quick question about scandi grinds

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
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I have a question about sharpening a scandi grind...I was playing around with one of my growing # of moras and decided to give it a few passes ona stone by pressing the bevel flat against the stone..It doesn't seem to make that sames satisfactory "hit the sweet spot" sound that a knife makes when it's being sharpened correctly it seems to make that noise if I rais the spine a little higher as if I was trying to slice the stone..it feels as if the bevel is making contact the actual edge is not..am I doing something wrong?? or is the goal just to wear down the bevel on the stone to sharpen the knife?
 
Yes, you just grind the whole bevel. Also, the one you have might not be totally flat so there will be some work to do there to get it up to scratch.
 
Ragnar at www.ragweedforge.com has a link on his site -- and an excellent site it is -- on the recommended way to sharpen his Mora knives and others with that blade grind. I won't say I follow those instructions to the letter, but it's definately worth reading. Take a look at that and the other things on his site. :thumbup:
 
To sharpen a single bevel scandi correctly you want to be laying the whole bevel flat. The advantage of the scandi as a wood work tool is that you can use that wide bevel like the sole of a plane to take long smooth cuts. If you have, at some time, just sharpened the edge instead of the full bevel, well, the knife still cuts, but you lose that automatic guide for running long, effortless, shavings.
 
Be prepared for long sharpening sessions if you ding the blade. That's a lot of metal that you have to remove, one of the reasons this isn't my favorite grind. But if you persist, you will eventually get to the bevel.
 
That length of time to sharpen is one of the reasons I have never been able to figure out why one would want a scandi in something like S30V. With carbon steel it isn't too bad, even when it is very hard steel. The other thing to bear in mind is that you don't use a 20degree inclusive edge like you would a 30+ degree edge. You have to be more careful about what you cut and what the edge comes into contact with. It is just the cost of having such an optimised wood cutter.
 
Calling a Scandi grind knife an optimised wood cutter must mean you don't own one. I can tell you from much experience that a Scandi grind makes an excellent skinner and general purpose knife. Sharpening is quite easy for me. When I received my K Ravan and later on a Mora Clipper I treated both to a trip across a DMT butterfly sharpener. The Ravan took awhile to get an edge I was happy with while the Mora was almost perfect out of the box. With a diamond I just lay the bevel flat and sharpen until there is no reflection from the edge and then I test it by shaving my arm. Done.

Both knives have jointed numerous chickens from the coop, skinned deer and hogs, created fuzz sticks, carved spoons and shapened a zillion sticks for no reason. The 2 main reasons I use a fixed blade for all these tasks is first it is easier to clean than a folder and second the Scandi grind is easy to keep sharp. I don't chop wood with a knife, I have axes for that, so I can't comment on how well a scandi chops down trees.
 
Calling a Scandi grind knife an optimised wood cutter must mean you don't own one.
Click to expand...
Goes to show how unreliable assumptions can be. :D
Just because I think it is the optimum design for carving wood, that does not mean that I don't think it can do other things too. Also, there is a world of difference between scandis when the grind is applied to thicker or thinner blade stock.

I have had a couple of scandis in thinner stock, and made a couple more and personally I prefer flat ground and convex edged for both making and using. Its just personal preference. The people I know who use scandis for everything like them just fine and some use them for all the stuff that you do. Most however use them mainly for wood work and say they accept a degree of edge fragility in exchange for improved wood cutting. They tend to work with a bit more skill in order to avoid striking hard knots or bones than they would need to if they had a steeper secondary bevel. Pay your money and take your choice :)
 
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