Skinner question...

[Kalindras]

Hey, All,

I'm about to embark on making a new skinner for a neighbor's friend (we're in a trading agreement--he gives me tools and has a complete woodshop, I make him knives and do any assorted metalwork he needs), and I'm just finishing up the design. Now, my question is this:

Every skinner I've ever used (both of them, mind you) has been hollow-ground...but would a chisel grind work? Or would it want to 'dive' too much? I just wonder, since I'm working on a 6" contact wheel, and I prefer my hollow grinds a bit deeper, say, 10".

So, what say the hunting/skinning masses? Thanks!

Kal

 

[Bruce Evans]

Kal,Chisel grinds don't work well at all for skinning..Stick with your hollow or a convex grind or a flat grind if you can..
Bruce

 

[Will52100]

What Bruce said, my personal favorite is a flat grind with a convex edge.

 

[peter nap]

Ditto and another vote for a flat flat grind. My skinners doen't do anything but skin. There is very little secondary bevel. I flat grind until sharp and hone until it scares the hide off.

 

[Frank Niro]

I found that a flat ground blade with a convex edge works just great for me too.I made a lot of the skinners from 1/16 440-C People would say that the knives never seemed to need sharpening. The truth is that if you use thin material it will fit between the body and skin so well that very little effort is needed to guide or use the knife. Frank Niro

 

[peter nap]

Frank, have you ever looked at any of the knives used by the old hide hunters. The blades are more like butcher knives than hunters. Very thin and sharp. I have to wonder how much skinning people do who haul around the 1/4 thick skinners.

 

[dahong_palay]

chisel grind on a skinner?

here in the philippines, farmers who work in the brush use chisel-ground machetes because it really bites into soft plants and tough liana vines (these just bounce off when hit with an equal-ground machete). for small skinners, a chisel grind might deflect or turn when making delicate cuts. i'd go with the HG for skinning. just make sure there's sufficient drag on the tip and a nice belly.