A tail of 3 RATS

J

Justabuyer

Joined
May 7, 2006
Messages
3,338
I recently picked up three Howling rats. One custom shop RAT with Serrations and two plain HRs.

All came dull as butter knives. So I sharpened all three and tried to use one of the plain ones. Very poor slicer!! I could not understand it. The knife had a great belly and was very sharp. In the end I determined that the blade edge while very sharp was also very obtuse. Also the Krinkle coat seemed to really add friction when cutting.

So I reprofiled one. Starting with 100 grit paper and working my up I stripped the finish off the flat grinds and thinned the edge slowly to about half its original thickness. Then convexed the edge through 2000 grit and then stropped the edge for a perfect polish.

WOW!! What a difference!! This thing cuts now and I can really see the value in its great design. Check it it out and let me know what you think. I wonder if anybody else has questioned the cutting performance of this blade and set out to improve it? See the pictures:

HRAT1.jpg

HRAT2.JPG

HRAT3.jpg
 
Sweet Howler!! :eek: :thumbup:

Whatcha gonna do with the other two? :)

(BTW, not sure if you're familiar with the stuff, but I recommend treating the exposed steel with some Renaissance Wax. A little Ren Wax'll keep that blade shiny and rust free. ;) )

Thanks for the pics!! :D :D
 
Sweet Howler, but one question....why does your Computer Desk look like a Meth Lab?:D
 
Damn it! Damn you! I am coming over there tomorrow and you are going to show my stupid noob ass exactly how you did that. Seriously, I could never get my 1st gen to look like that. How many friggin' hours did that take you to do??? I am Mr. Detail (according to my wife), never going half-heartedly into anything, nothing, nada. I paint a stucco wall and if there is 1 itty bitty drip on the moulding that nobody would ever notice, I am so there fixing it... Arghh. Seriously, that makes me want to cry that thing looks so good. Somebody get me a drink (not another, just my first)...

Alright, I just have to accept I could never do that. Awesome job!!!
 
on_the_edge said:
Damn it! Damn you! I am coming over there tomorrow and you are going to show my stupid noob ass exactly how you did that. Seriously, I could never get my 1st gen to look like that. How many friggin' hours did that take you to do??? I am Mr. Detail (according to my wife), never going half-heartedly into anything, nothing, nada. I paint a stucco wall and if there is 1 itty bitty drip on the moulding that nobody would ever notice, I am so there fixing it... Arghh. Seriously, that makes me want to cry that thing looks so good. Somebody get me a drink (not another, just my first)...

Alright, I just have to accept I could never do that. Awesome job!!!
Click to expand...

Tell ya what this is really easy and it takes little skill its almost all just knowing the tricks. I use only sandpaper and leather.. I will do another one and take pictures. Check back in a few days.

Jim
 
Justabuyer said:
Tell ya what this is really easy and it takes little skill its almost all just knowing the tricks. I use only sandpaper and leather.. I will do another one and take pictures. Check back in a few days.

Jim
Click to expand...

Ok, I get it...you're modest. How the #$%# did you get those grind lines so nice. I can see a little smoothing near the edge, but that looks like a pretty fine straight line there. And when you say you re-profiled, how high up the grind are you talking about, or is it just coating removal above the edge?

I can't wait to see the next round in this series. Please...lots of pics for us challenged folks. Thanks!
 
very nice...
a great sharp/detail knife...
what i like about the HR is its small size but still that it has the heft to chop... and it does have a nice chopping edge imo. However, if i had two, doing this to one would be an awsome venture imo (and i do have 2 lol)
 
Justabuyer said:
Tell ya what this is really easy and it takes little skill its almost all just knowing the tricks. I use only sandpaper and leather.. I will do another one and take pictures. Check back in a few days.

Jim
Click to expand...

Justabuyer, that is some FINE looking work :thumbup: Thanks for offering to share your technique, that is what makes forums like this great. Definitely looking forward to your "how to do it" pictorial.
 
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