Recommendation? *Only* Field Sharpening a Scandi Blade

C

campandtravel

Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Messages
248
First I want to make sure everyone understands what I am talking about. I don't mean "how to keep a scandi blade sharp-ish in the field and then give it a real treatment when I get home." I don't have a home. I live out of a backpack and weight/space is an issue. Itravel with a small ceramic rod that sharpens my other blade but it's not a scandi.

I'm thinking about buying a 7" scandi but I need to know how to keep it extremely sharp in the field. I won't have a dull knife. Doesn't have to be *razor* sharp. I'm not shaving with it. But I am skinning with it so it has to be extremely sharp.

Recommendations anyone? Thank you.

PS Is it different if I have a 3.5" Scandi?
 
Last edited:
A 7" knife is a useful size to have. A edge doesn't have to be 'extremely sharp' to skin with. A 300 grit SiC pocket stone can easily get a knife sharp enough to skin with. Nothing is in season right now except rabbits and one doesn't need a knife to skin those. Hogs don't go out of season. If the scandi grid is not too obtuse a pocket stone could do it. Good luck on your adventure. Maybe by April you will need something to shave with. DM
 
Your biggest issue will be re-profiling blade if it chips or rolls (not hard to do with a true scandi grind, if using it for stuff beside wood processing) That would be where you would want some good coarse stones. Not just a pocket sharpener.

If you have ever tried to sharpen out a chip, or get grinds even on a factory Mora, this can seem an impossible task sometimes, even with low grit stones large enough to be efficient. If you want to have a knife with a scandi profile, but want to sharpen it easily in the field, I would convert it to a convex grind. I've done that on 3-4 scandi grinds, and I can actually sharpen them quickly, and with a DC4.
 
Honestly you could do it with an axe puck, and that would probably be the route I'd take in a similar situation as that shape packs well and is handy for everything. Use a circular pattern and finish with some leading passes.

I would also touch it up on fire ash applied in thin layer of dust to a flat piece of wood for a strop. This is how I maintain my hatchets when camping and it works very well to keep an armhair shaving edge.

It helps a lot if the steel in question is carbon or low carbide content stainless. If its high carbide I'd want a small combination diamond plate.

The 3.5 inch will be a lot easier to maintain in the field than the 7", but both are doable.
 
A coarse/ fine puck will work and give you a nice edge. I got mine from Norton. With field sharpening you mostly take the stone to the knife. Whereas with bench stones at home it's the other way. There is a learning curve in this method. Some people this time of year will
hike the Continental Divide Trail. DM
 
The only thing I have to add would be with a rectangular stone you could sharpen the chipped area on the corner of the stone. Also using the corner or edge of the stone raises the force per unit of area on the steel and makes for quicker reprofiling / knocking back the bevel once it gets too steep.
 
Wowbagger said:
The only thing I have to add would be with a rectangular stone you could sharpen the chipped area on the corner of the stone. Also using the corner or edge of the stone raises the force per unit of area on the steel and makes for quicker reprofiling / knocking back the bevel once it gets too steep.
Click to expand...


This is the first time in 12 years on this forum that I am flabbergasted. At the coherence and shortness of your post. Congrats Wowbagger, I actually read this one. Maybe others will too.
 
campandtravel said:
First I want to make sure everyone understands what I am talking about. I don't mean "how to keep a scandi blade sharp-ish in the field and then give it a real treatment when I get home." I don't have a home. I live out of a backpack and weight/space is an issue. Itravel with a small ceramic rod that sharpens my other blade but it's not a scandi.

I'm thinking about buying a 7" scandi but I need to know how to keep it extremely sharp in the field. I won't have a dull knife. Doesn't have to be *razor* sharp. I'm not shaving with it. But I am skinning with it so it has to be extremely sharp.

Recommendations anyone? Thank you.

PS Is it different if I have a 3.5" Scandi?
Click to expand...


I think you just like to say "scandi." It's probably annoying to Scandinavians when they see "scandi."
 
campandtravel said:
First I want to make sure everyone understands what I am talking about. I don't mean "how to keep a scandi blade sharp-ish in the field and then give it a real treatment when I get home." I don't have a home. I live out of a backpack and weight/space is an issue. Itravel with a small ceramic rod that sharpens my other blade but it's not a scandi.

I'm thinking about buying a 7" scandi but I need to know how to keep it extremely sharp in the field. I won't have a dull knife. Doesn't have to be *razor* sharp. I'm not shaving with it. But I am skinning with it so it has to be extremely sharp.

Recommendations anyone? Thank you.

PS Is it different if I have a 3.5" Scandi?
Click to expand...
I sort of answered that in your previous thread on the subject; I like the cheap Terävä knives and always carry a Fällkniven DC3 sharpening stone when in the field.
It will give many years of service.
 
Wowbagger said:
The only thing I have to add would be with a rectangular stone you could sharpen the chipped area on the corner of the stone. Also using the corner or edge of the stone raises the force per unit of area on the steel and makes for quicker reprofiling / knocking back the bevel once it gets too steep.
Click to expand...
While you have a lucid moment, might you explain your previous statement about you tinkering with knives for a living. Are you a pro knife modder?
 
BladeScout said:
I sort of answered that in your previous thread on the subject; I like the cheap Terävä knives and always carry a Fällkniven DC3 sharpening stone when in the field.
It will give many years of service.
Click to expand...

Do you really think that stone is going to hold up to being carried in a backpack for years, thrown under greyhounds, tossed on top of jeep roof racks? I just don't see how this is field maintenance.
 
campandtravel said:
Do you really think that stone is going to hold up to being carried in a backpack for years, thrown under greyhounds, tossed on top of jeep roof racks? I just don't see how this is field maintenance.
Click to expand...
As I told you in your other thread, the DC stones are diamonds on one side - they are going to last you many MANY years.
Since you couldnt be bothered to look it up, I did it for you. Its not a sharpening stone easily broken;
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/SWEDFNDC3/fallkniven-diamondceramic-whetstone-3-x-1-75-x-25-mm
 
Last edited:
I was also going to advice to get a Fallkniven stone, in my case the DC4.
I’ve been using them for almost 20 years and I’m on my 5th one.
Two gifted away to friends and the other two shattered the ceramic side dropping them on hard floors. Keep in mind that I carry it everyday and gets lots of wear and it holds up pretty well with the leather pouch. Besides I don’t think there are too many stones that would survive being dropped on concrete.
Maybe your best bet is a couple of diafolds coarse/fine xfine/xxfine
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top