scandi cpm154 chipped easy

mrgreen

mrgreen

Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Messages
313
I used my scandi edge, cpm-154 Bushcraft knife last week while camping. Nothing heavy, cutting into a rotted pine stump to get fatwood for the campfire. When I got home I discovered the blade had many, noticeable, small chips in the edge. Sorry my camera has no macro ability. They were definitely chips, not rolls, I used a loupe to examine the edge (the obsession with edges on this forum must be contagious). Is this common with this steel or edge profile? Could it be a heat treat issue?
 
Scandis by nature are pretty thin, and fatwood is unforgiving stuff. Small chips are perfectly reasonable especially when torque is involved
 
If this is the case, I don't understand why this style seems to be the preferred choice for bushcraft. It seems a convex edge would be better.
 
Preferences between scandi and convex edges seem to run about 50/50 among bushcraft folks. If you do more fine work like carving, scandi is more recommended, while if you need a tougher all-around blade, convex is often the choice.
 
The first time I used my new BRKT STS-3 was on some seasoned oak. I was cutting into the bark, the wood was hard. Later, I could feel the micro chips with my fingernail. Some stropping removed it. It's a convex edge, but also 154cm.
I'm no expert, but it seems like 154cm is a bit hard/brittle, depending on the HT.
I am also convinced that my finer edged, very sharp knives are not my prefered tool for cutting into stumps.
Leave the heavy work for the axe or thick edged choppers, when possible.
 
Also, guys there is a difference in Mrgreen's steel and the steel foxx stated . Neither steel should have chipped on that type cutting . I'd say the culprit is a thin edge or thinly sharpened edge and heat treat . DM
 
Torquing the knife is about the hardest thing you can do to it, so if it is something you will be doing a lot of, sharpen in a bit of a microbevel to give more support to the edge, assuming the chips are all pretty small.
 
So I'm getting the picture that a cpm154 scandi is possibly to fine an edge for moderate field use. The stump I was cutting into was seriously rotted, and only about 8 inches across. It may be true that a folding saw would be better, but, I only had the knife on me. What the heck, it's called a Bushcrafter for a reason. I've already changed over my kit, now I have a Busse Meaner Street for general woods use. I know not everyone is a Busse fan, but I'm confident the Meaner wouldn't chip like that, even if there were nails hidden in the stump. By the way, after about 30 minutes on an oilstone of unknown grit, I can still see two of chips.
 
It just depends... some scandis are ground thicker than others, some have a secondary or microbevel that gives more support, everything is a compromise.

It also depends on your own uses and preferences. I have seen people do an amazing amount with a break point razor knife, which has only the tiniest fraction of the strength your scandi had... it is all about working within the limits of the knife in order to enjoy its strengths.
 
I understand the idea of working within the strengths of the knife. It just seems to me the idea of bushcraft includes things like making shelter, and preparing tinder and kindling for campfires. If scandi bushcraft blades like this are meant for precision carving, I'll reserve this knife for that. That just seems like a very small niche.
 
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