First a little background: About a year ago I bought a Mora 746 and have been using it for just about everything: cutting wood, bushcraft, cardboard, rope, string, vinyl tiles, food, etc. I have a few other Mora's; a carbon clipper and #740 that I re-handled with coccobolo, which was my previous go to knife.
When I first got the #746, I thought thought the handle was a little cheesy, but the more I used it the more it grew on me. The size and shape of the handle fits my hand great and I really like the rubberized grip. I also really came to like the stainless blade. While I generally stay away from stainless blades, I bought this knife specifically to try the Scandinavian stainless that I had heard so much about. Again at first I didn't like it that much, it took more work to sharpen, it just didn't get as sharp as my carbon Mora's and the edge didn't hold that well, especially after cutting hardwood. However, after really working the edge one day (flattened the bevels and really worked on sharpening the knife), it was like a new knife. The edge started holding much better than my carbon knives and a few minutes on the strop brought right back to razor sharp. The only thing I didn't like about the #746 was the blade size. It seemed a little short for the size of the handle and I wished it was a little bit thicker. Enter the Helle Tollekniv blade: it was a bit longer and thicker - exactly what I wanted. So I ordered another #746 and a Helle blade from Ragner's and made the knife I really wanted.
Enough blabbering, here's how it went:
Mora #746
Here is the #746 after I pulled the blade out. It actually came out pretty easy. I just clamped the blade in a vice and gave the handle a few taps with a rubber mallet and the handle came off. It was just press fit, it wasn't epoxied or molded in.
Here's a comparison of the #746 blade and the Helle blade (on bottom)
Here you can see how much thicker the Helle blade is
And the tips
Here you can see how much farther the Helle tang goes into the handle
And finally the finished product next to my original #746. After I got the blade out, I drilled out the handle to fit the Helle blade and then epoxied it in.
I haven't used the new blade too much yet, but so far I really like it. It's the perfect length and thickness, and to say that the Helle is stupid sharp is an understatement. It is also quite a bit heavier than the original blade and I feel it balances out the handle much better, in looks and weight. Overall, I'm really happy with the way it came out and I'm now in the process of making a new sheath for it.
When I first got the #746, I thought thought the handle was a little cheesy, but the more I used it the more it grew on me. The size and shape of the handle fits my hand great and I really like the rubberized grip. I also really came to like the stainless blade. While I generally stay away from stainless blades, I bought this knife specifically to try the Scandinavian stainless that I had heard so much about. Again at first I didn't like it that much, it took more work to sharpen, it just didn't get as sharp as my carbon Mora's and the edge didn't hold that well, especially after cutting hardwood. However, after really working the edge one day (flattened the bevels and really worked on sharpening the knife), it was like a new knife. The edge started holding much better than my carbon knives and a few minutes on the strop brought right back to razor sharp. The only thing I didn't like about the #746 was the blade size. It seemed a little short for the size of the handle and I wished it was a little bit thicker. Enter the Helle Tollekniv blade: it was a bit longer and thicker - exactly what I wanted. So I ordered another #746 and a Helle blade from Ragner's and made the knife I really wanted.
Enough blabbering, here's how it went:
Mora #746
Here is the #746 after I pulled the blade out. It actually came out pretty easy. I just clamped the blade in a vice and gave the handle a few taps with a rubber mallet and the handle came off. It was just press fit, it wasn't epoxied or molded in.
Here's a comparison of the #746 blade and the Helle blade (on bottom)
Here you can see how much thicker the Helle blade is
And the tips
Here you can see how much farther the Helle tang goes into the handle
And finally the finished product next to my original #746. After I got the blade out, I drilled out the handle to fit the Helle blade and then epoxied it in.
I haven't used the new blade too much yet, but so far I really like it. It's the perfect length and thickness, and to say that the Helle is stupid sharp is an understatement. It is also quite a bit heavier than the original blade and I feel it balances out the handle much better, in looks and weight. Overall, I'm really happy with the way it came out and I'm now in the process of making a new sheath for it.
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