Scandi/scandivex on choppers

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Feb 3, 2006
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I've noticed a few makers like Koyote and a few companies like Condor are putting scandi or scandivex edges on their large choppers. Is this an efficient grind for chopping? Is it in the same ball park as a full convex or flat ground blade?

Edit: Primarily asking on thick 3/16" to 1/4" blades, not thin machetes.
 
I've noticed a few makers like Koyote and a few companies like Condor are putting scandi or scandivex edges on their large choppers. Is this an efficient grind for chopping? Is it in the same ball park as a full convex or flat ground blade?

Edit: Primarily asking on thick 3/16" to 1/4" blades, not thin machetes.

I think a full convexed would be a tougher/stronger edge. If I'm wanting to split wood by chopping and battoning I find a steep sabre grind works best for me. My SRKW Chopweiler splits wood like it's going outta fashion !
 
I think a full convexed would be a tougher/stronger edge. If I'm wanting to split wood by chopping and battoning I find a steep sabre grind works best for me. My SRKW Chopweiler splits wood like it's going outta fashion !

I had a Fiskars a long time ago that I used for kindling and it did indeed split wood crazy well. I can't remember doing any chopping with it though which is why I ask.
 
If I'm not mistaken, the Condor blades are flat grinds with convex edges. I think the only ones that may actually be a scandi grind are the Bushlore and the Survival Craft, but I'm not sure that they are a true scandi grind with flat bevels.
 
The condors are indeed flat ground with convex edges. However, I think any type of Convex is better than a scandi for chopping.
 
If I'm not mistaken, the Condor blades are flat grinds with convex edges. I think the only ones that may actually be a scandi grind are the Bushlore and the Survival Craft, but I'm not sure that they are a true scandi grind with flat bevels.

Ah. You can't really see the primary grind in pics.
 
I think a full convexed would be a tougher/stronger edge. If I'm wanting to split wood by chopping and battoning I find a steep sabre grind works best for me. My SRKW Chopweiler splits wood like it's going outta fashion !

Basically the scandi-vex is essentially a sabre grind but having a convex edge instead of a V- with a 2nd bevel. So essentially, the scandi-vex matches the best of both worlds - full spine thickness for much of the blade height for maximum rigidity (at a given sock thickness) and splitting potential. The convex edge up to the sabre grind line provides max. strength (for a given edge thickness). Works good as a chopper in my experience but like all convex edges, depends on how aggressive the angle transitions are in terms of balancing between being a slicing demon (e.g. Barkies) and a robust working edge (e.g. Condor machete).

I think the Condor machetes all have this grind as the edge is convex, but the grind only goes up 1/8 of the blade height or so.
 
K now I'm confused. Does the below Condor Thai Enep have a flat grind the transitions to a convexed grind or is it just a convexed grind that's about 1/4" to 1/2" wide? If it's the latter that's what I refer to as scandivex. Basically a scandi grind that's curved and not flat.

enep005.jpg
 
K now I'm confused. Does the below Condor Thai Enep have a flat grind the transitions to a convexed grind or is it just a convexed grind that's about 1/4" to 1/2" wide? If it's the latter that's what I refer to as scandivex. Basically a scandi grind that's curved and not flat.

enep005.jpg

Yes.....Well thats how I recon it. I think somebody should direct Christof Harper to this thread, since Christof is the guy who invented the scandivex term to describe his knives that were a flat spine with a convex instead of scandi edge.

Koyote's (Christof's) leukochete shown below with the osage/walnut handle is what he termed scandivex. I note that condor bolo and ESEE-lite machete have the same grind.

DSC_0004-9.jpg
 
Scandivex versus full convex.....

(note, while I've been making what is now known as scandivex edges back into 2007, the term- IIRC- was first proposed in a different form (Scandi-Vex) on bladeforums by Koster.)

1: for chopping, some form of convex is The Way To Go. If you have any doubts, go chop wood with axes and see (if you can find one) why a flat or hllowgrind wouldn't work out. :D

2: The main difference between a scandivex and a full convex is going to be in two areas.

One is structurally determined. A thick and heavy, 1/8 inch machete (that is thick and heavy!) will take a woinderful scandivex edge, but can't be run effectively as a full convex grind. You could get an inch, maybe an inch and a half up on the blade in terms of height of the grind before you got so acute and thin an edge that it wouldn't work. and even at an inch, it's going to start being roll-o-matic. 3/16 and 1/4 inch tends to be a different world. Going 1.5 inches up on a 3/16 blade, with a little reverse towards the spine, gives you what amounts to the type of grind angles you find one of the finer small double bit axes. (and yes, you can get a shaving edge on it.)

No real difference in the strength of the front of the edge on the two designs- not anything you'll notice.

Second, there's often an ability to tune a scandivex more than a full convex, for finer - non chopping- type blades. less "vex" and more "scandi" in effect.


A note- I tend to find that the mousepad method doesn't work as well on a scandivex, which is best off with a hardwood backed strop. You (drag!) sharpen just like a scandi in that the whole ground is on the leather- but the give of the hard leather (much less than a mousepad) keeps your scandivex going.
 
ha

I has a machete with a 1/8 inch thick blade :)
its not *that* heavy ...
DSCF1762.jpg


the grind is what I considered convex ... but its only convex for the 1/2 inch it took to turn the natural blade flat to a shaving sharp edge , an edge that will take a bit of use .. Im not sure if it is or isnt a convex or part convex or whatever now tho ... dam technicalities ...
DSCF1763.jpg


the machete is 28 inches long , 19 1/2 of that is blade ,its got enough handle for a 2 handed grip , it can be some fun .. my first ever blade I made ( before I knew I was sposed to start small cos big blades are too hard for beginners )
 
in objective terms of lifting pounds of iron off the ground, 1/8 inch isn't that heavy. In terms of a machete, it's considered a heavier blade. Most of the machetes I've dealt with coming out of central and south america are on the thinner side of 3/32.

In fact, I had an email from a purist telling me I shouldn't call my machetes machetes when they aren't "really" machetes because they are too thick and heavy. I don't agree with that, I think that environments like where I'm at call for a mid length (or even a bit short) heavy bladed machete.

But there you have it. In "machete-speak" 1/8 inch is heavy.
 
I was mostly joking

even the 24 inch machetes I have out of South Africa are about only half as thick , one i Have from the Philippines is in in one place about 1/8 across the spine .. for about an inch if that . I spose itll forever remain a sharpened ford leafspring :)
 
Oh, I vastly prefer the thicker, heavier ones for out and about. the 24 inch paper thin ones are nice for handling some of the "mustard" weeds and goatweed out here on the ranch.

Liveitloud: That's a "leukuchete" (which is a bit distinct from the full tanged boloshetes I do) - 3/32 or 1/8 inch, gnerally in the 8-10 inch blade range. done with a leuku profile, but oversided, and a through tang with steel fore and aft of the handle. I keep a lot of metal in the tang, trying to prevent weak points. IIRC, Ken's is ipe and osage orange for handle material.
 
Sorry to go off topic but could someone tell me about this knife? It's awesome!!!

That's Koyote's version of the Leuku (aka Leukuchete) and is a great chopper. It's thin enough to use as a short machete, but his scandivex grind makes it a heck of a chopper. The weight makes it feasible for packing if you need a blade that size. My handle is also the Ipe/Osage combo...

ROCK6
 
That's Koyote's version of the Leuku (aka Leukuchete) and is a great chopper. It's thin enough to use as a short machete, but his scandivex grind makes it a heck of a chopper. The weight makes it feasible for packing if you need a blade that size. My handle is also the Ipe/Osage combo...

ROCK6

Thanks so much for the info. That is going on my want list.
 
Thanks so much for the info. That is going on my want list.

Its a great blade. I was using it earlier this spring to harvest phragmites stocks for my bedding and posted some of it on video. Here is the link with the knife featured around 1:32 min. Sorry, I was alone on this one so not really any action shots but gives you a good size perspective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdNL3fQnCMs

Thanks for the clarification Christof - oh yeah, Ipe not walnut....I think I'm going to be packing this one with me to N. Florida next week!
 
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