New Mora 120 Carving Knife Review

[gustophersmob]

Howdy!

I just received my latest order from Baryonyx Knife Co. on 9/2.  I had ordered a Condor Mini Bushlore, Mora 120 Carving Knife and a Flexxx Strop.

The Condor I have already returned, its handle was just too short.  It was actually quite well finished, and Benjamin at Baryonyx does a good job of selecting good knives to send.  No Condor gamble ordering from him.  But since it was only big enough to be a neck knife, I decided to return it.

The Flexxx Strop has already been quite handy.  I have not used a strop before, and after reading so many good things about how simple it is to keep a razor edge with one, I ordered this one.  I suppose I could've made my own, but I have too many other things I want to do right now!

Now, on to the best (to me) part: the Mora. I've tried my hand at whittling before, having used an BHK patch knife, but mostly a SAK Recruit. Recently I have been reading some articles that said a Scandi grind was better for wood carving, in particular some stuff by Robin Wood in the UK.  Since it is cheap, and comes recommended by many folk who know what they're doing far better than me, I went ahead and got one.

I must say, I have really taken to this knife.  The blade length is just about perfect for what  want to do, and I like the small bit of curve to the blade.  The handle is extremely comfortable.  It is a very simple shape, but the oval profile and the hand filling swell ( ) in the middle have allowed me to whittle for several hours at at time this week with no hot-spots.

In comparison with my SAK, the Scandi grind does seem to be much easier to move through wood.  I had them both sharpened and stropped to the point they would shave my arm, and the SAK still required quite a bit more effort to cut through the wood.  Even when I was trying to be mindful of maintaining the proper angle of its secondary bevel to the wood, the SAK still didn't match up.

So, all-in-all, I really dig this knife.  Sure, the sheath sucks, but otherwise it may just be the perfect knife for whittling.

[gustophersmob]

Shown below is the little whimsy I made this week exclusively with the Mora, then sanded and finished with Three Bee's Polish.  One thing I like abut whittling is that the only tool you need is your knife, unlike making jewelry...

[Gareth]

Wow, that's some excellent whittling mate!   Good to hear you got a knife that suits you.

[captain spaulding]

Excellent whittling. I love the design. I have not whittled in quite a while. I need to get back into it. 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Very good job there mate! Great blade skill

Sent from the astropathic choir.

[zoidberg]

Puts my whittling to shame.    Nice job there. 

[gustophersmob]

Thanks guys!

The pics hide the imperfections, its definitely not perfect. I tried to have a chain link at the end, but it split when I was separating it from the loop that's left. Still, its the most complicated thing I've done so far.

[enki_ck]

Great looking job and cool knife you got. I'll have to look into those.

[colt 1911]

Awesome whittling, killer knife.


Sak's  rule !

[comis]

Good tool, and excellent workmanship! 

I got the same knife, but never get the time to really sit down and start to learn whittling.

[Aloha]

FIrst off great work there and nice knife.  I have to be honest and say I really never understood the appeal of whittling, I always thought it was basically carving into simple shapes.  I have since looked up whittling and holy smurf.  Those are some impressive knive skills and patience.