In Search of a Wharncliff

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StretchNM

Joined
Dec 7, 2006
Messages
2,806
I'm in need of a nice little fixed blade wharncliff, with a chisel grind edge. I don;t know of any and I don;t know where to look.

My searche preferences always start with Benchmade, or Bark River, but I'm not stuck on a brand. I'd just like to know what you guys like or even know about. I want it for trimming leather, cutting alongside a straightedge. I suppose it could even be a nice little folder, like a Case or a Boker, or something, but I think I prefer a fixed blade.
 
something like a kiridashi?

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Or definitely wharncliffe?
If so I'd be looking at a Bark river micro tusk.
 
That Boker looks nice! I thought about the Tusk, but it is convex-ground on both sides. It doesn;t completely rule it out, but I'm hoping for a chisel grind.

I found a BM H&K Insitgator. Just looking at the picture, it appears to be chisel-ground with the flat on the left side. That would be ideal.
 
Why are you looking for a chisel grind? The general consensus is that feature is undesirable. I've never really had an issue with a chisel grind but I don't go looking for it.
 
Generally, I don;t like a chisel. But in this case, I want to be able to place the left side of the blade flat against a straightedge for very accurate cutting. It's not set in stone - for example, in addition to the H&K BM, I found a nice little CRKT Folts Minimalist. It's tiny, and looks like it's a v-grind, but it also looks like it would fit the bill.
 
Might take a look at the CRKT side hawg blades as well, I don't remember which side they are ground on but my old one is a chisel grind (A grind of which I'm personally a big fan)

But if you want to put a straight edge on the left side of the blade, you're looking for a non presentation side grind which is going to take a bit more looking as its not really the standard.

But if you liked that kiridashi I'd suggest taking a look around as they are usually extremely affordable and custom makers will be the best bet, but there are a few other options out there.
I ended up making my own out of an old file when I needed a craft knife, the blade is perfect for that type of use.

I see arizona custom knives has a custom thats ground right for you for under 100 bucks. Also checkout japanwoodworker.com in particular (you'd want the right hand bevel category it seems) and other woodworking tool sites as there are a lot of good ones out there for less.
 
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It's not chisel grind, but it'll get as close as you need to a straightedge.

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Something like this?
 
The Case Desk Knife is a fixed wharncliffe with a v-grind.

The Boker Plus Nopal is a folding wharncliffe with a chisel grind.

The CRKT Sparetool seems to basically meet your requirements, although the steel is kind of crummy. Cheap, though.

I don't know if the Meyerco Dirk Pinkerton Wharning, the TOPS Vulcan, or the Boker Plus Mosier are chisel ground.
 
StretchNM said:
I'm in need of a nice little fixed blade wharncliff, with a chisel grind edge. I don;t know of any and I don;t know where to look.

My searche preferences always start with Benchmade, or Bark River, but I'm not stuck on a brand. I'd just like to know what you guys like or even know about. I want it for trimming leather, cutting alongside a straightedge. I suppose it could even be a nice little folder, like a Case or a Boker, or something, but I think I prefer a fixed blade.
Click to expand...

My Wharning design through Mereco is not chisel ground.
 
How about a Kershaw Centofante? Not a chisel grind, but small and manageable. Also makes a great little edc.
 
Benchmade Instigator. I've been wanting to pick one up for a while, as they're inexpensive and a Snody design. Check it out.
 
You didn't specify the length. One of these two may do...

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I'm guessing the BM 171 is a bit much... but the Barkie 'T.U.S.K.' is a great user - albeit a convex grind. In a similar to and smaller scale, I also have a Boker Pry-Mate - 7 mm spine - and their Plus-line (PRC-made) Gnome and rounded Rhino. You could buy two each of the Plus line examples for what the Solingen-made Pry-Mate runs.

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In the folder examples, the Boker Haddock is nice - a bit curvacious - and pricey. Finding the Snody-designed BM 425 Gravitator, dropped for a while, may be difficult - as would the Buck 315 Mariners knives. The Meyerchin rigger's knife is also almost a Wharncliffe - and available - gotta find a use for the Marlinspike, of course. The Kershaw 'Needs Work' is great buy - better in G10 scales, but at least you can find it now as close as your local WallyWorld.

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Here are 2/3 of my Case collection - Seahorse Whittlers. Not shown - another Seahorse - great Wharncliffe-style blade, similar to the BM 425, just smaller, albeit thick for a Case knife. Admittedly' I am not a Case fan - but these Seahorse whittlers have been great whittlers - thus far.

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I hope this helps...

Stainz
 
You could go with a custom. Check out the Makers and exchange forums. There's probably several guys who could make you a wharnie in the length, grind, and handle you want at a reasonable cost. The only one I have right now is a little Koster Karda neck knife with skeletonized handle in CPM154 that was maybe $70-80. I use it under a bright light with a cutting board whenever I want to make precision cuts in thin materials.
 
All good ideas, fellows, thanks. The BRKT (always a favorite) is convex, which is not really what I'm looking for here. The other knives are just a tad too nice for my application....at least for now.

Handforged, your wharncliffe looks very nice, but a tad above my budget for this endeavor.

I'm really leaning toward the Snody Instigator (BM dropped the red line, but many of the HD and H&K line is still "red line"), that and the CRKT Folts Minimalist. $35 and $20 respectively.
 
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