Looking for the right knife

Olumin said:
I will advice you to be cautious of blades with convex grinds. They can work great for you, but If you ever have to do any re profiling it will be almost impossible without the necessary skills & a good belt grinder. Youre not gonna get that done on a stone, especially with super steels, because you will need to re-shape the entire blade if you wanna do it right, or at least a large portion of it, not just the "edge". I personally find a flat or hollow grind with a secondary edge far less of a headache to maintain.
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Wow great advise. I'm ok with having to work a bit for sharpening but this sounds way beyond my capacity. Is the CPK BFK a convex grind? Can't seem to figure that out. either the lingo is too precise on their website or I'm missing something
 
ferider said:
It's a great knife. Used prices are crazy though now ... maybe you can wait a couple of months ? (Nathan says he will be making several hundred more BFK this year).

Maybe bridge the time with - say - a Buck 119 ?
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I think I may be too deep in the hunt now. I want the damn thing. I've gotten absolutely nothing done at work today. Been too busy scowering the depths for this knife
 
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BunsOfSteel said:
Wow great advise. I'm ok with having to work a bit for sharpening but this sounds way beyond my capacity. Is the CPK BFK a convex grind? Can't seem to figure that out. either the lingo is too precise on their website or I'm missing something
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Looks like a flat grind to me, you can clearly see a secondary bevel on photos. Bark River & Fällkniven are well known for their convex grinds. Great knives (although Fällkniven is often a little thick for my taste), but you have to know what youre doing.
 
The Polaris from Scott Gossman would fit the bill nicely for you. It fits within your outlined desired specs, and can be found in a variety of steels including CPM MagnaCut, which is what mine has. Definitely a “supersteel”. If you’ve never used MagnaCut before, it has the same edge retention and toughness of CPM-4V, matched with a corrosion resistance nearing the levels of H1.

These have a full convex grind and micarta handles. Mine has python canvas micarta but they also come with all sorts of other colors.

It will handle whatever you throw at it. From batoning hard, seasoned hardwoods to doing fine woodcarving, and everything in between.

For a sample of the bushcraft stuff I’ve already done with it heres some pics

132EDABC-F737-4998-970A-C9F68CCF6C4C.jpeg
1ACF2A69-D80B-4C9E-9765-56696666D84C.jpegCCABEDB8-2702-4B9F-AEA6-8E8D56F4EFAC.jpeg
148E45CD-4472-446F-BB54-9A853E4BE5C5.jpegEC225A0E-A449-4503-BA1F-D5F9912A1E24.jpeg

Mors Kochanski try stick with rounded end, saddle notch, 7-notch, round reduction, square reduction, V-notch, bail hook, flat reduction with square hole, lashing groove, and wedge end.

39EAF933-E2E6-4B15-91C9-2EBD6C5321DA.jpeg

A bowdrill friction fire set.

A3E3E348-3EA1-461E-AD87-ED9903718EBD.jpegF781DEB4-479A-4331-BA8A-3938C94F0186.jpeg

Whittling a chess set

E4BEC784-2C96-4C88-BF2A-8AFF418FCE6B.jpeg

Many projects on my Whittling Table being worked on with this knife.

E4CBEAD0-D8DE-4F7A-BFB8-E4196E2D7CA2.jpeg
 
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Enzo’s Woodshop said:
The Polaris from Scott Gossman would fit the bill nicely for you. It fits within your outlined desired specs, and can be found in a variety of steels including CPM MagnaCut, which is what mine has. Definitely a “supersteel”. If you’ve never used MagnaCut before, it has the same edge retention and toughness of CPM-4V, matched with a corrosion resistance nearing the levels of H1.

These have a full convex grind and micarta handles. Mine has python canvas micarta but they also come with all sorts of other colors.

It will handle whatever you through at it. From batoning hard, seasoned hardwoods to doing fine woodcarving, and everything in between.

For a sample of the bushcraft stuff I’ve already done with it heres some pics

View attachment 2167832
View attachment 2167822View attachment 2167823
View attachment 2167830View attachment 2167828

Mors Kochanski try stick with rounded end, saddle notch, 7-notch, round reduction, square reduction, V-notch, bail hook, flat reduction with square hole, lashing groove, and wedge end.

View attachment 2167829

A bowdrill friction fire set.

View attachment 2167825View attachment 2167821

Whittling a chess set

View attachment 2167827

Many projects on my Whittling Table being worked on with this knife.

View attachment 2167824
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Stunning knife. I can only dream of achieving such master bushcraft. I see that this knife has a convex grind. As it has been suggested to me already, I think it may be too complicated for someone at my level to sharpen.
 
BunsOfSteel said:
Wow great advise. I'm ok with having to work a bit for sharpening but this sounds way beyond my capacity. Is the CPK BFK a convex grind? Can't seem to figure that out. either the lingo is too precise on their website or I'm missing something
Click to expand...
Convex grinds are AWESOME. Please don't let That be the reason to not buy a knife.

You are going to get lots of mixed advise.

I make most of mine a flat/convex... Many High Quality Makers here do as well.

*also, if you are usually sharpening on a bench stone...... Your grinds will naturally become a little convex just due to the minor inconsistencies.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Convex grinds are AWESOME. Please don't let That be the reason to not buy a knife.

You are going to get lots of mixed advise.

I make most of mine a flat/convex... Many High Quality Makers here do as well.

*also, if you are usually sharpening on a bench stone...... Your grinds will naturally become a little convex just due to the minor inconsistencies.
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Ok good to know. i still have so much to learn but I yes I will more than likely be sharpening on a bench stone. Appreciate you
 
Olumin said:
I will advice you to be cautious of blades with convex grinds. They can work great for you, but If you ever have to do any re profiling it will be almost impossible without the necessary skills & a good belt grinder. Youre not gonna get that done on a stone, especially with super steels, because you will need to re-shape the entire blade if you wanna do it right, or at least a large portion of it, not just the "edge". I personally find a flat or hollow grind with a secondary edge far less of a headache to maintain.
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Nonsense...some bits of sandpaper and a piece of leather and a convex edge is real easy to fix or resharpen.

As far as knives go, you don't need to shell out a ton of money for a good quality factory made knife. The ubiquitous Mora has been a leading choice for many years, as has been the puukko and leuku.
A larger Mora such as the model 2A3 or model 3 will do nicely for what you want.
This is a 2A3 from Erik Frost with a 5 3/8" laminated blade in a sheath from Bushgear Leatherworks in Lisbon.
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A bit larger in the not too expensive but still very capable category is the Marttiini 250
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If you do feel like going with an expensive custom knife, something like this Jelio will work fine
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Mere utility is easily satisfied but OP is apparently looking for pride in ownership: good materials and fit & finish, which are objective, and aesthetics, which are subjective. I'd suggest perusing the fixed blades for sale forums here, by makers and by individuals, to see what's out there.
 
I think some of you misunderstood my comment. I was not talking about sharpening convex grinds, which is easy enough to do, but rather re-profiling to repair edge damage on full, single bevel convex blades (like a bark river). To maintain proper cutting geometry you have to grind down the entire side of the blade, along the convex curve, to form the new edge. That means removing a lot of material, which is especially difficult with steels like Magnacut, M390 or Elmax. At least if you wanna do it right. To do that right you need some experience & the proper tools. For a knife maker its no problem, but for the customer with his bench stone, a lot more so.

Of cause you can always just put a secondary convex bevel on it like on a traditional scandi, but just because you can glue a painting to a wall & it will hang there doesn't make it right.
 
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Olumin said:
I think some of you misunderstood my comment. I was not talking about sharpening convex grinds, which is easy enough to do, but rather re-profiling to repair edge damage on full, single bevel convex blades (like a bark river). To maintain proper cutting geometry you have to grind down the entire side of the blade, along the convex curve, to form the new edge. That means removing a lot of material, which is especially difficult with steels like Magnacut, M390 or Elmax. At least if you wanna do it right. To do that right you need some experience & the proper tools. For a knife maker its no problem, but for the customer with his bench stone, a lot more so.

Of cause you can always just put a secondary convex bevel on it like on a traditional scandi, but just because you can glue a painting to a wall & it will hang there doesn't make it right.
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LOL...way overthinking this.....Far too many people rely way too much on and sharpening tools and devices these days. The convex grind is the easiest and simplest grind to fix and sharpen. Hint.....you don't use a stone.. A stone is flat, the convex grind isn't....... A piece of 1x4, a strip of leather, a few sheets of emery paper of varying grits and job done. This isn't exactly rocket science you know.....
 
BunsOfSteel said:
Yes I've seen this knife but it's never in stock. Also do you think that the grind is ok for batoning?
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Not sure of your timeframe, or CPK's, but Nathan has said they will be doing a run of 800 BFKs in the near future.
 
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