spyderco tuff, what is the groove on the blade for?

[jakeyjake4528]

I must say, I never bothered with all this fancy pants learning before buying my tuff, I just loved the design from the moment I saw it some time ago. Now I have a deeper appreciation of my new favorite folder!

[litetube]

Geez i am more confused now than before!!!!

How exactly is this feature gonna make the blade weaker/stronger in everyday normal use? what are people doing with their knives to even bring it into question? If you are intending ro use it as a prybar you will be sadly disappointed. To me its wght reduction and looks. I dont think Spyderco would do anything to weaken a knife blade just for looks.

and how could you not like a choil ? I never understood why you would want edge all the way to the handle on a folder? exactly what are you cutting with the knife? A choil on a folder serves two great purposes. you can choke up on the blade for fine cutting and if the lock fails the edge wont come down on your fingers. To me thats a great confidence builder in a folding knife and the reason I buy only Spyderco folders now. I wish they put a nice big choil on every folder they made. There is more than enough edge to accomplish any cutting i have ever done. To me the 2 distinct advantages far outweight the benefit of a slightly longer edge.

[bdmicarta]

The key element is the ratio between the strength at the surface and the strength of the material in the core. Consider the prosaic I-beam made from mild steel. It seems foolish to suggest that a beam of solid rectangular cross section large enough to encase said I-beam would be less strong. It would be heavier but also stronger, albeit wasteful of material.

OK, if you wish... Lets take a common beam that we call a W18X35 (18" deep, 35 pounds per foot). A rectangle of 6" x 17.7" would encapsulate it. That rectangle would weigh over 10 times as much. Its strength in the direction in which a W18 is usually used would be 5.4 times as much. 10 times the weight, 5 times the strength, as guessed.

But as I said in a post before, there are shapes other than I-beams, such as angles and pipes, where you can remove material and make them stronger.

but the possibility is there in materials with strength differentials between surface and core.

I think this is what got us into Damascus steels in the first place. It would be interesting to see how heat treat of an element with greater surface area could improve its overall strength. And BTW, steel beams might be "mild steel" but some of them are heat treated and they all contain residual stresses as a result of their manufacture.

[jill jackson]

I think it's very well made, the lockup is tight, entire knife is tight. Blade is designed so you can choke up on it for fine work, but it still is heavy enough to do chops. Well balanced, looks great. Spyderco has one of the best ti frame-locks going.

[sogflash]

do you mind take a close up picture of the bug logo?

the godamn knife gets more attractive every time I see it, like a lot of spyderco knives.

I agree that the it's good that spyderco put choils on a lot of their folders. I don't mind giving up a few centimeters of the edge for the extra comfort and safety a choil offers. especially on liner and frame locks.

[Sal Glesser]

Thanx Jill.

Great shots.

sal

[jill jackson]

[stabman]

In all honesty, the only thing I'd like changed is to get the people in Taiwan to chamfer the sharp edges.
For instance, I got a cut on my middle finger putting the knife away in my pocket. Turns out that the part where the fuller starts makes an edge going into the spine which was sharp enough to cut paper. (Seriously, I showed my wife and my father how easily it cut paper)

If I were planning on stabbing sharks with my pocket knife, this might be a handy feature to enhance stabbiness...but as I don't, I sanded that area down.
And I sanded the sharp edges along the inside of the liners and titanium slab to make it more comfortable as well.

The area at the top of the ramp digs into the web of the hand when you choke up on the choil and cut forcefully; I need to sand that part down a bit more to get it the way I want, seeing as the only reason I'd be choking up on it mainly is to do more forceful cuts.

Excellent fit and finish overall, but only the blade needs to be sharp.

[bdmicarta]

Jill, those are some great photos and really show off the shapes and details of the knife.

I had not thought about its lock before but I have thought a little bit about framelocks in the past and in my engineering opinion a framelock with its relief cut on the outside of the lock bar would be stronger than if the relief cut is on the inside of the lock bar. I've seen them both ways and the only framelock I have right now, a Bradley Alias I, has the cutout milled on the inside.

As for the sharp edges, I've felt those a few places on various knives. A person could carefully go over the edges with a stone and help that a little bit. Tape up the surrounding bits to ward off extraneous scratches first.

[stabman]

As for the sharp edges, I've felt those a few places on various knives.

Same here.
It's not a huge issue by any means, just one of theose things which would be nice.
Luckily I had a bit of silicon carbide paper left over.

[kreole]

Sharp edges are considered a sign of precision and good manufacturing. That said, I don't like 'em either

[panch0]

I like the looks and design. I might end up buying one of these from myself. Lol... The wife would kill me me though.

[shunsui]

I think the fire steel guys love the sharp edges. Easy to fix.

[kreole]

I like the looks and design. I might end up buying one of these from myself. Lol... The wife would kill me me though.

"It's for market research, honey!"

[sogflash]

even though I think it looks really ugly, I'm interested in buying one to see how it is.

but there are many knives I'd like to buy and test.

[bdmicarta]

even though I think it looks really ugly, I'm interested in buying one to see how it is.

but there are many knives I'd like to buy and test.

Spyderco knives are built for function more than for looks. The look of this one is very unique though and it "looks" like it would work very well.

[Maniacal Pete]

Great pictures, Jill!

[jill jackson]

The fuller is only sharp on mine, right there by the hole, on the corner. The rest of it is smooth, so I think thats not too bad.

[Cassull]

I really do like this blade, my biggest gripe are the drill holes on the handle. It's not doing it for me, aesthetically.

Are we ever going to get a version with different machine work on the handle?

[Dr Heelhook]

Man, this thing is really growing on me now. I watched a couple of video reviews to see it in motion and that straightened out all of the question marks I had about it. Good stuff.