Testing a MS Scagle Camp knife

I gotta agree with Tik Tock on this one. I remember seeing pictures of origional Scagel tangs years ago in one of the knife magazines, and they seemed to have plenty of material for that application. (I'd want more if using a substantial pommel though.) They certainly weren't a "rat tail" tang or somesuch. Again, I seriously doubt an MS would put a really thin & weak tang on any bigger knife.

edit-
OK, I just saw your newer post.
I have never heard anything about Scagel welding on tangs as a standard practice- the ones illustrated I mentioned were forged in one piece with the blade. And even if they were, forge welding is done all the time. I admit I'm still a bit less trusting of modern arc welding, but the guys in Shop Talk have demonstrated this can still be entirely satisfactory if done right.
 
Properly made hidden tangs can take just as much abuse as a full tang. I'm not sure where you're coming from E.E.E., but if you have first hand experience I'd love to read it.
 
No worries. Doug knows his chops. Great maker. Great teacher. He needs more press. He is in the inner circle of Scagel makers that live within a stones throw of Ol' Bills shop and has made a life study of the Scagel style. Ever see his name brand anvils? Real nice.
Contact info.
noren_anvils3.jpg
 
I have chopped with plenty of hidden tang knives and have never had one break or bend. This one doesn't look like it is likely to break apart.
 
The sun was shining true the tree tops and the shade from the big pine trees made it a beautiful day for testing the Doug Noren Scagel Camp knife.
I found a small pine tree same size as was used in the Busse HOFSH LE and Cold Steel Trail Master test. First task was removal of the branches on the tree.

The knife felt a bit heavy but the convex blade slided smoothly along the tree and removed the side branches perfectly. I rate the knife 8 in this task on the 1-10 scale .

ScagelForesttesttree.jpg


ScagelForesttesttreebranched.jpg


Next job up for evaluation was the chopping with a comfortable pace and use of force. This was to see how the knife handled under normal working conditions. The knife has a balance point about where you see the Scagel stamp on the right side of the "Noren" stamp on the blade. The best place of impact was a bit forward of the middle of the blade. Chopping was very precise and handling the large knife was easy. This was a bit of a surprise to me. The weight of the knife, 730 gr, made it very effortless to chop.

ScagelForesttestprecisionchop.jpg


Now it was time for the POWER stroke chopping test!!! And trust me I was not planning to hold back here!

The two first cuts was deep and the convex forged blade did not stick.

ScagelForesttest2powerstrokes.jpg


After 15 strokes the knife was nearly half true.

ScagelForesttest15powerstrokes.jpg


After only 36 strokes the tree was cut in half WOW this was about 10 strokes better then both the Busse HOFSH and the Trailmaster. The knife took huge chunks of every time it hit.
It tried again and the tree was cut in 30 strokes this time. Please take into account that the tree got thinner for the second cut.

ScagelForesttest36powerstrokes.jpg


After this it was time for a beer, when testing an old school knife like a Scagel what better beer then a Weltburger Kloster beer, the oldest monastery brewery in the world Anno 1050 aaaaaahhhhhhhh.

ScagelForesttestlunch.jpg


After this I made a small BBQ spear to see how the big knife handled smaller tasks. The huge knife had no problems doing this job but a folder with a thinner blade would have done the job easier.

ScagelForesttestprecisionwork.jpg


The blade did to get any deformations or nicks and I will re-sharpen it later today so that I will get that wicked sharp edge it had before the test.

Cheers,

André
 
I envy your collection of knives:( .

Nice review:thumbup: Did you say that knife cost 1000$? If it did then you have more guts than I to use that knife.
 
Nice work, where did you find the most comfortable and most powerful part to chop with? How sharp was the blade at the end of the cutting?

-Cliff
 
RedEdge77 I envy your collection of knives .

Nice review Did you say that knife cost 1000$? If it did then you have more guts than I to use that knife.
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I also drive my Audi and that cost more then $1000:D knives are amde to be used and using a well build blade is a pure joy. You can re-sell the knife after using it and good knives loose very little.

Cliff Stamp Nice work, where did you find the most comfortable and most powerful part to chop with? How sharp was the blade at the end of the cutting?

-Cliff
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Cliff many post (your Indian name)

The edge held up pretty good but was not so sharp after test test as the Cold Steel Trail Master :D Funny that a $130 knife will out perform both Busse and a MS forged blade :confused: Remember the Trail Master where able to shave after chopping!:thumbup:

Cheers,

André
 
Yes, that was what I was thinking of. The performance of the custom may increase after sharpening, this unfortunately is common and can cause severe misconceptions when the performance is judged by the initial edge.

-Cliff
 
I hope the knife hold a better edge but for chopping a wicked sharp edge is not that important. but after chopping you might want to use the knife for different chores and need that super sharp edge.

Cliff I did sharpen the knife for about 10 min before taking it out.

Cheers,

André
 
500jefferyDK said:
I hope the knife hold a better edge but for chopping a wicked sharp edge is not that important. but after chopping you might want to use the knife for different chores and need that super sharp edge.
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Yes, you can chop with a really dull knife. I used one of my knives yesterday for about 20 minutes scraping paint off of concrete as it was much more effective than a paint scraper. There was little effect on the wood cutting ability but the effect on the ability to cut grasses was obvious.

I did sharpen the knife for about 10 min before taking it out.
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It can sometimes take longer, multiple sharpenings before the performance stabilizes. How would you judge the general feel and handling compared to the Trailmaster?

-Cliff
 
This is a little off topic but where do you get all your stones from? I've noticed in your posts that you have all those giant stones and was wondering where you get them from?:confused: :)
 
How would you judge the general feel and handling compared to the Trailmaster?

-Cliff
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The feel was about the same with more weight. The handle however is better on the Scagel for chopping that is. I do not know if it would be as good for killing boars but I will give it a chance next time :D

I guess that I would have to use the knife some more and keep using the awesome stones:D

RedEdge77

The 10" Arkansas stones are from ebay, The pink Translucent is a rare one and did not come cheap.

Cheers,

André
 
Thanks for the info. you lucky bastid!:D

Yea go kill some hogs. I'm starting to miss those pictures with the pigs and trailmasters.:( ;)
 
500jefferyDK said:
I also drive my Audi and that cost more then $1000:D knives are amde to be used and using a well build blade is a pure joy.
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I like that. :) Nice write-up and the pictures are great. :thumbup:
 
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