52100

hopsbreath said:
Yep, that’s the larger Military. I’ve owned a PM2 in this setup as well but have since sold it. Best built PM2 I ever handled: really wanted to like it but at the end of the day, I’m a Military guy over the smaller PM2.

My Military mechanics aren’t as perfect as I’d like. This was an eBay save, I got it cheap but the seller didn’t disclose how bad it really was — just that it needed the edge touched up. Side to side wiggle was terrible, the screws were all mucked up, blade was almost touching the scale, it had obviously been taken apart; I took it all apart and found locktite everywhere in the pivot, washers, and blade. The carbon fiber scales were frayed at the pivot, it was a mess... but salvageable. Cleaned it up, trimmed the frayed fibers, replaced most of the screws, forced a patina with white vinegar and sharpened it up. The only way to reduce the side to side play was to tighten the pivot virtually all the way down. Super tight to open and close for a year or so, but it’s actually flippable now with no blade play. Centering is literally perfect, lockup a little late but I’d say in the 60% range so definitely more life left. I wouldn’t want to take this apart again though, it’s not going to be getting any better.
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Never tried a military so far, only pm2 's, but never one with this steel and handle combination. I found out a little about how different G10 or other materials could feel, and more and more about different steels, what is quite interesting. At first, the pm2 seemed to be a big knife, but after some time it felt just right. So good, I could imagine to give its bigger brother a try now.

Hard to read what you had through with your military, and impressive what you did, till it became the knife which it is right now!
 
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matfox said:
Great, more pictures...thanks!
I guess it feels smoother now? Did you take the scales off for this modification?
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I left a small percentage of Peel-ply texture on the scales , So they're about as slick as the KC Smooth G10 exclusives ! I did take the knife apart to buff off the patina, Clean the pivot area, And sand/finish the carbon fiber.
 
52100 is fantastic, I love it. It isn't stainless at all but takes a fantastic edge and holds it quite well. I truly wish Spyderco would do some more with 52100, maybe a CF Native
 
DA170 said:
I left a small percentage of Peel-ply texture on the scales , So they're about as slick as the KC Smooth G10 exclusives ! I did take the knife apart to buff off the patina, Clean the pivot area, And sand/finish the carbon fiber.
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Thank you for the details, I can imagine how nice this fits it the hands.
 
I don't have a 52-100 Spyderco, but I have other knives in that steel. It takes a very fine, hair-popping edge. I think it is used for making ball bearings, so it takes a very fine polish (and I guess therefore, a fine edge). Anyway, it's one of my real favorite blade steels.

Reasonable care may leave the blade showing a bit of patina, but rust is not a worry unless you really neglect to clean and oil it occasionally.
 
Lefty_Knives said:
52100 is fantastic, I love it. It isn't stainless at all but takes a fantastic edge and holds it quite well. I truly wish Spyderco would do some more with 52100, maybe a CF Native
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I'm pretty impressed by the M4 knives I own, sounds like 52100 will go in the same direction.
A Native as you suggested would be an interesting configuration for sure.
 
desmobob said:
I don't have a 52-100 Spyderco, but I have other knives in that steel. It takes a very fine, hair-popping edge. I think it is used for making ball bearings, so it takes a very fine polish (and I guess therefore, a fine edge). Anyway, it's one of my real favorite blade steels.

Reasonable care may leave the blade showing a bit of patina, but rust is not a worry unless you really neglect to clean and oil it occasionally.
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Thanks for sharing your experiences and the maintenance tip.
The possibility of having a fine polished edge on a knife, which shines like the surface of ball bearings, is pretty tempting.
 
desmobob said:
I don't have a 52-100 Spyderco, but I have other knives in that steel. It takes a very fine, hair-popping edge. I think it is used for making ball bearings, so it takes a very fine polish (and I guess therefore, a fine edge). Anyway, it's one of my real favorite blade steels.

Reasonable care may leave the blade showing a bit of patina, but rust is not a worry unless you really neglect to clean and oil it occasionally.
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I believe you are correct on the ball bearings. I think originally it had to be forged from ball to flat stock, but not anymore.
 
I have the Manix, Para and Military in 52100. Great steel - easy to sharpen and holds an edge for a long time. I have not had any problem with rust - the Para and Military are taking a nice slow patina. Manix is DLC, so I don't think I'm going to get much of a patina on that one;).
 
stevewest said:
I have the Manix, Para and Military in 52100. Great steel - easy to sharpen and holds an edge for a long time. I have not had any problem with rust - the Para and Military are taking a nice slow patina. Manix is DLC, so I don't think I'm going to get much of a patina on that one;).
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Makes me really curious in many ways. Neither do I own a millie, nor a knife with this type of steel so far. DLC coating seems to be quite durable, even though I think it looks great when worn out on a patinated steel.
 
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Plain ol' yellow mustard.

If you do a search here in the Spyderco forum with that term and my username, you will find the details of what I do. It's really pretty simple.
 
Great..... now I gotta go look for a 52100 Spydie....
I used to carry carbon folders as a kid. I flatly refused to carry anything that was even slightly stainless. I KNEW they wouldn't hold an edge as well as the carbon. But it eventually got almost impossible to find good carbon blades. I think Camillus made the last good folding carbon blade I had, just before I hit my teens.
Now I've gotten used to stainless... but I sure do love the SR101 that is in Busse-kin knives, and that is supposedly just 52100, under their brand because of their own special heat treatment. It will get a screamin' sharp edge, and holds it a LONG time.
 
52100 is basically a high carbon steel with just a sprinkling of Cr and Mn in it to form a few carbides and keep grain size small. It’s a very old steel but the processing of it has been improved with modern technology (vacuum furnaces, computer controlled precision heat treating) and it can perform pretty well in spite of its simple composition.

It will absolutely rust, is easy to sharpen and is tough, wear resistance is meh (not many carbides), you can either a) oil it and stay shiny OR b) patina it.

Some other low alloy carbon steels Spyderco uses are Vtoku2, Super Blue and 5160.
 
Don't have a knife with 52100 in my collection.As I missed out on the KW Exclusive Manix because of my procrastination but I do have my sights on the CS Survivalist.

Back to the exclusive,it didn't seem like the demand was there.
 
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