Mora 120 Wood Carving Knife Review

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Best Product Features

One of the first things I noticed that I thoroughly appreciated about this knife is not only the quality of it for the price, but the handle. You can see in the picture that the oiled birch wood handle has a thick center body and thins out on either side, this is especially ideal when carving for an extended period of time since it fits very comfortably in the hand. Not only that, but since the handle isn’t painted at all it doesn’t cause blisters. It comes with a plastic sheath that can be attached to your belt. The overall length is 165 mm, roughly 6 1/2″, and the blade is 60 mm. There’s distinct line that divides the two steels used for this product. Being a laminated steel it has a high carbon steel for the core sandwiched between two layers of allow steel. Comes wicked sharp right from the factory, and stupid easy to sharpen.

Short Tip:

The most talked about element of the Mora 120 isn’t its birch wood handle, nor the high carbon steel its made with, although these are excellent qualities to have, they shy in comparison to what is built for:

It’s short tip.

The maneuverability and possibility for complicated carving techniques the Mora 120 possesses would make you want to buy it right now. It’s reliable, affordable, and a damn good knife for intermediates and beginners.

Disadvantages

The reason I recommended the Mora 106 earlier is because the 120 shouldn’t be used for larger pieces of wood, extend your thumb and pinky finger opposite from each other and the wood shouldn’t be any bigger than that. You’ll want the 106 to shave off larger pieces so you can then go in with the 120 to detail the wood better. Another consistent problem is that it dulls rather fast, which isn’t a deal breaker but sharpening with a stone between 400 and 8000 should be good then just honing once it start to get dull.

The Good and Bad

Good:

✔ Quality high carbon steel that lasts
✔ Handle doesn’t cause blisters
✔ Great for detailing and general carving
✔ Razor sharp out-of-the-box
✔ Top quality knife within it’s price range

Bad:

✘ Becomes dull quickly
✘ Not for wood that’s bigger than 9″ without 106 knife

Conclusion:

The Mora 120 is a great beginner knife for its quality. I believe the fact that it dulls quicker will help beginners become familiar with using stones for sharpening and getting better at it. A very solid choice that will last while your experience grows. I would recommend getting a more expensive quality knife after using this one for some time.