mora knife modification help

[kenny clay]

I bought a Mora knife 122 this week and modified it like the one Harley Refsal uses. The problem I'm having is once I start carving the tip starts getting chipped . Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions ?

[Tom Ellis]

Kenny,
Did you grind the blade thinner. You may have gotten your bevel too thin, when you first notice a little scratch on your carving, strop it a few times, and you should be good to go. Make sure you don't scrape your blade sideways trying to get the chip off of your carving. These are great knives, and shouldn't be a problem.


Good luck, Tom

[kenny clay]

Tom,
Thanks for the info. I tapered the blade up to the back spine 12 degrees as Harley described in his video. I love the way this knife feels but, the tip keeps rolling the edge of the blade. I' ll keep working with it maybe it will get better.

[Buffalo Bif]

What tool did you use to taper it? Grinder? Did the blade get hot (IE turn blue?) Check your measurements- at 12 degrees the bevel should be 4.75x longer than the blade thickness- 1/16" thick blade would have a bevel between 1/4" and 5/16".

You say it rolls at the tip- how does the rest of the blade hold up? Is it possible the angle at the tip is too shallow? I know from experience it can be tough to maintain a bevel angle going around a curve. Hopefully my q's are not insulting, I just don't know how comfortable you are with mods.

[MackTheKnife]

The Mora 122 is a great Wharncliffe style blade. So good that Del Stubbs of Pinewood Forge buys them and then remakes them to Harley Refsal's specs for $34 with nice handle and sheath. (No, I have no association with Pinewood, but I do have both of his Harley knives and love them). He rounds the back of the blade (making it more comfortable to push against) and maintains the Scandi grind without a secondary bevel. With that shallow grind you cannot use it to twist or pry. You've even got to be careful when doing tight curves with the tip or you will bend it.

The way you use it may be your issue. I had to learn to be more precise with my cuts when I first got the knives. Shallow cuts going progressively deeper is the way to go. Also I don't use my Harley knives on any wood other than basswood. They might be ok on butternut, but anything harder will turn the edge.

Hope this helps.

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by MackTheKnife

The Mora 122 is a great Wharncliffe style blade. So good that Del Stubbs of Pinewood Forge buys them and then remakes them to Harley Refsal's specs for $34 with nice handle and sheath. (No, I have no association with Pinewood, but I do have both of his Harley knives and love them). He rounds the back of the blade (making it more comfortable to push against) and maintains the Scandi grind without a secondary bevel. With that shallow grind you cannot use it to twist or pry. You've even got to be careful when doing tight curves with the tip or you will bend it.

The way you use it may be your issue. I had to learn to be more precise with my cuts when I first got the knives. Shallow cuts going progressively deeper is the way to go. Also I don't use my Harley knives on any wood other than basswood. They might be ok on butternut, but anything harder will turn the edge.

Hope this helps.

I think Del ran into the same problem due to variability in the Mora blades he purchased and that's one of the main reasons he started making the Harley knife from scratch.

[MackTheKnife]

I thought he had started making them from scratch, too, but I just pulled this off his website: " I buy laminated high carbon steel blades from Sweden because the fine steel is perfectly hardened for woodcarving. I then completely re-make them into the Harley design." So I guess he's still using the 122.

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by MackTheKnife

I thought he had started making them from scratch, too, but I just pulled this off his website: " I buy laminated high carbon steel blades from Sweden because the fine steel is perfectly hardened for woodcarving. I then completely re-make them into the Harley design." So I guess he's still using the 122.

I have three of the new knives. That text is outdated.

[Nomad]

Instead of the modified mora blades, this is the knife you will get from Del today.



The bottom knife is the Stubby, with a 1 1/2" blade. The top two are special order with 1 3/4" blades. The standard Harley knife has a 2" blade, although they might eventually offer the 1 3/4" on a regular basis. The steel is O1 Austrian tool steel. I called Mary at Pinewood Forge and she and Del will get the website updated soon. They didn't realize the old info was still up.

[MackTheKnife]

Thanks for clearing that up, Nomad.