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- Feb 28, 2007
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Had a meeting in Buffalo, NY on Friday and hooked up with some family in Niagara on the Friday night. As I drove back to Windsor today, I stopped in London and perused the Lee Valley store. I ended up buying a mora #1 (laminated blade), strop and at another surplus store in town also found some black paracord, GI-canteen and a Sam-splint.
So this was my first mora purchase. It was $17.50 + tax and for kicks, I thought I would compare it to another $20 knife - my buck diamond back. I've been reading about mora's for a long time on this site and this was the first time I held one, other than a very brief handling of a mora 2000 at Normark's shop.
Specs: Mora #1 - 3 7/8" laminated steel blade; 0.08" thick
First impressions. Fit and Finish - was kind of what I expected in a cheapie knife. There was a nice sheen of oil on the blade when I first unwrapped it. It was pretty sharp on purchase, but something that clearly needs to be worked on. The scandi grind looks pretty even on both sides. The tip is extremely sharp, but the grinds at the tip are somewhat uneven. The sheath is horrible but I also expected no more than that.
The handle is ugly, but very comfortable in the hand. My index finger has a habit of wanting to rest on the bolster and it contacts the lip of the blade there. This version has an unfinished handle so it holds some promise for improvement. I will likely sand it down a tad and finish it properly.
Looking at the bolster doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence, but otherwise, the blade feels very solid. There is no blade play at all at the blade/handle junction. The blade gives a little bit of lateral flex when forcing it with the hand, but not much. The blade was actually thicker than I was expecting and I don't anticipate any problems with its thickness.
Comparing it to my modded buck diamond back - the other $20 knife.
Visually, the diamondback appeals to me more. I like the more compact and wider blade on it. They both have the same thickness. From my previous mods of it, the diamondback is a full tang knife, while the mora #1 is, as I understand it, a stick tank. Tonight I replaced the yellow wrap with a double layer of black paracord. This suits the knife quite nicely.
The diamond back was sharpened recently, but I recall that it push cut paper easily out of the box. The mora #1 would not push cut paper out of the box, but giving it a couple of light strokes on the sharpmaker managed to change that.
Now for fuzz sticks, the mora#1 definitely kicked some diamondback butt!
There was just no contest on wood carving capabilities of the Mora vs the buck. The buck was okay at slicing wood strips but the control was not nearly as good as with that scandi grind. I found the same benefit of that scandi grind on my Wade necker in earlier trials with it against other capable v-grind knives.
Overall, the mora #1 is a solid little performer at a bargain price. I actually think it is probably one of the best whittling knives that I have and will probably finish the handle and have a better sheath made for it so that it can be a devoted little whittler.
As far as quality knives go though, I have to say that this plain Jane old knife doesn't actually turn my crank all that much. Even when I got my diamond back the first time, I kind of admired it for about an hour or two. I also fell in love with my cheap little opinel #7 the moment I bought it, and then grew to love it even more after I modded the handle, stained it and allowed a patina to form. The Mora just seems like a very basic tool knife (which it is) and just doesn't grab my attention like other knives do. It is about as sexy as a boxcutter.
So on the one hand I am kind of glad at this conclusion. I'm not walking out of here thinking I went and blew way too much dough on custom and high end production knives and I guess I'm reconciled to the fact that there are a lot of complexities as to 'why I like knives' than the basic criteria of how well it makes fuzzies. At the same time, I can't fault the advice and continual recommendations of this knife. It is a good performer. Its the perfect knife for giving to your newbie buddy or that little nephew you are trying to teach some carving to. It is also a perfect 'beater' whittler knife. So a couple of thumbs up for the mora #1.
Warning though - buying a mora #1 will in no way satisfy your knife buying fetish. At least it didn't do this for me. Its almost feels like I didn't even get a new knife today
Maybe that will change when I play around modding the handle a bit.
So this was my first mora purchase. It was $17.50 + tax and for kicks, I thought I would compare it to another $20 knife - my buck diamond back. I've been reading about mora's for a long time on this site and this was the first time I held one, other than a very brief handling of a mora 2000 at Normark's shop.
Specs: Mora #1 - 3 7/8" laminated steel blade; 0.08" thick
First impressions. Fit and Finish - was kind of what I expected in a cheapie knife. There was a nice sheen of oil on the blade when I first unwrapped it. It was pretty sharp on purchase, but something that clearly needs to be worked on. The scandi grind looks pretty even on both sides. The tip is extremely sharp, but the grinds at the tip are somewhat uneven. The sheath is horrible but I also expected no more than that.
The handle is ugly, but very comfortable in the hand. My index finger has a habit of wanting to rest on the bolster and it contacts the lip of the blade there. This version has an unfinished handle so it holds some promise for improvement. I will likely sand it down a tad and finish it properly.
Looking at the bolster doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence, but otherwise, the blade feels very solid. There is no blade play at all at the blade/handle junction. The blade gives a little bit of lateral flex when forcing it with the hand, but not much. The blade was actually thicker than I was expecting and I don't anticipate any problems with its thickness.
Comparing it to my modded buck diamond back - the other $20 knife.
Visually, the diamondback appeals to me more. I like the more compact and wider blade on it. They both have the same thickness. From my previous mods of it, the diamondback is a full tang knife, while the mora #1 is, as I understand it, a stick tank. Tonight I replaced the yellow wrap with a double layer of black paracord. This suits the knife quite nicely.
The diamond back was sharpened recently, but I recall that it push cut paper easily out of the box. The mora #1 would not push cut paper out of the box, but giving it a couple of light strokes on the sharpmaker managed to change that.
Now for fuzz sticks, the mora#1 definitely kicked some diamondback butt!
There was just no contest on wood carving capabilities of the Mora vs the buck. The buck was okay at slicing wood strips but the control was not nearly as good as with that scandi grind. I found the same benefit of that scandi grind on my Wade necker in earlier trials with it against other capable v-grind knives.
Overall, the mora #1 is a solid little performer at a bargain price. I actually think it is probably one of the best whittling knives that I have and will probably finish the handle and have a better sheath made for it so that it can be a devoted little whittler.
As far as quality knives go though, I have to say that this plain Jane old knife doesn't actually turn my crank all that much. Even when I got my diamond back the first time, I kind of admired it for about an hour or two. I also fell in love with my cheap little opinel #7 the moment I bought it, and then grew to love it even more after I modded the handle, stained it and allowed a patina to form. The Mora just seems like a very basic tool knife (which it is) and just doesn't grab my attention like other knives do. It is about as sexy as a boxcutter.
So on the one hand I am kind of glad at this conclusion. I'm not walking out of here thinking I went and blew way too much dough on custom and high end production knives and I guess I'm reconciled to the fact that there are a lot of complexities as to 'why I like knives' than the basic criteria of how well it makes fuzzies. At the same time, I can't fault the advice and continual recommendations of this knife. It is a good performer. Its the perfect knife for giving to your newbie buddy or that little nephew you are trying to teach some carving to. It is also a perfect 'beater' whittler knife. So a couple of thumbs up for the mora #1.
Warning though - buying a mora #1 will in no way satisfy your knife buying fetish. At least it didn't do this for me. Its almost feels like I didn't even get a new knife today
Maybe that will change when I play around modding the handle a bit.
) knives. I also have a new FROSTS #440 with stainless blade that a buddy gave to me. Haven't used it yet but it has an awesome edge.
