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Bringing back another Morakniv carving knife to review which is actually a really popular knife among beginners. I removed some material for a bit to test out the edge retention after receiving it then moved on to carving an easy animal figure.
Here is my professional opinion about the basic Mora wood carving knife:
The handle used also comes from another Mora knife which is the 510. Since it is plastic it wasn’t as comfortable as the traditional wood handles like the 106 comes with. The blade isn’t centered in the handle, which doesn’t really bother me much but that’s just me.
Key Notes of the Mora Wood Carving Knife
Technique tip
Do not twist the blade while carving. This adds a lot of stress to the edge of the bade and it’s certainly not good for maintaining a long edge retention. Instead, you’ll want to make straight push cuts and it will stay sharp much longer. If you find yourself doing this be sure to correct your mistake after sharpening it, which is very easy to do with this knife.
Fine tip makes perfect holes
A really obvious thing I noticed when getting the Mora was it’s fine tip. Some people prefer a drop point blade but an advantage this gives is making holes in your wood. Needless to say other detail work is really easy to do with its fine point.
Most ideal for affordability
Something that becomes very apparent when buying tools for this hobby is that it can get expensive for the better quality products. While this is true it doesn’t mean that you should start out with the most expensive ones. The basic Mora wood carving knife is one of the most affordable knives I have reviewed. It is a good knife to begin with or maybe you’ve lost or had one of your pricier knives stolen and just wanted something to continue carving with while you save up for a better one.
The Good and Bad
Good:
✔ Affordable
✔ Fine point great for detail work
✔ Same quality blade used with 106
✔ Easy to sharpen
✔ Narrow blade
Bad:
✘ Handle not as comfortable as their wooden one
✘ Blade isn’t centered on handle
✘ 106 has better edge retention
Conclusion:
Great knife to start off with if you want to make small carving or if you’re saving up to get a better knife. I would recommend getting the Mora 106 since it isn’t that much more than the basic Mora, the handle is much more comfortable, and it’s edge retention is superior as well. It also shaves off larger wooden material without stressing the knife.
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