What are Scandi grinds advantage?

R

Randydb

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Sep 27, 2014
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As I was grinding today I was looking at how the early part of my grinding process wasn't far from creating a scandi grind.
Who uses those, and what is their advantage? I have one blank from another maker that is scandi ground and it is heavy. BUT it is razor sharp. But i don't know the difference in performance I might expect.
 
You listed the two advantages - heavy duty and very sharp.

The Nordic hunters needed a blade that would do all tasks. It had to be heavy duty and sharp. The scandi grind makes a low angle edge backed up by a fairly thick blade. Many/most were made from laminated steel with soft iron sides and a thin high carbon core. This made the knife even tougher and the edge held up longer.
 
I think bushcrafter's obsession with the scandi grind is a bit... Overblown? Uninformed?

I dunno, I think a 1/8" thick blade, ffg with a relativly short blade and a good handle will work better for nearly every task.
Except battoning.
Bring a hatchet.

That's all I've got to say on the subject!
 
A.McPherson said:
I think bushcrafter's obsession with the scandi grind is a bit... Overblown? Uninformed?

I dunno, I think a 1/8" thick blade, ffg with a relativly short blade and a good handle will work better for nearly every task.
Except battoning.
Bring a hatchet.

That's all I've got to say on the subject!
Click to expand...

I agree. A flat grind is more versatile / less limited. Not harder to sharpen either.

Surely there must have been some labour / cost / production perspective in the evolution of this kind of grind as well, historically? Less demanding to produce than a FFG at any given thickness of stock.
I am just not convinced about the allround superiority of that geometry per se. And I'm pretty sure battoning wasn't how scandi grinds evolved either.
 
From what i understand scandi grinds are meant for carving wood. Like a chisel they don't have much of a secondary bevel and have a fair bit of material to back up the edge. I have even seen it talked about that it is designed to carve wood and that for bushcrafting much of what you do is carve wood so for those task it doesn't fall as far behind a FFG.
 
I feel a big advantage to a scandi is one can use thin stock and have a stiff blade. Take a scandi with a 0.080 inch thick spine and 10dps geometry and many are surprised by how versatile the knife can be. Most makers that use scandi grinds use thick stock and bevel geometry, not a good combination in my mind.
 
Probably the biggest advantage to bushcrafters is that it makes someone who has a very low skill level feel like they can actually use a knife, due to the aggressive cutting ability in wood (on shallow cuts) inherent to the grind. Then it helps to propagate the cycle that "scandi grinds are best for bushcraft," which in turn makes it possible for makers to sell knives with a "forge finish" on 95% of the knife, 3 passes per side on the grinder, and call the rest of the finish/knife "field ready" or "meant for actual use" and charge the same amount (or more) as an actually finished knife. ;):D:)

The biggest advantage for the maker of said knives is they only have to grind 1/5 of a knife, and call all the unfinished areas/mistakes intentional, to "encourage use.";):):p

Sam:thumbsup:
 
seacucumber said:
Its proven. Surgical scalpels, utility blades, and machetes tend to be scandi.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call any of those scandi as much as I'd call them saber ground. All three of those tend to be much thinner stock than the typical Norwegian belt knife so a low sabre grind works fine.

Ease of production as opposed to FFG or full convex grinds probably plays a role as well.

My one machete is more of a scandi-vex grind.
 
Another advantage (I think this is the biggest one) is that because the bevel is perfectly flat and goes right to the edge with no secondary bevel it works much like a draw knife and you can put the bevel flat on your work piece and have a lot of control making clean straight cuts with just slight angle changes.
 
Thickness of material dictates cutting efficiency of a Scandi ground blade. Bevel angles are usually at 12 or 12 1/2 degrees per side so thick stock as opposed to thin stock requires a different geometry in order to have the same cutting ability. I think I have that right.
Fred
 
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