carve a few sticks of very hard wood yesterday and I was not impressed with this grind.

In my opinion, convex is good for an axe maybe but not for a carver. I am not sure even if a convex axe is suitable for hard wood.

No more convex for me.
Scandi, here I come.:)
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Lets forget sharpening.
I found that my aurora keeps slipping off the wood and its still shaving sharp it could slice paper. The edge was too fat to properly sink inside hard wood. It might be great for green branches and soft sticks of wood. But not for hard wood, I ended up with a sore hand. My experience is not as extensive as some of the guys here but its still my experience. I really wanted to like this grind mainly because I love bark river knives. They have a great selection of knives that I can just buy off the shelf.
 
baldtaco-II said:
I have a major prejudice against Scandis. I think they are about as crude a knife as one can get. Essentially, a bit of bar stock with an edge dubbed on. Drill a couple of holes to poke pins through and lay on some epoxy and that's it, job done. All the pleasing features of poise, balance and taper are pretty much incidental. They are the kinds of things a prisoner might make.
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Here is a scandi done by "inmate" Charles May. :p
Hand rubbed D2, distal taper, green micarta, white liners, mosaic pins, and a top flight leather molded sheath....

I know it's crude but he has been behind on his orders while sharpening spoons into prison yard shivs on his cell wall. :D
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It doesn't matter in the slightest that you should prefer to avoid an edge type, if you've found what works for you. :thumbup: If you're still interested in 'trying' more convex edges, I think you ought to give David Farmer a try. His edges are fantastic and he can work with you a lot on what you want in a knife. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
I think the Scandi grind is the easiest for a knifemaker to put on a blade. Dan Koster says it takes him a minute per knife.
 
my vote goes to convex...

its easy to put on in the first place, its easy to maintain and you can have a convex that chops like an axe or that slices like a filet knife...

the cutting ability really comes down to how thin the edge is and how flat the sides of the convex are. i understand that the aurora is more of a saber convex grind that is smoothed into the flats nicely, so really its like a convex scandi grind. haven't held one, so can't comment directly, but that's what i've read.

i love the way scandis cut but i can't stand sharpening them. its so much easier to do a quick stropping on some sandpaper and then a strop with compound than take out the benchstone and lay up the angle and take strokes. maybe i'm just spoiled since i got my belt sander, but it just seems like it takes forever to sharpen a scandi. i think its because you have to take off so much metal.

gazaati, for convex field sharpening, try one of these. they are easy to make and you can carry a ton of different grit sandpapers inside. you can even glue a strop to the back if you want.
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as for how it performs in wood...i find that every knife performs slightly differently in terms of the angle that you have to cut with in wood. my first several cuts are often lousy and uncontrolled with a new knife...it takes a minute to figure out the angle. if you tilted the aurora up a few degrees, you might do better cutting the wood.

if none of this works for you or you are past trying again...then enjoy the scandis! they are great cutters and they are stout too.
 
Right on Spooky!
I use David's knives to carve hard wood (pear, hazel, maple, dogwood) several times a week and they work great!
Of course I also use them for everything else a well, fire making, food prep, general utility.
give 'em a try...
Ted
 
ADD said:
I know it's crude but he has been behind on his orders while sharpening spoons into prison yard shivs on his cell wall. :D
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Ah yes, time well spent as a tyro-fraggle learning how to sharpen a fag butt in order to really stripe up the face of some bitch like a potato waffle. ;-)

Middle one is much more cute than the other two. I imagine that would be a fine piece for the reenactment / bushcraft thing. The amount of time I spend doing those types of cutting tasks would render that a poor allocation of resources. For someone that does a lot of that though it is clear why that one would be a very attractive proposition. :-)
 
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siguy said:
the cutting ability really comes down to how thin the edge is and how flat the sides of the convex are.............its so much easier to do a quick stropping on some sandpaper and then a strop with compound than take out the benchstone and lay up the angle and take strokes. maybe i'm just spoiled since i got my belt sander, but it just seems like it takes forever to sharpen a scandi. i think its because you have to take off so much metal.
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Yeah that's pretty much what I was getting at. Although I don't think it takes me a long time usually just I have to be more precise where with the convex the strop or mouse pad pretty much takes care of the angle.

However say you chip the blade really bad. THEN for sure you have to take WAY more off to get it fixed on a scandi.
 
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