A.G. Russell Acies

A. G. Russell said:
make it to MY attention
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Update:

A.G.: I adjusted the pivot screw and tried the lead pencil trick again and this time it works fine -- stickiness solved.

If the problem returns, I will send the Acies to you for examination. Thanks again for your offer of help.

As beautiful as the full-sized Acies is, I am really looking forward to the release of her smaller sibling.
 
I finally decided to pull the trigger on this one. What made my mind was the reported unparallel smoothness. I am thus a bit surprised then that mine actually opens with some considerable friction - certainly less smooth then my best folders in this regard, such as a Dejavoo and Buck Mayo TNT. I haven't used a Sebenza, so I can't compare. I applied some silicone lube and tried adjusting the pivot, but if it's anything but at its tightest, there's a lateral blade play. Other thing I noticed is very strong blade retention - completely impossible to open with a wirst twist, doesn't move however hard I wave it. Because of it, it's also almost impossible to open with my left hand.

It's not much of a problem, and the blade retention actually makes it easiest to open by an effective thumb flick, albeit with some force. However, when I started cooking, I found myself reaching for my trusted Lone Wolf T2 instead, because it's just much easier to open, especially with wet and slippery fingers. It makes me a bit sad, because I wanted it to be my ultimate all-round folder, but I might end up taking my older knives with me, and eventually selling the Acies as I don't like owning knives I don't use. I still like the knife and find it very ergonomic, and a pleasure to use when open, but it's just not as practical for a quick job and back to the pocket as some.

P.S. The clip is a bother to stick in my front pocket, too. I don't know why while some knives are perfect in this regard, others actually require me to use both my hands or unbend the clip so much it doesn't grip but merely hangs.
 
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I deeply regret the problems that you are having, I cannot help if you do not send it to me.

Attn, A. G.
A. G. Russell Knives
2900 South 26th Street
Rogers, AR 72758

Please include a note telling me the above, I will forget
 
Thank you for support.
The problem is that I live in Europe, so I wanted to make sure that there actually IS a problem at all before sending it to you. It would be silly to pay double international postage (and perhaps import tax again!), and bother you only to find that it's a perfectly normal copy and the problem lies only in what I'm used to. I'd like to stress, that it's not that opening is particularly problematic, it just requires more force then for some other knives and sometimes my finger slips. I expected a perfect knife, which of course cannot be true :)
 
turin.turambar said:
Thank you for support.
The problem is that I live in Europe, so I wanted to make sure that there actually IS a problem at all before sending it to you. It would be silly to pay double international postage (and perhaps import tax again!), and bother you only to find that it's a perfectly normal copy and the problem lies only in what I'm used to. I'd like to stress, that it's not that opening is particularly problematic, it just requires more force then for some other knives and sometimes my finger slips. I expected a perfect knife, which of course cannot be true :)
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I'm not sure if your Acies isn't opening smooth or if you just having gotten use to the the angle in while the thumb stud needs to be pushed. When I first received mine it took a little while to get use to the pushing the thumbstud (slightly) out away from the scale rather than pushing the thumbstud forward. I know it may sound silly but if you've gotten use to pushing forward on the thumbstud of another folder you'll probably a bit difficult at first to open.

The first thing I did was move the clip to the butt end for tip up carry (how I like all my knives) and this allowed my pinky to get a bit of grip on the clip rather than than applying force to against the lockbar (making it harder to open) which is what I was doing with it setup for tip down carry. If you prefer to keep the clip setup for tip down carry just make sure that your fingers aren't pushing against the lockbar as you open the Acies as this will make it more difficult to get past the detent.

ANY knife that I own that has PB washers I like to carefully remove them and use Simichrome polish (any metal polish will do) along with a few Q-Tips and then I polish both sides of both washers until they are very smooth and shinny. This saves me a lot of time waiting for the opening and closing of the knife to smooth out the washers. Once the washers are perfectly shinny and smooth (and clean) I like to use Sentry Solutions TUF-GLIDE Micro-Bonding Dry Lube because once it dries you'll notice that even thought your blade opens as smooth as silk the TUF-GLIDE does NOT attract dust, dirt or lint from being used or just being carried in your pocket the way that regular lube does.

Best of luck!
 
After reading a bunch of reviews and comments here and elsewhere, I chose the ACIES as my first foray into upscale framelock folders. Got it Saturday, opens smoothly and wicked sharp!! Looks great too. Very pleased with my purchase.
 
Dang. I own several high end knives and am having a hard time resisting this knife! This review and the subsequent classiness exhibited by Mr. Russell is making it even tougher to stop myself from ordering. Thanks for the time spent. Maybe a Christmas present to myself!
 
It's a sweet knife, its been in my right front pocket everyday since it arrived. Its my first knife to use ZDP-189 and it holds an edge really, really well and the blade shape makes for one Hell of a slicer. Once I moved the clip to the butt end for tip up carry it was all over. Anyone with even the least bit of interest should order one since if you're not happy just send it back for a full refund.
 
Would Mr. Russell consider making a smaller Acies in a more stain-resistant steel say CPM-154, Elmax or M390?

I really liked the overall design of the Acies but the limited supply and relative lack of stain resistance in ZDP-189 made me hold back and take a wait-and-see approach.
 
mesoscopic said:
Would Mr. Russell consider making a smaller Acies in a more stain-resistant steel say CPM-154, Elmax or M390?

I really liked the overall design of the Acies but the limited supply and relative lack of stain resistance in ZDP-189 made me hold back and take a wait-and-see approach.
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I am sorry, Meso, I have never had a problem with staining. What have you found that would stainZDP?
 
According to what I have read about ZDP-189, there is a good possibility of staining if the blade's not cleaned and oiled after every use.

ZDP-189's 3% carbon and 20% chromium etc content does render higher edge-holding capability. To be honest, I never had any first-hand experience with ZDP-189 or high-speed or tool steel bladed folders.

Living in the tropics with high ambient humidity and the fact I don't oil my stainless steel blades after every use brought me into a comfort zone I am loath to leave. :o

My folders are all in stainless (154CM, VG-10, AUS-8, SG2 laminated with VG-2) and they are used to perform light food preparation tasks (peanut butter/jam/chocolate spread sandwiches) etc. I value stain resistance a lot at the expense of edge-holding and ease of sharpening.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=766977&page=2

I hope what I have written so far can clarify what was left unsaid in my previous post.
 
I do not know if we have sold an Acies to any of our friends in Singapore. We may make a run of the smaller Acies in other steels..
 
Interesting thread! Thanks!

The 3" model sound very interesting. Something to look forward too!

JD
 
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