Scandi vs Flat

A

AlphaMoose

Joined
Sep 1, 2016
Messages
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Hey all, maybe a dumb question here but when grinding a Scandi blade do you follow the curve with the grinder or go straight across as in a flat grind but simply use a more extreme angle?
 
I could be wrong, but to me a "scandi" grind follows the curve of the blade maintaining the same bevel angle from ricasso to tip, while a flat grind maintains the height of the bevel and the angle of the bevel changes as the blade narrows.
 
When I grind a flat, I pull the handle of the blank towards me near the tip. This creates the distal taper and keeps the primary bevel angle consistent. I think if you just pulled straight across, the edge near the tip would be thicker then the rest of the blade. I have also rotated the handle up towards the tip to achieve the same thing, but I have settled on the first method. I may very well be wrong in my interpretation of what is actually happening angle wise, but this method makes a FFG with a distal taper for me. I am interested in others methods for Scandi grinds, as I have been hit or miss on executing them evenly on both sides of the blade.
 
Sorry Kevin put it better than I did. I shouldn't have only said the bevel angle changes. Either the bevel angle changes or the blade tapers distally.
 
I grind scandia with a jig and the platen set at 11_12 degrees. The jig slides across the work rest on a flat plain. Once I get to the part of the knife where the belly is I pull the handle towards me so the bevel stays in contact with the belt. This is how the majority of scandia makers do it as far as I know. I learned it from Adventure Sworn's Cody. Everything depends on the bevel being perfect on a scandi.
 
Thanks for the responses. I suppose i worded it poorly in my initial post. What confused me is the often strange bevels i see on some pukko style blades, wherin the bevel becomes noticeably skinnier toward the tip.
 
I believe that is a result of pulling the blade handle towards you once you get near the tip. On a FFG, this will create distal taper on a Scandi, It would not create as much distal taper, since the grind doesn't break the spine as much towards the ricasso. Hope that makes sense.
 
kdogmcg said:
I believe that is a result of pulling the blade handle towards you once you get near the tip. On a FFG, this will create distal taper on a Scandi, It would not create as much distal taper, since the grind doesn't break the spine as much towards the ricasso. Hope that makes sense.
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I don't really understand. How would it creates a distal taper on a scandi? The spine is tapered at all on scandis usually. Plus, even if you're pulling the handle toward you the only part that is engaging the belt is the lower half inch of the blade(the bevel). Isn't a distal taper a thinking of the thickness(taper) towards the tip?
 
I didn't really describe that well. Unless it's a Wharncliffe type blade, the spine tapers only on the grind area on a Scandi grind. So if you are looking down on the spine, the ground area will taper to the spine, which is then full thickness. So not a distal taper, just taper at the tip. Make sense?
 
AlphaMoose said:
Thanks for the responses. I suppose i worded it poorly in my initial post. What confused me is the often strange bevels i see on some pukko style blades, wherin the bevel becomes noticeably skinnier toward the tip.
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What you see is the result of grinding straight across the belt/wheel and moving the handle away, as described above. As the curve of the top is followed, the angle of the bevel increases. I sometimes smirk when people adamantly state Mora knives are ground at a set angle. The bevel angle on mine changed from about 10 degrees per side at the handle to 14 out 15 at the tip, measured perpendicular to the edge. Many knives are ground this way. The shallower the angle, the less of an increase in angle as one approaches the tip and the straighter the edge, the less of an increase, until you get to a Wharncliffe or sheep's foot which have no increase.
 
One more question, I see on many Scandi knives that the bevel grind extends back beyond the actual exposed part of the blade when the handle in in place. Is the handle/guard just REALLY precisely fit to that bevel to avoid a gap or is there something else going on there?
 
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