I have it on pretty good authority that he is still making knives
I apologize for you not being able to contact me. We recently moved, and re-wiring and setting up a new shop has delayed my wait time a bit, but I am about a week or so from grinding away again. During that time, we also didn't have the computer and internet for a bit, so it is quite possible your e-mail got lost in the shuffle there. I am sure the fault is on my side, so I am sorry about that. Shoot me an e-mail directly (offthemapknives at gmail dot com) if you still want on the wait list, and I will make sure you get on it
As far as thickness goes, I will give you some facts, and then my opinionated opinion
The facts are this: If you get a 3/32" blade from me or a 5/32" blade from me the actual edge durability will be the same. Unless you specifically request it, the angle of the grind would be the same on those two, meaning the edge geometry would be the same. The difference is on the thinner knives, the bevel is smaller because there is simply no more steel to put that bevel on.
The actual geometry at the cutting edge is identical and anything you can do to a scandi grind through abuse is going to happen right away in the grind and the additional distance of the thicker metal doesn't buy you anything.
What the thicker knife does buy you is the sense of a big, fat, well built knife. It is more a feeling of robustness, which some people like.
The other option, like previously mentioned, it to do a similar grind angle that BHK does, on the thicker metal. But, as also mentioned, the thicker grind on thicker metal greatly impacts its cutting ability. But that strength versus cutting ability trade off is a decision you need to make with what you want in your knife.
Now the opinion part. I love scandi knives, and pretty much use them almost exclusively. Does that mean I think they are the perfect tool for every situation? Absolutely not. But they do what I regularly do extremely well and I wouldn't have anything else.
With that in mind, keeping the grind angle the same, the benefit you get from the thicker knife is lateral strength and the feeling of a "tank" like I mentioned earlier. Stick it in something and pry to the side. It is not something I ever do, or recommend doing, so I am not concerned with that. What do you give up with the thicker blade? A couple things:
1) Slicing ability. The the grind angle being the same, the knife sharpness and initial penetration is the same. If you do something that only touches that area of the knife, you won't notice much difference between the two. But, any time you have any penetration in to something, and it is not deformable, that is when the thin knife really shines. The material moves up the grind, until there is no more metal and the rest of the knife passes through. On the thicker knife, you have to fight more and more grind and resistance to get to that same point. That is why thick scandi's are such poor slicers.
2) Maintenance. With a thinner blade (at the same grind angle) there is less bevel to sharpen. If you have ever laid the scandi's down on the stones, you know what I am talking about
It is much quicker and easier to sharpen the narrower bevel simply because there is less surface area. With the bevel on the thin scandi, there is plenty enough bevel to give you the wood carving control you want from a scandi, but small enough to sharpen fast, and increase the slicing ability to make it the perfect knife for me.
With that in mind, like Riley said, I also use mine reasonably. If I were to grind out a "batoning machine" it would look much different and that is a tool I do not choose to carry. Also, I know my opinion on the thin versus thick is in the minority and 5/32" is by far what most people order from me
Let me know if you have any more questions.
B
