Best/Worst Factory Edge
- Thread starter knifedude802
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- Nov 11, 2005
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Best -Buck or Helle
Worst - Bark River
Although my friends bark river came much sharper then my two did.
Worst - Bark River
Although my friends bark river came much sharper then my two did.
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2015
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Ha, ha, ha,
I was going to say my Boker stockman . . . the large blade was just plane dull period. This was on a Medium Boker Stockman in the smooth red bone. God I had the HOTS for that knife. It is so gorgeous in the maker's photo and so disappointing in the hand. Between the dull to the max blade and the TOTALLY different scale color/finish I sent it back. I still nurse the hope that I might one day find one that looks like the photo. I really expected better out of Germany and yes it is one of the ALL German Bokers . . .
but
then I remembered one that topped that for SURPRISINGLY POOR mostly because they hyped it so much.
I got the weird urge to get a ceramic knife. I don't know why . . . call it a weak moment of a newbie . . . I ordered this neck knife because over all I thought it was pretty cool . . . I still kind of like it but the edge . . . dude . . . I suppose it sort of cut stuff when I got it but THE HYPE : Ceramic Blade . . . Ten times sharper . . . yada, yada, yada. My review said they didn't specify what it was ten times sharper than but I suspect it was a river rock.
Looks good in the pictures though doesn't it ?. The white blade on the right.
I have since reprofiled the edge a couple of degrees shallower with my diamond plates. It still isn't anything to write home about but I will spend some more time with it when I get a block of time off and catch up some.
AND there is that sharpening jig I am hoping Santa will bring me
AND
I already have a jig that has diamond plates that I haven't even tried on it.
Hand sharpening isn't the best tac to take with ceramic blades I found out.
the thing that drives me crazy is that if I buy a basic thirty dollar wood working chisel from Japan or a box knife blade that costs, what, fifty cents, maybe. I get really sharp accurately ground edges ESPECIALLY in the Japanese chisel.
but
if I pay fifty dollars for a pocket knife the sharpening is as if it was an after thought that was left up to one of the secretaries in the office to do, if they could find the time. What ? Seriously ? This is the edge that you want to put out there to base your edge tool making reputation on ?
Dudes (pocket knife makers). . .
check out those Japanese chisels costing half what you are asking for your pretty boy knife. Then go back to your factory in shame and disgrace and GET IT TOGETHER.
I don't have any high end knives, other than Japanese kitchen knives, but Cold Steel has done a stellar job of sharpening for me out of the box.
and
as I noted recently my Case Trapper though a very tooth grind is a real cutter and surprised the heck out of this mirror edge polishing dandy boy.
PS: Spyderco knives are very well sharpened and profiled. I didn't list them above because I expected that to be the case and they didn't let me down. So no surprise as such. Good stuff though.
I was going to say my Boker stockman . . . the large blade was just plane dull period. This was on a Medium Boker Stockman in the smooth red bone. God I had the HOTS for that knife. It is so gorgeous in the maker's photo and so disappointing in the hand. Between the dull to the max blade and the TOTALLY different scale color/finish I sent it back. I still nurse the hope that I might one day find one that looks like the photo. I really expected better out of Germany and yes it is one of the ALL German Bokers . . .
but
then I remembered one that topped that for SURPRISINGLY POOR mostly because they hyped it so much.
I got the weird urge to get a ceramic knife. I don't know why . . . call it a weak moment of a newbie . . . I ordered this neck knife because over all I thought it was pretty cool . . . I still kind of like it but the edge . . . dude . . . I suppose it sort of cut stuff when I got it but THE HYPE : Ceramic Blade . . . Ten times sharper . . . yada, yada, yada. My review said they didn't specify what it was ten times sharper than but I suspect it was a river rock.
Looks good in the pictures though doesn't it ?. The white blade on the right.
I have since reprofiled the edge a couple of degrees shallower with my diamond plates. It still isn't anything to write home about but I will spend some more time with it when I get a block of time off and catch up some.
AND there is that sharpening jig I am hoping Santa will bring me
AND
I already have a jig that has diamond plates that I haven't even tried on it.
Hand sharpening isn't the best tac to take with ceramic blades I found out.
the thing that drives me crazy is that if I buy a basic thirty dollar wood working chisel from Japan or a box knife blade that costs, what, fifty cents, maybe. I get really sharp accurately ground edges ESPECIALLY in the Japanese chisel.
but
if I pay fifty dollars for a pocket knife the sharpening is as if it was an after thought that was left up to one of the secretaries in the office to do, if they could find the time. What ? Seriously ? This is the edge that you want to put out there to base your edge tool making reputation on ?
Dudes (pocket knife makers). . .
check out those Japanese chisels costing half what you are asking for your pretty boy knife. Then go back to your factory in shame and disgrace and GET IT TOGETHER.
I don't have any high end knives, other than Japanese kitchen knives, but Cold Steel has done a stellar job of sharpening for me out of the box.
and
as I noted recently my Case Trapper though a very tooth grind is a real cutter and surprised the heck out of this mirror edge polishing dandy boy.
PS: Spyderco knives are very well sharpened and profiled. I didn't list them above because I expected that to be the case and they didn't let me down. So no surprise as such. Good stuff though.
Sharpness out of the box means little, it is edge bevel thickness that matters.
Ignoring bevel thickness:
Worst in fixed blades OOB: Boker Apparo. Vaugh Neeley SA9.
Poor OOB: Most things by TOPS, one Martin SURV9 I got.
Mediocre but acceptable OOB: Chris Reeves Jereboam. BK-9. SMIII Trailmaster.
Excellent OOB: None, but Fallkniven Odin was better than mediocre.
Gaston
Ignoring bevel thickness:
Worst in fixed blades OOB: Boker Apparo. Vaugh Neeley SA9.
Poor OOB: Most things by TOPS, one Martin SURV9 I got.
Mediocre but acceptable OOB: Chris Reeves Jereboam. BK-9. SMIII Trailmaster.
Excellent OOB: None, but Fallkniven Odin was better than mediocre.
Gaston
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2013
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- 2,658
My knives from Cold Steel and Spyderco all had superb factory edges out of box. Hats off to both companies. I'll say the same for my Moras, too.
Worst out-of-box factory edge was most definitely from Cold Steel too, though. The South African machetes I bought from them (5 total) all came with hilariously horrible edges. Looked like a drug-addled monkey ground them.
I brought this issue up with them and they said that they're doing more of their machete sharpening in their American facility, so that's definitely a positive thing. :thumbup:
Worst out-of-box factory edge was most definitely from Cold Steel too, though. The South African machetes I bought from them (5 total) all came with hilariously horrible edges. Looked like a drug-addled monkey ground them.
I brought this issue up with them and they said that they're doing more of their machete sharpening in their American facility, so that's definitely a positive thing. :thumbup:
I own a lot of knife brands. The manufacturer that always delivers a product with consistency in sharpness has been Mora. Always very sharp and ready to roll right out of the box. As far as other brands, I never got a dull knife but some items come less sharp than others, even within a brand. For instqnce, my benchmade bushcrafter came very sharp but griptilian came somewhat sharp .
Based on my own experience only:
For slipjoint traditional knives, worst by far has been Queen. Absolutely consistently poor edges and infuriatingly so on their D2 knives due to the work needed to get them sharp. I've never had a single Queen knife that was better than mediocre in sharpness. They're beautiful but they are dull as a hickory axe handle. Other Queen-made brands have been variable. Schatt & Morgan knives sometimes come sharp, sometimes not. Moore Maker knives are usually decently sharp.
GEC knives I've had (I only own two) were mediocre in sharpness but easy to make sharper. Case knives are pretty sharp but often have a fringy burr left on the edge that has to be removed. Boker Tree Brand (the real ones, not the Chinese made ones) have mostly been sharp on arrival. The single Chinese made model I own was very sharp out of the box.
Newer Chinese-made Schrade Old Timers have varied. A couple were pretty sharp when new, others were mediocre to dull. Available cheap, they're not hard to get sharp and I found them to be a good value traditional folder. The two Rough Rider knives I've owned both were sharp but disappointing in construction.
SAKs are always sharp. Always.
For modern folders, Benchmade has been variable. Most have had decent edges--my 940 came so sharp it cut my eyeball when I looked at it closely. One of my Axis Stykers was disappointing while the other was hair splitting sharp. Both 710s were very sharp but one had uneven primary grinds. My single USA made HK was okay but nothing to write home about yet it could be brought to shaving sharp with a little work. The two Chinese HKs I have were both incredibly sharp and incredibly cheap for their features.
Spyderco knives always come sharp. Sometimes extremely sharp, such as my Centofante 3 and Native LW. However, a few models I've owned--Gayle Bradley, Sage 1 and a G10 Dragonfly--needed to have the edges thinned to get them to really satisfying sharpness. The Gayle Bradley eventually became one of my favorite knives of all time.
The two ZTs I own both came fairly sharp but needed a little TLC to get them as sharp as I like them. In contrast, I've never met a Kershaw knife that wasn't a razor out of the box. That includes the low end models made in China of lesser steels. Whoever does those Kershaw grinds know how to put on a factory edge.
My Sebenza was disappointing. Not very sharp and with an edge that's overly thick. I've managed to get it to mediocre but I simply don't use it enough to warrant really working on the edge to make it better. It's a must have knife for a knife enthusiast but it's not a knife that fits me well.
Buck knives always come sharp, both the modern folders and the traditionals. I own several of each design and they've always had excellent factory edges.
Many of the knives I've owned that came with less than stellar sharpness later became excellent users. Even a new knife that's dull can be made sharp.
For slipjoint traditional knives, worst by far has been Queen. Absolutely consistently poor edges and infuriatingly so on their D2 knives due to the work needed to get them sharp. I've never had a single Queen knife that was better than mediocre in sharpness. They're beautiful but they are dull as a hickory axe handle. Other Queen-made brands have been variable. Schatt & Morgan knives sometimes come sharp, sometimes not. Moore Maker knives are usually decently sharp.
GEC knives I've had (I only own two) were mediocre in sharpness but easy to make sharper. Case knives are pretty sharp but often have a fringy burr left on the edge that has to be removed. Boker Tree Brand (the real ones, not the Chinese made ones) have mostly been sharp on arrival. The single Chinese made model I own was very sharp out of the box.
Newer Chinese-made Schrade Old Timers have varied. A couple were pretty sharp when new, others were mediocre to dull. Available cheap, they're not hard to get sharp and I found them to be a good value traditional folder. The two Rough Rider knives I've owned both were sharp but disappointing in construction.
SAKs are always sharp. Always.
For modern folders, Benchmade has been variable. Most have had decent edges--my 940 came so sharp it cut my eyeball when I looked at it closely. One of my Axis Stykers was disappointing while the other was hair splitting sharp. Both 710s were very sharp but one had uneven primary grinds. My single USA made HK was okay but nothing to write home about yet it could be brought to shaving sharp with a little work. The two Chinese HKs I have were both incredibly sharp and incredibly cheap for their features.
Spyderco knives always come sharp. Sometimes extremely sharp, such as my Centofante 3 and Native LW. However, a few models I've owned--Gayle Bradley, Sage 1 and a G10 Dragonfly--needed to have the edges thinned to get them to really satisfying sharpness. The Gayle Bradley eventually became one of my favorite knives of all time.
The two ZTs I own both came fairly sharp but needed a little TLC to get them as sharp as I like them. In contrast, I've never met a Kershaw knife that wasn't a razor out of the box. That includes the low end models made in China of lesser steels. Whoever does those Kershaw grinds know how to put on a factory edge.
My Sebenza was disappointing. Not very sharp and with an edge that's overly thick. I've managed to get it to mediocre but I simply don't use it enough to warrant really working on the edge to make it better. It's a must have knife for a knife enthusiast but it's not a knife that fits me well.
Buck knives always come sharp, both the modern folders and the traditionals. I own several of each design and they've always had excellent factory edges.
Many of the knives I've owned that came with less than stellar sharpness later became excellent users. Even a new knife that's dull can be made sharp.
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2015
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Last year I bought a Kershaw Camber the day it came out for a work knife. It was so dull I was able to drag it across my palm and not break skin while pushing rather hard. Recently bought a Spyderco Salt II for a Christmas present for my step son and it is very dull. My Spyderco Manix 2 LW with S110V came in barely able to cut printer paper. Two Benchmade Ritter Griptilians, one mini and one regular, came in with acceptable edges, but nothing to brag about. My ZT0562CF had a nice working edge on it. My recent Sebenza has a nice edge on it, does what I need it to.
I just love how one manufacturer will deliver a super sharp knife to one person and the next one isn't worth a hoot. Quality control these days does leave a bit to be desired with some of these companies.
I just love how one manufacturer will deliver a super sharp knife to one person and the next one isn't worth a hoot. Quality control these days does leave a bit to be desired with some of these companies.
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Best fixed blade: Microtech Currahee. HUGE mirror-polished edge bevel out of box.
Worst fixed blade: oddly enough, one of my ESEE Izulas wasn't very sharp out of box. Fixed it pretty quick, but still...
Best folder: Mcusta Katana. Seriously, that damn thing was a folding laser beam! A close second would be my Spyderco Dodo Carbon Fiber or my Spyderco Navaja.
Worst folder: Spyderco Techno. The little chunker just wasn't quite sharp enough out of box, but I fixed it pretty easily ^^
Worst fixed blade: oddly enough, one of my ESEE Izulas wasn't very sharp out of box. Fixed it pretty quick, but still...
Best folder: Mcusta Katana. Seriously, that damn thing was a folding laser beam! A close second would be my Spyderco Dodo Carbon Fiber or my Spyderco Navaja.
Worst folder: Spyderco Techno. The little chunker just wasn't quite sharp enough out of box, but I fixed it pretty easily ^^
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Well, the plan was to throw each of them at a different zombie head before breaking out the war club.
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Hom76,
Wow . . . that's surprising (and pathetic) I think of those guys as having it together; but then I haven't bought any of their work yet. Ha, ha, every time I see a GEC on youtube or some review that I want I go looking for it and BOOM it's out of stock/out of production. Or I don't like the scales or I like the scales but I don't like the blade shapes.
I kind of have the hots for the GEC #38 Grinling Whittler but sure as heck once I get the money for it and look it will be impossible to obtain; if it is not already.
The more I hear about poor production sharpening the more I have two words to say :
Seki City (Japan)
Wow . . . that's surprising (and pathetic) I think of those guys as having it together; but then I haven't bought any of their work yet. Ha, ha, every time I see a GEC on youtube or some review that I want I go looking for it and BOOM it's out of stock/out of production. Or I don't like the scales or I like the scales but I don't like the blade shapes.
I kind of have the hots for the GEC #38 Grinling Whittler but sure as heck once I get the money for it and look it will be impossible to obtain; if it is not already.
The more I hear about poor production sharpening the more I have two words to say :
Seki City (Japan)
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One of the worst factory edges is the condor bushlore