Sod knife?

Phil705

Phil705

Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
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My brother-in-law is a landscaper, and has asked me to make him a sod knife. I said sure, but I have no idea what a sod knife is, or what it might look like. I'm also concerned about the dulling effect of cutting sod and soil.

Any help out there? Steel? Hardness? Shape? Length? Serrations?
 
I did some landscaping in high school. Sod knives are hooked like a wharnie. It doesn't have to be shaving-sharp to cut sod, it's more for separating the roots so you can lay curved and odd shaped pieces against sidewalks and edgeing.
 
A wharnie isn't hooked ! Google to find photos, but it's like a linoleum knife.You'll need a very wear resistant knife steel ,at least 1.00 % Carbon.
 
hmm...i've seen folks whacking at sod with a machete type knife, but when I google it I see a linoleum style hawkbill shape, and also a short looking wide bladed point-less knife.

Maybe you should ask him what he needs to do with it and how sharp he's gonna need it. and then design something custom for him based on his needs...should be pretty cool. show us what you come up with.
 
I was talking to a woman whose husband uses his beautiful 10" henckles chefs knife for sod :confused: Im thinking of a convex edge for dirt, 6" hawks bill blade and 10xx for use.
 
Why is the Case knife called a Sod-Buster if it isn't for cutting turf?
When I've been cutting turf and edging up I use a long bladed stainless knife, it doesn't have to be ultra sharp but it should be tough because of stones.
Above all, the handle must be ergonomic so check your customer's needs there.
 
That's "Sod-Buster" as in "farmer" (sod buster is the old term for a plowman). It is a utility farm knife.
 
Nothing dulls a knife faster than cutting dirt. I used a long serrated bread knife to do a bunch of edging work and it not only dulled the blade, it removed the serrations. I would go for a hard alloy, since you don't chop with the blade, but you shouldn't worry about it staying sharp (it won't). You should ask him if he wants it stainless or not. For non-stainless O1, D2 or 1095 (improved plow steel) running really hard might be good choices. For stainless you might want CPM154 or S30V.
 
I work at a landscaping/nursery company, and use my EDC (A wharnclif shape, and it's 1095) for cutting up root balls, cutting some sod, etc.. (A lot of dirt cutting and pruning woody plants) It holds up pretty well. I never get chips or anything, and it holds the edge for a couple days of that abuse. (It would never win a beauty contest, though)
Workclif.jpg


Sharpening doesn't get any easier than with a wharncliff.
 
I'm a landscaper as well and I do a fair amount of sod cutting and the like... The knives I use mainly dull fairly quickly, be they D2, S30V, or (not surprisingly) 420J2... The only reason I was using a knife made of 420J2 was because I was given a CRKT Edgie for free, and I wanted to try it as a sod cutting knife... It worked very well.

From my experience, I think a good sod cutter would be:

-Wharncliffe style blade
-fairly thinly ground: this knife should not see too much prying if it is designated as a sod cutter
-relatively easy to sharpen (a good carbon steel (ie. 1095) would be my suggestion)
-micarta handle with no gaps between tang and scales: dirt will get everywhere on this knife

For a sheath:
-fairly easy to clean: maybe a nylon sheath with a kydex insert (note: The kydex should not be press-fit to the knife in my opinion; it's just too difficult to keep a sod cutter clean)
-maybe a pocket for a small diamond sharpener: if he's cutting any more than, say, a small back yard worth of sod, then he's probably going to need to touch the edge up


Can't think of much more right now... Keep it simple!

Travis
 
LRB said:
I would suggest D2 for the steel.
Click to expand...


I was going to say D2 also.

I once tested a few different steels in sod. HRC 62 D2 did well. M42 HRC~66 did the best. And you can sharpen it on a bench grinder / belt sander (read: easy to sharpen) because it will tolerate high heat without loosing temper.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll so some more research and get back with the (non-paying) client.
 
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