Hello Will, I have viewed this video a few times now and this is an awesome video. i have been using my knives for 45+years now and what I learned about all the grinds in my collection was never put into any collective thoughts. I learned what different grinds excelled at certain tasks and which did poorly, but it became more intuitive over time so when I wanted a new knife for a certain task I would order that saber or convex or scandi depending on the task at hand. This brings me to my point of all this rambling. I wish I had a video like this when I was starting out. I wouldn’t have ruined my starter knives like I did. Most of my old knives I still have, but I also lost some that I regret losing to damage now that I am 50+ years old. Your “opinions” (aka, advice} about hitting the blade squarely on the spine is a winner, as is using the saber and convex for heavy use. I no longer use my flat grinds for processing fire wood. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me. :)
@@wcknives Hey William! Thank you for all of that knowledge you shared in your video, it was very informative. I too find that butcher knife to be awesome. Have you ever or will you ever offer that knife on your website for purchase?
Taylor's Outdoor Adventures probably not as a production knife but I have monthly specials of different models. The butcher as a few months again and should rotate around agin this year. Not sure when so be sure your subscribed to my RU-vid channel and the bell is clicked to get notices on monthly specials.
Great video thanks. One thing I like about flat ground is I can “feel” what the blade is doing, some thing that’s hard to explain but definitely difficult to achieve with a thicker blade.
No William, thank you :):) Something that is seldom discussed when folks talk or review knives. Something I sort of knew but never paid that much attention was the belly :) I am a machinist and use that sort of approach e.g easing into the cut = a far more effortless removal of material. I have learned so much wrt blades from you, that simply is not covered by most. ... and yes a "toothy" grind is better than a polished edge:) My favourite blade ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DA5yP_HBBVg.html Keep up the good work!
hey man just found your channel. I am a beginning knife maker and I was looking up videos on knife designs and found you channel. I love the whittle talk videos with your no nonsense approach and in my opinion is highly respectable. I feel the same way as you about scandis not being easier to sharpen. they in fact take longer to sharpen as you have to remove so much more metal. I highly respect your work and your approach to knife design. keep up the great work.
Say Heah William, Even though I've seen this video before, I still enjoy watching you explaining info that is valuable especially this time of the year for me, Thanx. The edge plays a very part for slicing and cutting. Years ago, A Gentleman by the name of George K (R. I. P.) under the G. E. K. Logo made me a custom wood craft knife. He knew I liked thick knives, and a Choil, But he also knew that I like to wood craft. So he made me a approx. 4" blade and 3/16ths" thick with a choil, But the way he blended the thick spine to the zero edge still amazes me, A real piece of art. He made it out of a saw, that's was considered a good blade material back then. I still have it, I don't use it that much anymore, because I don't wasn't it to grow legs and walk away. The Tempering is top notch because it holds a great edge. I guess I would have to call it a Hollow Grind, but it's down so nicely and this knife does everything I can think of doing it as a knife. Yes I baton's with it But kidding only and I didn't go crazy batoning wood that I knew was too big of a job for it. But what ever tge Grind is, It's done just right for me. Yeah, this was a good video to watch for me. And Thanx for reminding me of Ole George.
I’m glad to hear you say that Saber grind is a viable option in “bushcraft”! I don’t own any custom knives yet but my main belt knife is a Saber grind and it works great for me!!! Thanks for the video!
Thank you so much for your craftsmanship and your willingness to share your knowledge and experience. I am 69 years old and have always considered myself a knife guy. That is, I have always had a love for knives of all kinds, but mostly folding knives. That said, I really have had no real knowledge of blade materials or of edge grinds. After watching this, I pulled out a selection of my folding knife collection and realize the vast majority of them have full flat grind blades. I now appreciate why I tend to gravitate to this particular grind. I enjoy food and tend to utilize my knives in food preparation.I like, for example, a knife that cuts tomatoes easily. Over the years, I have acquired a number of different folding knives, primarily by French knife makers...Opinal, Laguiole, Percevail, Nontron, and the famous utility knife the Douk-Douk...all with, I now realize, full flat grinds.They cut cheese, apples and bread...really well! I also have a classic Buck folding knife that I've owned from the age of 18. I now know that it has a sabre grind and why it has always, intuitively, been my choice of camping knife. I have just ordered one of your production model "Every Day Chore" knives and now fully appreciate why I went with a full flat grind. In addition, your sharing of your knowledge of knife blade and edge design has led me to a fuller appreciation of axe and hatchet design...our family heat primarily with wood, here on the west coast of Canada, and I am more and more appreciating good design in wood processing tools. It is so important that this knowledge is not lost in the "Modern " world. Again, thank you for your Craftsmanship!
Hello William ,thanks a million for your well instructive video.I like your expresion when you mention some of the myths of the knives world.Greetings from Argentina.I gonna have a look on your web si te right now.
Good video sir. It's an old one, but popped up on my recommended list. I look at it as, It's kind of a right tool for the job thing. They all have their advantages and disadvantages, depending on the task at hand. I love a hollow grind for my edc folders, they're hard to beat for pure slicing ability, but sure don't want that on my woods knife. Sometimes I take for granted everyone knows how to choose and use a knife properly, but the more RU-vid videos I watch, the more I realize that isn't always the case, lol. "This here knifes a piece of junk, don't buy it. I was beating it through a 4" thick log of gnarly seasoned red oak, and the damn tip broke off after only 10 or 12 whacks". Damn, imagine that. Who would'a guessed that might happen.
Thank you for the the excellent information in this video. Just found your channel and the first video I watch (this one) answers the main question I had about blade grinds. Now I have the information I need to choose my first EDC fixed blade.
New subscriber: William, although convex and saber grinds are my favorites for all the things you mention, I have tremendous appreciation for your knowledge and such a down to earth approach in your videos! I really enjoy them and the way you are presenting information. It is both valuable and easy to consider. Much success brother, I am now looking to purchase one of your flat grind general purpose knives.
Thank you for your videos Sir ! I greatly enjoy them . I hope to own one of your knives someday. I learned of you by watched Blackie Thomas at Shamans forge.
I like your videos, you have awesome tips and cool camping videos and helped me pick out my knife,,, can't wait for fall&winter I'm going to go camping and hunting ALOT :)
I have a Buck 120 knife which I have had since around 1979 and it has been a great knife, but the blade now has a chip near the end of the blade so I don't use it like I did before. I also have other full tang knives which I purchased within the last three years and the one I keep on my utility belt is a Schrade model 26 which had good ratings by some on the internet and one I trust to do the things I expect of a knife when camping out. I have some other knives which is full tang and also have a knife from a German company (made in China), and a Japanese full tang knife also, but have not used them as much due to no time for getting away.
Boy Oh Boy did I learn alot from you especially about curved edge vs. a straight edge, I alway thought my Skookum Bush Tool was a good carver and slicer was because it was a Scandi, but I Vexed it too by Stropping, but then I started to watch you and got my Potbelly and it too for a large knife carved and sliced good too. so Takk means Thank You in Norwegian (Scandinavian country) and I'm not Norwegian
Three knives,a hatchet,a folding saw, and a multitool ought to cover it. Be well prepared and have fun doing it. Allways learning.Thanks William.Tennessee
Great video William,I agree with everything you said.I have only been making knives for a couple of years and from my limited experience would say the same about grinds,a sabre grind is my favorite most usefull grind,and a knife is for cutting,(its not an axe) Love the whittle talk series,always great information. Cheers Jason
Interestingly that prepper knife looks much in the spirit of my 8” Indonesian duku chandong - great general design for a smaller chopper with a bunch of more allround capabilities as well …
Mr. William, that is an outstanding video. I could not agree more. All of my EDC blades are thin flat grinds, they are hard to beat. Most of my hunters are also flat ground, but I do still use a hollow for skinning, and skinning alone. Although I do have an extremely thin flat that might replace that. Thank you for the great down to earth explanations! I know you are about to go on hunting hiatus, but how do you place an order with you?
Love the videos brother. Gotta say regarding v grinds, i do think you are mistaken about them not being able to handle dense woods. I have chopped through box wood and other hard woods just fine with then and not had chips or curls. Also easy to fond example of this on yt.
Depends on brand for sure. My knives will also handle it but I do compounds grind with a scandi angle so it depends on heat treat. I heat treat everything myself so check out my website www.wcknives.com. This is a very old video.
I use a full flat ground knife everyday. Of course, I work in a kitchen. Kitchen knives may not be your thing, but I use a Tojiro DP series Gyuto which has a VG-10 core. Man that steel holds an edge. I cut up all kids of vegetables and meat and I'm not easy on it. Everyday before I start, I run it across a 1200 grit ceramic honing steel and it is still sharper than everyone else' knives. Only taken it to the stones once. One of these days William I'm going to pick up something with a sabre grind from you. I like the looks of the Woodsjourney. Do you make anything with a comparable shape/size to the Pathfinder Scout?
Soulman1282 This is close to the scout in size. Introducing WC Knives "Johnny Rancher". I have had several VG-10 knives, good steel. Great steel for the kitchen. Appreciate the view and comment.
ReapersEXoticReps Thanks AJ. Sheaths will be finished tomorrow had to let them dry overnight. What size kydex fero rodl oop did you want of the hogstooth sheath?
Say Heah William, I don't hunt anymore, But the point is even my new Nessmuk Style Knife I use for working wood, I generally like a Saber Grind, Your Blended Saber Grind intrigued me so that's what I ordered on my new Master Woodsman, Sure sone grind's are better at working wood. But I generally go with a 2Knife carry plus my axe and saw, Even when I use a One Tool Option, I make sure it will work wood even though I will chop and baton with it. I like my Ratweiler, I got it when they came out with a short run for the Blade Show. I got the 1/4" thickness even though it came in the 3/16" thickness. But I did have it thinned down alittle. It has a Choil which I really like on my knives both large and small blades, My Ratweiler from tip to handle is a beffy 7 3/4" blade , and it's sharp, So working wood is no problemo, But I also piggyback it with my Rodent Solution, I bertical carry the Ratweiler and cocked the Solution forward for easy excess, I also like my Johnson Adventure Potbelly Knife, I also use it as a One Tool Option, But with the Potbelly, I like to neck carry my Tops Mini Scandi 2.5., The Potbelly has a Hollow Grind that's sort of midified , just part is hollow grind and to the edge it's flat. But again I have it sharp and it works wood we'll, Like you said "If the apex is thin enough, The knife will cut". ,, .
Dear William: i bought a Condor Bushlore 4" blade which has a Scandinavian profile. I mistakenly gave it a "saber" profile with a wetstone so it's no longer a pure scandi. However it performs great for bushcrafting. Would you recomend reprofile it back to a scandi?
Omar Lemus If it works for you then I would leave it as is. I prefer a saber with a secondary bevel anyway. For me a saber has a stronger edge especially with a softer steel like the Condor.
I have always had scandi grind on my knives (I'm from sweden so quite obvious) and learned the technique to sharpen scandi from my father already when I was a kid so to me it is natural to do it that way, but lately i have had a tendencie to get drawn to a sabergrind because it feels pretty much as good if not better at times, and it is easier to maintain in the field. my prefered knife when out hunting is obviously a scandi grind more out of tradition than anything else and will probably continue to be so, but for mynout and about pack I am planing to get made a sabergrind knife or see if i can find one that I actually like the design of. very informative video really like your stuff and you have got yourself a subscriber from sweden, keep it up! ^^
+Emil Westgaard Henriksen Welcome to my channel and appreciate your view and comment. Do you apply a secondary grind to your scandi blades? I find the grind is exceptional at wood carving but has issues with dense woods or bone. A micro secondary bevel helps a lot with that issue. Just curious if applying a micro bevel is common is Sweden.
William Collins it is common on many blades around here but I am more of a traditional kind of guy when it comes to the scandi, although I can only agree with you that it does make a big difference I still prefer the original grind because I am so used to it, I use my hunting knife in particular mostly for dresskng animals together with a nice old axe I've carried for 21 years (birthdaypresent from my dad at my 5th birthday) it's an old hultsbruks huntingaxe wich is great for getting through bones or tough joints, also most woods I come in contact with are pine, fir and mainly birch wich I concider quite soft woods so I have no problem with maintaining the edge on my knife :) Also as the saying goes over here: "swedish steel bites" ^^
+Emil Westgaard Henriksen LOL, yes it does. I still have several custom Swedish knives. All of them are great green wood carvers. Appreciate you sharing your experience.
I immediately trust a beard like that. I tend to use/carry a Mora companion (obvious scandi and cheap), Gransfors Bruks hatchet, and a Battle Horse patch knife in flat grind. I rarely want anything more.
best tutorial I've seen on not just what each grind is but what each one is best for. uncomplicates the whole 'debate' on which is the best. the one for the job you need it for thanks
Great video! Does the Saber grind have a flat or hollow grind? I have a old Chicago cutlery boning knife with a hollow grind and belly. It is nothing fancy but really is a great knife.
Scandi is great on a thinner carving blade but for a larger blade the saber is much better choice in my opinion. Until now i've been sharpening it about a 10 degree angle which someone else suggested to me.. causes my edge to roll under heavy abuse and i've got a chip on my blade from it. It stays hair shaving sharp for the most part my problem is with hardwoods and the more dense species. I'll try the 22 1/2 and go beat on it some more see if that helped. Thanks for the information!
Could be the type of steel or heat treat as well. Some knives are not designed properly for a scandi grind. You could change the grind to a scandivex or apply a micro bevel to make the edge stronger. I have videos on changing the edge profile if you go to my home page and look though the Whittle Talk playlist. Appreciate your view and thoughts.
Great!... was always wondering why I like the Sabre grind, in the woods... now I know...Y 2c is woth at least a £ (pound) with me, thank you. No point pounding on a great knife if you carry an Ax (Hatchet).(My rule of thumb is 8"-curved flat grind Camp Knife; Sabre ~6" drop-point Sirvival; Scandi ~5" spear-point Bushcrafter that, if narrow & slim enough, debones nicely too... )
I've learned alot from your videos. I've copied a few of your projects. I beeswaxed a pup tent. Of the knives you showed in this video, which two would you choose? Thanks. I'll be watching.
Newish Subscriber - working through your videos - this is a perfect video and has confirmed to me why I don't like a knife that everyone else is raving about (the grind is wrong for me and my intended use), Time for me to regrind it - Many thanks William. Also - do you ever ship to the UK or are your knives only distributed to the states?
Will you still be posting vids during hunting season? I have come to watching your vids as much as I do Canterbury's. I enjoy your common sense. Thanks for the vids.
survivethat2012 Thank you very much. That is a great compliment to be in the same discussion as Canterbury, I'm a fan of his as well. I plan on posting as many videos as I can, so stay tuned.
pardon the ignorance, I'm very new to knives in general and with wood crafting in the bush but is a Saber grind pretty much a scandi grind but with a secondary edge or do true scnadies have a bevel closer to the edge (more distance from the edge to the spine). So that being asked, the "bushcraft" youtube community are all over the entry knife Condor Bushlore as a scandi grind but after watching this video it looks more like a Saber? Im so glad i found your chanel cause your philosophy on the saber/ax combo is logical to me. So, What steel do you recommend for a Saber grind? I don't mind having to care more for it. Thanks! and I really appreciate your sense of humor. you are obviously a kind soul.
Type of steel will vary for location, in a wet or salty area I recommend a stainless like CPM 154 or Cpm s35vn. for all other areas a properly heat treated O1 will do fine. All knives must have the proper geometry in the grind or they will not perform properly regardless of the type of steel or heat treat. Be sure and watch the Whittle Talk play list on my channel for just about everything on knives and my opinion on many of these knife topics and much more.
farmer mike not sure I understand the question but if your asking my preference in high carbon steels then in my opinion a properly heat treated O1 is hard to beat.
thanks for the video all sharpen all my scandi blades into a scandivex its easy to sharpen as long as your not worried about changing the profile saber grind is an excellent choice .
Thanks this video answer a lot of my questions on knife, looks like I want a knif with curve edge with a sabar grind...like to find a 8 inch in a neck knife like this...thanks Robert...
Say Heah William, What do you think of a High Scandi doing feathers and batoning, What would you recommand I would do to the edge, Would you strop the edge to slight convex it ? or would you put a 'V" secondary edge? Thanx in advance.
WoW, Just put a "V" on the High Scandi. Would you then consider it a Saber Grind, a Low Saber Grind ? Sorry to bombard you with all these questions, But your a good Teacher.
The fact that you own so many different knives, tells me that you have been searching for a better knife for a long time. Maybe now, you have realized that there is not one knife that does everything better. People are always arguing over which knife is best for a "woodsman" or nature camper, as I call them. The fact is, the people who do it best, have more than one tool. There is no such thing as a knife that chops wood and makes feather sticks well. So why compromise. Carry a "bush knife" (aka machete) for chopping, and a small, easy to use blade for shaving sticks and cutting rope.
Tim Hallas I completely disagree. You haven’t used my Master Woodsman or WCSK. Go to my You Tube channel home page and see playlist on these designs and demonstration videos. Or visit my website. Www.wcknives.com you can get a knife to do more than a handful of task well you only have to combine different aspects of different knives into one blade design. That is how I approach knife design.
@@wcknives : Compromise just means you don't get the best of anything. Two blades are better than one ALWAYS. You show me a knife that can take down a tree in a reasonable time, and with reasonable effort, and I guarantee that knife will suck at fine cutting tasks. Anyone who goes into the woods with one blade is an unprepared fool.
Tim Hallas the WCSK. You are arguing a point without watching the videos. I’m telling you it is possible. You have to design something different like the WCSK.
Tim Hallas I make videos so I can’t have to finger type a novel in a phone. It does the things you said a knife can’t do. That is the short answer. Or you can watch 40 plus videos showing what it can do. Your choice.
A quick question: Rather than putting a micro bevel on a scandi couldn't someone just order their knife with a slightly more obtuse angle to make the edge more durable? Or will the apex still be fragile?
Dwight Kalezra It will still be more fragile than a micro bevel or a secondary bevel also the steeper the grind the less control you have in cutting. A scandi was designed to use in soft wood or green wood carving and for that it excels. When we try to use it for slicing or carving in harder woods that is when we have a problem. Most knife makers ship scandi knives with a micro secondary bevel. LT Write does this, he discussed it in a PM101 video a few weeks ago.
Say Heah William, So if you put ore metal on a Flat Grind, would putting a convex improve the slicing ability and still make it stronger, I like the idea behind the slicing ability of a thin flat, But I don't like the delicate part of it. So how do I get around the thicker secondary edge, would conveying help.
Thicker the blade the more you have a pinch point at the secondary apex. It is a trad off. Better slicing the thinner the blade and more strength the thicker the blade. Doesn't matter what secondary grind you use. Depends on what you want the knife to do.
I really like that video, everything is right.--> A broken knife isn't necessarily indicating a bad blade, I've seen guys batoning hunting blades w. hollow grinds and that was stupid, period. --> There's no "one tool option". Etc. -- like that video A LOT! :-)
William your confusing me with the word apex and relief edge, the shoulder on a saber grind and the scandi grind I thought was called the relief edge, the full flat grind has no relief edge but the apex is the very tip like a triangle the base is the wide part you rest the triangle on the base the apex is the tip of a triangle on the saber grind it's more for chopping like a axe, a flat grind slices more like a machete, on a saber grind the relief edge spreads the wood faster than a flat edge because in essens the relief part or edge on a on a full flat is at the spine and therefore there's more wood drag, that's why some guys use oil when they baton to reduce the friction or drag on wood, maybe it's me that's wrong ?
I am referring to the top of the secondary grind as the secondary grind apex. In short the thinner the blade is at that point the better it will slice. Binding the blade in material has a lot to do with the angle used into the material. But a axe like convex edge is the best chopping grind IMO.
Robert Schmidt Thank you, I offer it in 1095 and O1. Just got a kiln and learning to do other steels but not there yet. I can provide just about any handle material you could want. My knives cost on average $225.00 with a basic leather belt sheath and priority shipping in the US. Knife as shown has premium Koa wood and linen micarta scales so it would be about $20.00 higher. Visit me at www.wcknives.com for ordering contact information.
Thanks! For pricing I will need to know what type of steel preferred, handle material and sheath style. Please send a query to williamcollins@wcknives.com. Appreciate your view and interest.
2:29 Hollow grind. Surely it depends on how shallow or how steep the hollow is and the wheel size used (ie the diameter)? I've got a hollow grind heavy chopper that I've chopped trees down with, and done every conceivable camp chore (except feathersticking) and it has performed consistently. The steel is stainless and 5mm thick and between 6-8mm wide, and about 22cm long. The hollow grind is only about 16-18mm wide so it's quite steep, with a widish secondary bevel on the edge. This is a phenomenal camp knife and chopper (called Bushwhacker). Not disagreeing, JMHO. (With such a shallow hollow it comes very close to a sabre grind, in my opinion. I used it because of the design of the grinder I use.) Thoroughly enjoyed listening to your "opinions" which are probably tons of experience.
@@wcknives I rather think that is the point I was trying to make, thanks William. In reality, knife people seem to go to extraordinary lengths to tighten rules ever tighter, and defend them to the last slice! 😉
You can sharpen a secondary edge with a round rock from a creek bed but it would be difficult with a scandi edge or convex and still maintain a true scandi or convex. You could temporally place a secondary edge on the scandi but then it is no longer a scandi. A convex can be sharpened using a rocking motion if you somehow lost you sharpening equipment but that takes some skill. Like the sacndi you could place a temporary secondary bevel on the convex but again it is no longer a convex. Hope this explains it. Appreciate your view.
I'm curious what it would take to comission a woodlore style knife in 01 steel, scandi grind, with wood scales like desert ironwood or some sort of burl. Leather sheath with ferro rod loop.
Had to stop custom builds in 2018 due to lack of time. You should check out my Woodsman Classic available at my Alaskan dealer. Www.greatnorthernknives.com
I never even seen batoning a knife until I came on youtube. Im pretty sure that was something that would have got me bopped in the back of the head when I was growing up, that is why we have axes is exactly what I say when I see it too..haha
LOL, never saw or heard of it either until only a few years ago on You Tube. In certain limited instances I think it is a useful practice but as with most things it is carried much to far in these so called "knife reviews" on You Tube. Appreciate your view and thoughts.
beagler1969 Introducing WC Knives "Johnny Rancher" Thanks for the view and comment. If you are serious send me a PM with desired handle material and style of sheath. I will give you a price. My shop will close on October 1 for the remainder of the year. So all orders after labor day will be made as I can. It maybe after January 1, 2015.