Comprehensivist
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Scandi Arete Pass Around Report #2
This is a report on my experience using Nathans (thurin) scandi Arete pass around knife. This is Report #2 because, as far as I know, I am the second recipient in the pass around to post a review. If you have not read Michaels (RRaconteur) excellent Report #1, I strongly encourage you to do so. He made many excellent observations and set the bar very high for us who followed him. Here is the link to his review:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-Pass-Around-Report-1?highlight=Scandi+Arete
Before I delve into my report, I need to offer an apology. I received this knife in mid-December at a very busy time in my life a week prior to having ACL reconstruction surgery. The recovery after the surgery left me with limited ability and desire to get outside to do any knife and wood related activity. Nathan is a good friend and he cut me some slack with having the knife longer than agreed. Even so, I should have forwarded the knife on to the next person and caught up at the end of the list to be fair to all involved. I am sorry for the delay I caused in the continuity of the pass around process.
Getting back to the subject at hand, I signed up for this pass around because I own a bunch of convex grind Fiddlebacks, but none with a scandi grind. The premise of this pass around is to try using a scandi grind to see if it changes my perception or not. Nathans Arete is an older vintage full tang 1/8 O-1 with OD green micarta over natural with a white pinstripe. The handle is wider and more hand-filling than most current production knives in this model (more on this later.) Since I own an Arete with a convex grind, I thought this would be a good opportunity to compare them side by side doing the same tasks to evaluate performance differences. My Arete is a tapered tang 1/8 O-1 with Oreo burlap and black bolster & liner.
Here are the two knives together.
Those of you that have read my other posts on this forum know that I usually take all kind of measurements to analyze and compare knives. That level of detail is not really relevant to the intent of this report beyond a couple of notable differences that I would like to point out. First the weight difference is 6.0 ounces for the full tang scandi versus 4.5 ounces for the tapered convex. The handle width at the front, middle, and pommel end of the scandi is noticeably wider than the tapered convex. Taken together, these differences mean that the scandi is slightly more weight to carry, but it provides more comfort, leverage, and mass for better control while actually working with it on wood.
Here are a couple of views of the handles side by side.
I do not tip baton my knives, but if I did, I would feel much more comfortable doing it with the stronger wedge shaped tip of the scandi versus the fine distal tapered tip on the convex.
I gathered together some Silver Maple branches to use for my comparison testing.
I started with some basic bark peeling cuts. I found it easier to make long even peeling cuts with the scandi grind. I attribute this to the bottom edge of the scandi grind essentially forming a solid guide against the wood versus relying on a steady wrist angle with the convex grind. The scandi was overall more consistent cut to cut in this task.
Next up was some basic notching and angle cuts on the ends. Both knives handled the task just fine. Again, I found it easier to make thinner and more precise cuts with the scandi. The scandi seems to more naturally follow its initial bite into the wood.
The convex grind on my knife made precise cuts too, but my perception was that it took me a few more strokes to get the same results versus the scandi.
After the basic notching, I decided to move on to doing a mini try stick project with a diameter reduction spindle, a square sided saddle notch, and a double saddle with a rectangular keyhole slot. I did the same exercise with each knife.
(Note the Nathan-esque sky & cloud reflection on the blade in this photo.)
My conclusion after doing this exercise was a split decision. I liked the scandi slightly better for the spindle and square sided saddle sections. I preferred the convex for the double saddle & keyhole slot section. The distinction I made here is that I like the scandi for straight and/or perpendicular cuts and I like the convex for curving cuts. The narrower tip on the convex knife was also easier to maneuver in the keyhole cut.
Just for fun, I did a little feather stick section on a branch with the scandi before moving on to the next comparison test. This is definitely one of the strong suits of the scandi. It just glides through thin strips of wood and the curls naturally roll away from the blade.
This is a report on my experience using Nathans (thurin) scandi Arete pass around knife. This is Report #2 because, as far as I know, I am the second recipient in the pass around to post a review. If you have not read Michaels (RRaconteur) excellent Report #1, I strongly encourage you to do so. He made many excellent observations and set the bar very high for us who followed him. Here is the link to his review:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-Pass-Around-Report-1?highlight=Scandi+Arete
Before I delve into my report, I need to offer an apology. I received this knife in mid-December at a very busy time in my life a week prior to having ACL reconstruction surgery. The recovery after the surgery left me with limited ability and desire to get outside to do any knife and wood related activity. Nathan is a good friend and he cut me some slack with having the knife longer than agreed. Even so, I should have forwarded the knife on to the next person and caught up at the end of the list to be fair to all involved. I am sorry for the delay I caused in the continuity of the pass around process.
Getting back to the subject at hand, I signed up for this pass around because I own a bunch of convex grind Fiddlebacks, but none with a scandi grind. The premise of this pass around is to try using a scandi grind to see if it changes my perception or not. Nathans Arete is an older vintage full tang 1/8 O-1 with OD green micarta over natural with a white pinstripe. The handle is wider and more hand-filling than most current production knives in this model (more on this later.) Since I own an Arete with a convex grind, I thought this would be a good opportunity to compare them side by side doing the same tasks to evaluate performance differences. My Arete is a tapered tang 1/8 O-1 with Oreo burlap and black bolster & liner.
Here are the two knives together.
Those of you that have read my other posts on this forum know that I usually take all kind of measurements to analyze and compare knives. That level of detail is not really relevant to the intent of this report beyond a couple of notable differences that I would like to point out. First the weight difference is 6.0 ounces for the full tang scandi versus 4.5 ounces for the tapered convex. The handle width at the front, middle, and pommel end of the scandi is noticeably wider than the tapered convex. Taken together, these differences mean that the scandi is slightly more weight to carry, but it provides more comfort, leverage, and mass for better control while actually working with it on wood.
Here are a couple of views of the handles side by side.
I do not tip baton my knives, but if I did, I would feel much more comfortable doing it with the stronger wedge shaped tip of the scandi versus the fine distal tapered tip on the convex.
I gathered together some Silver Maple branches to use for my comparison testing.
I started with some basic bark peeling cuts. I found it easier to make long even peeling cuts with the scandi grind. I attribute this to the bottom edge of the scandi grind essentially forming a solid guide against the wood versus relying on a steady wrist angle with the convex grind. The scandi was overall more consistent cut to cut in this task.
Next up was some basic notching and angle cuts on the ends. Both knives handled the task just fine. Again, I found it easier to make thinner and more precise cuts with the scandi. The scandi seems to more naturally follow its initial bite into the wood.
The convex grind on my knife made precise cuts too, but my perception was that it took me a few more strokes to get the same results versus the scandi.
After the basic notching, I decided to move on to doing a mini try stick project with a diameter reduction spindle, a square sided saddle notch, and a double saddle with a rectangular keyhole slot. I did the same exercise with each knife.
(Note the Nathan-esque sky & cloud reflection on the blade in this photo.)
My conclusion after doing this exercise was a split decision. I liked the scandi slightly better for the spindle and square sided saddle sections. I preferred the convex for the double saddle & keyhole slot section. The distinction I made here is that I like the scandi for straight and/or perpendicular cuts and I like the convex for curving cuts. The narrower tip on the convex knife was also easier to maneuver in the keyhole cut.
Just for fun, I did a little feather stick section on a branch with the scandi before moving on to the next comparison test. This is definitely one of the strong suits of the scandi. It just glides through thin strips of wood and the curls naturally roll away from the blade.
