new Helle Eggen

raindog101 · Feb 18, 2009

Got a package in the mail today from Ragnar. Inside was a highly anticipated blade, the Helle Eggen. I've been seduced over time over to the scandi grind, but have been disappointed by some I've handled, due to the unnecessary (to me, anyway) thickness. I wanted something thicker than my Mora, but thinner than my Enzo. I was really after a skinning/slicing knife, and I have to say, that is what this knife is all about. I'm very happy with the blade, with the ergos, but after inspecting/fondling the knife for a while, I started to notice a few things that concerned me. Now, I know I shouldn't expect too much from a $60 knife, but some of you have had more experience with this knife, and can tell me (hopefully) if this is typical of Helle, or if I got a bad one.
First, the handle has several small dings in it. Virtually unnoticeable unless you're looking in the right light, but you can see them. While examining these little babies, I also noticed the finish (I assume it's some kind of polyurethane) is thin enough in a few spots as to be nonexistent. And a few rough areas on the handle lead me to believe someone missed a spot or 2 on the sanding line.
also noticeable is the gap between blade and handle. I'm used to some kind of metal cap or base covering this area, so maybe a gap is just standard. But it was so obvious, I started to wonder. Certainly a viable route for water to get in between handle and tang, and start some corrosion.
Finally, (and this is the topper), the grind is uneven. I guess it's just as possible to get an uneven scandi grind as any other, I've just never seen it before. I'm going to try to take a pic of it to illustrate, but I don't know if I can get the resolution high enough to show it.
So, the handle is no big deal, I was going to sand and refinish it anyway. But the gaps between blade and handle, and the uneven grind, are concerning to me. Am I just expecting too much? Especially for $60? Or is this fit and finish substandard for Helle. This being my first one, I can't really say. Please weigh in, and I'll get the pics up later tonight. Sorry for the long post.

Dogwood · Feb 18, 2009

I've only owned one Helle, but I found the finish to be just fine.

However, I've read elsewhere that some people have had problems with varying quality coming out of Helle's (small, like 30 people) factory. One friend got one that was real crap right out of the box. Odd.

You might want to ask Ragnar to see if he's got a better example and do a swap if you're quite concerned about it.

Ankar Sheng · Feb 18, 2009

Never owned a Helle, but I have heard of fit/finish problems such as this, so I dont think it's that uncommon.

udtjim · Feb 18, 2009

I have had a lot of Helle knives and the fit and finish is pretty good but not always perfect. However there has never been anything that hampered their performance. If it's a user, I would just use it. There are several ways to seal any gaps that might exist. I have beat the hell out of my Laplander.

BarberFobic1992 · Feb 18, 2009

i have, and frequently use a helle. none of the problems are really major. for the gap, just seel it with a little epoxy, and the un-even grind , if i am picturing things right, wont really hamper its usage.

raindog101 · Feb 18, 2009

Thanks for the input, guys. It's about what I expected to hear, but I just wanted to make sure, since I've never owned a Helle. I have an email out to Ragnar, asking him essentially the same question as I posed here. Haven't yet heard back from him, but I'm sure his response will be similar. And all the problems I noted are indeed minor, and shouldn't affect the ability of the knife to do what I want it to. I was just curious mostly. I plan on stripping, sanding, and refinishing the handle anyway, so the handle issues are really a non-issue for me. I was thinking a few (or several) coats of tung or linseed oil might work out nice. Any suggestions?

BarberFobic1992 · Feb 18, 2009

my helle came without anything on the handle (it is the brakar model) i put a couple of coats of linseed oil on it and it looks great.

raindog101 · Feb 18, 2009

Here's the pics, if anyone's interested.

OK, now you can all call me a reactionary nitwit. It doesn't seem that bad, now that I look at it. I was just surprised, is all.

mckrob · Feb 19, 2009

I've got at least a dozen Helle's and never had any problems with any of them, and they came new out of the box looking great, and the sheath work is top-notch.

The handles are curly birch, all of mine came beautifully finished. I would have to say that my only complaint would be with the Symfoni, it's a beautiful knife, but the exposed grain of the reindeer stag absorbs water.

For the price I think they are pretty hard to beat. Keep in mind this is not a knife meant to be beaten on, birch is not the hardest of wood and will chip and/or split under the right conditions.

raindog101 · Feb 19, 2009

mckrob said:
I've got at least a dozen Helle's and never had any problems with any of them, and they came new out of the box looking great, and the sheath work is top-notch.

The handles are curly birch, all of mine came beautifully finished. I would have to say that my only complaint would be with the Symfoni, it's a beautiful knife, but the exposed grain of the reindeer stag absorbs water.

For the price I think they are pretty hard to beat. Keep in mind this is not a knife meant to be beaten on, birch is not the hardest of wood and will chip and/or split under the right conditions.

I hear you. I generally don't beat on my knives. That's what a hatchet is for. I've been gravitating to the thinner stock, the cutters and slicers lately. They are more suited to what I do in the woods, and match up well with the array of tools I usually have on hand. It doesn't hurt that these kind of knives tend to be very light, which matters if you've got to conserve weight. Without getting into this topic any further, I will say that I don't intend to baton with this knife. But if I absolutely had to, in an emergency, I imagine it would probably survive.

Wotan · Feb 19, 2009

I`ve actually seen worse. I was buing a Helle knife as a gift and had to look at several of them before I found one that I was satisfied with.

Tor

Foilist · Feb 19, 2009

raindog101 said:
Without getting into this topic any further, I will say that I don't intend to baton with this knife. But if I absolutely had to, in an emergency, I imagine it would probably survive.

I have a Helle Futura, and I did baton it once (clumsily) with the result that I slightly bent the blade at the handle

. No biggie, I bent it straight again, but it was a lesson that this is a knife for cutting and slicing (duh).

I'm told that the tang is deliberately a bit soft so it will bend rather than snap if stressed.

raindog101 · Feb 19, 2009

Foilist said:
I have a Helle Futura, and I did baton it once (clumsily) with the result that I slightly bent the blade at the handle. No biggie, I bent it straight again, but it was a lesson that this is a knife for cutting and slicing (duh).

I'm told that the tang is deliberately a bit soft so it will bend rather than snap if stressed.

Understood. No batoning. I'm OK with that. I still have some full-tang knives that can do that part just fine. I gotta weigh my "nessmuk trio" now, I bet it just got a lot lighter. Too bad my cheap scale broke yesterday.