Giving them one Mora chance

[Hickory n steel]

I have often said that I didn't really like Mora knives because the scandi grind doesn't slice very well.
I had one that always seemed dull to me, and I was just not impressed.

That knife was the model 711, and apparently the blade was a good deal thicker than others.

Yesterday I received a model 511 as a late birthday gift, and I was surprised.
The blade is significantly thinner than that model 711 and I don't think I will be as unhappy with this one.
Sharpening it may be a different story, but I can see myself using it for chores around the yard and I will give it a go as my belt knife of choice this next week.

 

[kamagong]

You're not wrong. The narrow scandi grind of most Mora knife models does not slice very well. If that is what you need in a knife, look elsewhere.

Moras are decent, inexpensive knives, but they are not the be-all, end-all of knife design.

 

[Markesharp]

I consider them more as a small bushcraft knife.

 

[GAGL]

I have often said that I didn't really like Mora knives because the scandi grind doesn't slice very well.
I had one that always seemed dull to me, and I was just not impressed.

That knife was the model 711, and apparently the blade was a good deal thicker than others.

Yesterday I received a model 511 as a late birthday gift, and I was surprised.
The blade is significantly thinner than that model 711 and I don't think I will be as unhappy with this one.
Sharpening it may be a different story, but I can see myself using it for chores around the yard and I will give it a go as my belt knife of choice this next week.

Happy belated birtday wishes

No offense, but they aren't made to slice. No scandi grind is.

They're really good for wood work. My kitchen knives make for poor wood choppers.

The 511 is a great little knife.

Mora knows how to make a comfortable handle.

 

[oldmanwilly]

Agreed with Kamagong, although I would add that the Mora 2000 and Kansbol each have thinner stock and a compound grind that help them slice much better than a standard scandi grind. Same steel, same general price point, and quality as other Moras

 

[MolokaiRider]

Happy Birthday!

I always liked the thinner Moras. They certainly work better than a lot of knives that I've tried out. The grind not ideal for food prep work, but the stock is still thinner than something like a Buck 110, so it's not terrible.

However, the Garberg is really only suited for woodwork, as it's thicker stick and short scandi sort of pidgen-holes it into a specific role.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Thinking about it now my issues do seem to have been food related.
Peeling/ cutting an apple, salimi and cheese during my lunch break...ect.
I wasn't making meals in the kitchen necessarily but my belt knives do often cut food.
I also remember the profile being terrible at cardboard.
I suspect if I focus more on yardwork and stuff in the workshop I probably won't have as many complaints.


I'll be really busy around the yard this week so the mora 511 will be on my hip and I'll see how it goes.

 

[Jack Black]

You're not wrong. The narrow scandi grind of most Mora knife models does not slice very well. If that is what you need in a knife, look elsewhere.

Moras are decent, inexpensive knives, but they are not the be-all, end-all of knife design.

Summed up well Christian

 

[Jack Black]

Not all Moras are created the same...

Three Lapplanders from when the company were still called Frosts of Mora:

Couple of Swedish Army Knives:

I rather like their small whittling knives (with after-market sheath):

The current plastic sheaths are better than the old ones, but I prefer a leather sheath

 

[Will Power]

It's an outdoors knife, making fire-curls, battening small logs, cutting open sacks, lopping twigs etc.

Good at it too.

But why mess about with a Red Handle Swedish knife when here are puukkot?

Not that they're great slicers either, that's not what they're really for, flat grind needed etc.

 

[Hammer67]

It's simple blade geometry, combined with the inherent shortcomings of the so-called "Scandi-grind" itself. "Scandis" have a bevel that starts quite low on the blade, in the lowest third of the blade height. When this is combined with a thick blade stock, that angle from the bevel to the edge has to be steep - which may create a decent wedge, but not a great slicer. As you found, a thinner blade to begin with means a lower angle bevel, which helps some with slicing tasks.

But why mess about with a Red Handle Swedish knife when here are puukkot?

Agreed. Try a decent Puukko with a thin blade and a higher bevel and you'll likely never look back. They are far more versatile, imo, than a typical "Scandi" (esp. modern, thick "Scandi" knives which are really only decent for a few specific tasks and sub-par at just about everything else). I'll reserve the rest of my "Scandi misconceptions" rant for another day...

 

[Hickory n steel]

It's an outdoors knife, making fire-curls, battening small logs, cutting open sacks, lopping twigs etc.

Good at it too.

But why mess about with a Red Handle Swedish knife when here are puukkot?

Not that they're great slicers either, flat grind needed etc.

Because this one is bright orange

 

[Hickory n steel]

It's simple blade geometry, combined with the inherent shortcomings of the so-called "Scandi-grind" itself. "Scandis" have a bevel that starts quite low on the blade, in the lowest third of the blade height. When this is combined with a thick blade stock, that angle from the bevel to the edge has to be steep - which may create a decent wedge, but not a great slicer. As you found, a thinner blade to begin with means a lower angle bevel, which helps some with slicing tasks.



Agreed. Try a decent Puukko with a thin blade and a higher bevel and you'll likely never look back. They are far more versatile, imo, than a typical "Scandi" (esp. modern, thick "Scandi" knives which are really only decent for a few specific tasks and sub-par at just about everything else). I'll reserve the rest of my "Scandi misconceptions" rant for another day...

I'd much rather have a hollow high saber or full flat grind, but that's probably because I'm most used to traditional American " hunting " knives.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

I never really understood the need for a "slicer" in a woods knife anyway

I mean, I'm always going to have an opinel on me for food prep.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I never really understood the need for a "slicer" in a woods knife anyway

I mean, I'm always going to have an opinel on me for food prep.

And my issue comes from the fact that I don't need a woods knife.

 

[kamagong]

Thinking about it now my issues do seem to have been food related.
Peeling/ cutting an apple, salimi and cheese during my lunch break...ect.
I wasn't making meals in the kitchen necessarily but my belt knives do often cut food.
I also remember the profile being terrible at cardboard.
I suspect if I focus more on yardwork and stuff in the workshop I probably won't have as many complaints.

Food prep and cutting cardboard may be among the two tasks the Mora is most ill-suited for. You want an inexpensive knife that you can use for food and press into a utility role, take a look at this. It's basically a modern rendition of the Laguiole's fixed blade predecessor.

I rather like their small whittling knives (with after-market sheath): yup

The laminated 106 is my favorite Mora.

It's an outdoors knife, making fire-curls, battening small logs, cutting open sacks, lopping twigs etc.

Good at it too.

But why mess about with a Red Handle Swedish knife when here are puukkot?

Not that they're great slicers either, that's not what they're really for, flat grind needed etc.

My puukko will never outslice a dedicated kitchen knife, but it's not at all bad at it.

I like the barrel shaped red ones, especially compared to the plastic. I can always find a use for a good, inexpensive tool that brooks no attachment.

I never really understood the need for a "slicer" in a woods knife anyway

I mean, I'm always going to have an opinel on me for food prep.

These words come to mind.

"A camper has use for a common-sense sheath-knife, sometimes for dressing big game, but oftener for such homely work as cutting sticks, slicing bacon, and frying "spuds." For such purposes a rather thin, broadpointed blade is required, and it need not be over four or five inches long. Nothing is gained by a longer blade, and it would be in one's way every time he sat down. Such a knife, bearing the marks of hard usage, lies before me. Its blade and handle are each 4 1/2 inches long, the blade being 1 inch wide, 1/8th inch thick on the back, broad pointed, and continued through the handle as a hasp and riveted to it. It is tempered hard enough to cut green hardwood sticks, but soft enough so that when it strikes a knot or bone it will, if anything, turn rather than nick; then a whetstone soon puts it in order. The Abyssinians have a saying, "If a sword bends, we can straighten it; but if it breaks, who can mend it? " So with a knife or hatchet.

The handle of this knife is of oval cross-section, long enough to give a good grip for the whole hand, and with no sharp edges to blister one's hand. It has a 1/4 inch knob behind the cutting edge as a guard, but there is no guard on the back, for it would be useless and in the way. The handle is of light but hard wood, 3/4 inch thick at the butt and tapering to 1/2 inch forward, so as to enter the sheath easily and grip it tightly. If it were heavy it would make the knife drop out when I stooped over. The sheath has a slit frog binding tightly on the belt, and keeping the knife well up on my side. This knife weighs only 4 ounces. It was made by a country blacksmith, and is one of the homeliest things I ever saw; but it has outlived in my affections the score of other knives that I have used in competition with it, and has done more work than all of them put together."

Horace Kephart, Woodcraft and Camping

 

[Hickory n steel]

Food prep and cutting cardboard may be among the two tasks the Mora is most ill-suited for. You want an inexpensive knife that you can use for food and press into a utility role, take a look at this. It's basically a modern rendition of the Laguiole's fixed blade predecessor.

I was never really looking for a knife for those tasks, but I wanted to try the ubiquitous Mora and was doing those things a good deal at the time.

If I really want a knife for those tasks I've got my Green River belt knife.



I'm not expecting any Mora to really fit my needs that well in an EDC belt knife, but I was gifted a 511 and it seems like It'll at least do better than that 711 so I'm going to give it a fair chance.

I will find a good use for it either way.

 

[Jack Black]

Food prep and cutting cardboard may be among the two tasks the Mora is most ill-suited for. You want an inexpensive knife that you can use for food and press into a utility role, take a look at this. It's basically a modern rendition of the Laguiole's fixed blade predecessor.

That looks like a very useful knife Christian. It reminds me of utility knives which were given to bombed-out families re-building their homes here after WW2. They were built by injured ex-servicemen, and almost identical in form. I don't currently have one I'm afraid, as I gave mine away, and don't see them as often as in the past

The laminated 106 is my favorite Mora.

I think it might be mine too Christian These past couple of years, I've certainly used it more than any of the others I own

My puukko will never outslice a dedicated kitchen knife, but it's not at all bad at it.

It's also very beautiful!

I like the barrel shaped red ones, especially compared to the plastic. I can always find a use for a good, inexpensive tool that brooks no attachment.

This is a Norwegian Tollekniv, which I liked, and it was great value, but I also gave this one away

These words come to mind.

An apt quotation I once quoted a similar line from Bernard S Mason in relation to slicing bacon, possibly in my article about that Tollekniv, and some idiot (the particular magazines then resident 'knife expert') thought I was talking about CUTTING bacon, remarking that even a table knife would do that

 

[WhittlinAway]

I rather like their small whittling knives

The laminated 106 is my favorite Mora.

I think it might be mine too Christian These past couple of years, I've certainly used it more than any of the others I own

I’m partial to the shorter 120, but that’s because of the scale of the material I usually carve. The 106 is also a fantastic knife and I prefer it when spoon carving.

My 120 has been pressed into food prep service more than once while traveling when the place I was staying lacked a sharp knife and I had my whittling kit with me. Now I bring an Opinel No. 10 with me for that when travel constraints allow.

But why mess about with a Red Handle Swedish knife when here are puukkot?

Not that they're great slicers either, that's not what they're really for, flat grind needed etc.

Try a decent Puukko with a thin blade and a higher bevel and you'll likely never look back.

My puukko will never outslice a dedicated kitchen knife, but it's not at all bad at it.

Agreed, a puukko with a thin blade is a versatile performer. This one is 2.5 mm thick and was made for me by American maker Reid Schwartz. As kamagong said, it won’t outslice a dedicated kitchen knife, but it does admirably and is so much fun to use that it sees more use in the kitchen than I have real reason for it to.

 

[WhittlinAway]

Hickory n steel thanks for starting this thread, there's been some fun discussion here! I look forward to hearing your reflections on your Mora second chance as you put it though its paces this week.