Scandi Grind on an Old Hickory Butcher Knife?

D

Danketch

Joined
Apr 27, 2007
Messages
583
Hello all,

I searched around a bit, and didn't see any real answers to this. I order 3 Old Hickory 7" Butcher Knives to play around with.

1 I have convexed, started on the belt sander, and finished on stones. Okay edge, not super happy with it, but that is a lack of skill on my part, I'm pretty sure.

1 of them I am keeping in reserve, until I decide what to do with the third one.

I would like to maybe put a Scandi grind on one of them, since the edges look like they wouldn't take too much work to get there. My question is, has anybody done this, and how much of a pain in the ass is it? Also, was it worth it?

Thanks
 
I wouldn't recommend it. The steel is not very hard and if ground that thin it would not hold up too well.
 
How thick are those blades?
I like a well done scandi on 1/8 inch max only - anything thicker makes no sense imo. A scandi grind may or may not have some advantages in carving/shaving/whittling and that is particularly true after a few hand sharpening sessions when the scandi bevel becomes slightly convex. A nicely done full convex - and with that I mean not just a convexed edge - blade performs as good and may outperform the scandi in some other use, as long as the grind is slightly convex only. In my opinion the natural rocking motion of hand sharpening of larger "bevels" is just enough to get the right result. Bottom line, if your knife is thicker than 1/8 or you want to use it other than above, I would go for a different grind.
 
The geometry is there, but you're going to spend a lot of time sharpening it.
 
My question would be why? Scandi grinds are not the be-all end-all of grinds. A nice FFG on a thin knife is vastly superior to a scandi grind IMO.
 
Thanks for the input. The blade is about 3/32" I think off the top of my head. After looking at it. sharpening the other one, I think the only way to get a scandi grind on there with any sort of efficiency, I may have to use a surface grinder. We will see if I do it or not.

I just got my first Scandi-grinds a while ago, a couple of Mora 511's, and I was blown away by how f'ing sharp those sumbitches are. This and the look of the blade geometry on these knives has inspired me to think about this.

I guess somebody has to be first at everything, maybe I will be the first to do this.
 
sodak said:
My question would be why? Scandi grinds are not the be-all end-all of grinds. A nice FFG on a thin knife is vastly superior to a scandi grind IMO.
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Agreed. It's good we discuss grinds as I've noticed some confusion about them abounds. Plus, some keep coming up as they are in vogue right now. Yet, the pendulum will swing. DM
 
Danketch said:
Thanks for the input. The blade is about 3/32" I think off the top of my head. After looking at it. sharpening the other one, I think the only way to get a scandi grind on there with any sort of efficiency, I may have to use a surface grinder. We will see if I do it or not.

I just got my first Scandi-grinds a while ago, a couple of Mora 511's, and I was blown away by how f'ing sharp those sumbitches are. This and the look of the blade geometry on these knives has inspired me to think about this.

I guess somebody has to be first at everything, maybe I will be the first to do this.
Click to expand...

It's not the Scandi grind that makes the Mora sharp. It is the care they put into sharpening that makes it sharp.
 
I converted an Old Hickory paring knife to a Scandi - works fine. Did it as more of an exercise but have no regrets, in reality the stock is so thin there's likely not a big increase in mechanical advantage. Have noticed no big downsides, the steel is handling it fine - is fairly soft so needed regular touch-ups anyway. I did mine on sandpaper in very short order, a larger blade would take longer, but still I imagine it would go pretty fast even if done by hand.
 
HeavyHanded said:
I converted an Old Hickory paring knife to a Scandi - works fine. Did it as more of an exercise but have no regrets, in reality the stock is so thin there's likely not a big increase in mechanical advantage. Have noticed no big downsides, the steel is handling it fine - is fairly soft so needed regular touch-ups anyway. I did mine on sandpaper in very short order, a larger blade would take longer, but still I imagine it would go pretty fast even if done by hand.
Click to expand...

This is kind of why I am doing it, just to try it. I think I might sand mine too, I was wondering how I was going to finish the angles correctly, and this seems easier than what I had in mind. Thanks.
 
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