Mark Barone
Well-Known Member
Are we looking for the same sharpness as a hunter or skinner. You know, the paper test. Or does that mean the edge is too thin to handle bushcraft tasks. Secondary edge or no?
Bushcraft knife sharpness?
- Thread starter Mark Barone
- Start date
SS369
Well-Known Member
To me, a bushcraft knife has to do a lot of chores, out in the wild. Yes, I think a paper cutting ability is a good benchmark to start with, regardless of the edge angle. Most all around knives that I have had experience with, that I would take into the wild, have a secondary angle of 20-25 degrees. There are a few contributing factors to consider with a bushcraft knife: overall blade thickness, primary bevel angle, height of grind, hollow grind (?), blade material, HRC, etc.
Me, I like a secondary angle, usually at 23 degrees, generally .010 behind the edge. But then, I won’t be whacking down firewood with mine.
Me, I like a secondary angle, usually at 23 degrees, generally .010 behind the edge. But then, I won’t be whacking down firewood with mine.
Mark Barone
Well-Known Member
makes sense . I guess it seems like it always depends on what we use a knife for.To me, a bushcraft knife has to do a lot of chores, out in the wild. Yes, I think a paper cutting ability is a good benchmark to start with, regardless of the edge angle. Most all around knives that I have had experience with, that I would take into the wild, have a secondary angle of 20-25 degrees. There are a few contributing factors to consider with a bushcraft knife: overall blade thickness, primary bevel angle, height of grind, hollow grind (?), blade material, HRC, etc.
Me, I like a secondary angle, usually at 23 degrees, generally .010 behind the edge. But then, I won’t be whacking down firewood with mine.
tkroenlein
Well-Known Member
"Bushcraft" is so poorly defined, it's sometimes difficult to speak the same language when discussing edges, or really just knives in general. Some folks want a carving knife, some for small game processing, some a general belt knife that would be used for cutting taters as much as anything, and some want a do-anything-end-of-the-world survival knife.
The good news is you can pretty much build what you like and there is somebody that will like it for their purposes.
With all that said, I don't really do anything different between a hunter and a bushcrafter. I want both as thin as I can get them and still hold up to a foreseeable amount of "abuse" without taking a roll. Now, that is not the same as saying it's thick enough to never roll, because people will do stupid stuff and making a knife that thick won't be much fun. But you should assume either will have some heavy contact with bone or a knot in wood.
I know your question was "how sharp" but thickness the kind of edge has so much to do with how well it cuts, especially for something like shaving wood, it must be part of the conversation. A pretty dull knife that's appropriately thin will still do a lot of work. My preferred test for edge geometry on a bushcrafter is shaving wood. When your edge is too thick, you can't engage the wood at a low enough angle to make a thin, controlled shaving that's 6" or so long.
So, when you can cleanly cut your paper, without catching or stopping, that's likely good enough. Standard Norton "fine" stone followed by just enough stropping the clean the burr works for me.
The good news is you can pretty much build what you like and there is somebody that will like it for their purposes.
With all that said, I don't really do anything different between a hunter and a bushcrafter. I want both as thin as I can get them and still hold up to a foreseeable amount of "abuse" without taking a roll. Now, that is not the same as saying it's thick enough to never roll, because people will do stupid stuff and making a knife that thick won't be much fun. But you should assume either will have some heavy contact with bone or a knot in wood.
I know your question was "how sharp" but thickness the kind of edge has so much to do with how well it cuts, especially for something like shaving wood, it must be part of the conversation. A pretty dull knife that's appropriately thin will still do a lot of work. My preferred test for edge geometry on a bushcrafter is shaving wood. When your edge is too thick, you can't engage the wood at a low enough angle to make a thin, controlled shaving that's 6" or so long.
So, when you can cleanly cut your paper, without catching or stopping, that's likely good enough. Standard Norton "fine" stone followed by just enough stropping the clean the burr works for me.
John Wilson
Well-Known Member
tkroenlein brings up a great point. Any knife should be sharp enough to cut paper. Cutting paper is all about a refined edge. You don’t need a razor blade to do it. If an edge won’t cut paper, more than likely the culprit is a burr rather than a thick edge. An axe will cut paper if the edge is good and deburred. Cutting paper is a good edge, but can still be a rather thick one. A knife that needs to baton wood ought to be sharp but certainly doesn’t need to silently wipe the hair off your arm like a kitchen knife.
This is why so many bush craft guys like Scandi grinds. It’s a damn good, robust geometry that can stay relatively sharp (working sharp) for a long time even with abuse because the edge has so much support behind it.
This is why so many bush craft guys like Scandi grinds. It’s a damn good, robust geometry that can stay relatively sharp (working sharp) for a long time even with abuse because the edge has so much support behind it.
tkroenlein
Well-Known Member
I continue to read this once a week. I can't really articulate the impact @Kevin R. Cashen has had on my ability to make a knife work like it should. There's a lot of good steel and HT info out there these days (lots of bad too!) but no one puts it to the edge of a knife like Mr. Cashen does. I expect the folks here mostly know that. But it needs said once in awhile.
Heat treatment or geometry, which is more important?
Get your cup of coffee, this will take a bit. ;) I have been working on article and video ideas and wanted to see if this one could be of interest. When I began learning about the fascinating effects of heat treatments on the properties of steel, I fell into the mindset that the three most...
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