Best/Worst Factory Edge

Wowbagger, just to be clear.... I own 6 or 7 Dragonflies, including the ZDP-189, H1 and numerous VG-10s. All of them came very sharp with the single exception of the G10 model. That knife was a fluke among the group. But it sharpened up nicely and remains a favorite to this day.
 
Wowbagger said:
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)
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Actually the knives made by GEC are beautiful and F&F is top notch. Everything is good but the edge is dull.
 
Have had good and bad from all brands. Most consistently insanely sharp would be Spyderco and not even close. Have only ever gotten 1 or 2 that were not impressive. The tradeoff with Spyderco though is usually a very inconsistent bevel either from side to side or from heel to tip. On a Spyderco it doesn't bother me.

Have gotten a few CRKs that were dull because I think they go overboard sometimes with that slack polishing belt to give it the convex edge. On the other hand, my friend's recent small Starbenza was crazy sharp and my recent small micarta Insingo is one of the sharpest out of box knives I've ever handled. Bevels always very even though.

All 4 or 5 Hinderers I've handled out of box and my personal 2 all were dull. Doesn't help when you have a really thick blade to go with it.

Benchmades are very hit or miss. My 940 came with an almost nonexistent bevel, and I think out of the 6 I've owned and 5 I currently own, the sharpest was actually the Adamas.
 
In general I think spyderco has the sharpest out of the box blades hands down. Cold steel 2nd. I have very little experience with high dollar knives ( over 300.00) so I can't comment on them. I've found ZT's and benchmade to be not that sharp out of the box.

Mike
 
Lee48,

I own 6 or 7 Dragonflies, including the ZDP-189, H1 and numerous VG-10s.
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Very Cool !

I carried my little Dragon today. Cut great and always the easiest to open after not handling it for weeks of all my thumb opening knives. Hardest is probably my CS Mini Tuff Lite. I have to change my grip a time or two and hold it just right. (after not handling it for weeks) once the muscle memory kicks into gear it opens great. Makes me remember what people here have said that for a SD knife a fixed blade is going to generally be more reliably deployed in a hurry.

own 6 or 7 Dragonflies
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We should start calling you The Dragon Master.

:)
 
Just now got a Kershaw Launch 3 with black S35V blade, one of the sharpest I've gotten.
Also just got a CRKT, "sharpish".
Last week got a Piranha Bodyguard S30V, very sharp.
 
Sharpest ever was my Microtech Mini Socom.
Worst ever were my last 2 Protechs. A TR3 and an Emerson Auto...butterknife dull.:(
 
Gaston444 said:
Sharpness out of the box means little, it is edge bevel thickness that matters.
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+1
Sharpening a new knife is not a big deal for me, unless I have to invest a lot of time reprofiling the edge. It always seems that the edge at the base and tip are thicker or had more material ground off when starting or stopping the edge on a belt. Ironically, the best and worst sharpened knives have been customs. Marcin Bona does his knife edges perfect, others not so much.
My other pet peeve is when the bevel is fine along the straight part of the edge then the angle gets wider all the way to the tip.
 
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Best factory edges from my personal experience:
Spyderco, Victorinox, and Randall. The Randall is also extremely thin behind the edge, an amazing cutter.

Best factory edge from videos:
Rockstead, by a mile.
 
Spyderco manix 2 s30v I just bought came sharper than expected by far. Precisely even grinds, too.
 
Jhansenak47 said:
+1

My other pet peeve is when the bevel is fine along the straight part of the edge then the angle gets wider all the way to the tip.
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That is one of the biggest horrors in this entire hobby... It makes the notion of a given edge angle laughable, and as a result it makes even more laughable the notion that some blades are actually sharp...

This is accentuated in many cases by the edge belly having a tight and deep radius: This tip-opening of the edge angle is done to look "neat", and avoid issues of the edge bevels changing in "height", and thus having those bevels becoming taller towards the tip, as towards the tip the inherent geometry becomes less thin and so less favourable, unless you are really careful grinding the whole blade initially (which is difficult to do while avoiding the "fragile point" syndrome).

I hate convex edges with a purple passion, but even I have to admit they tend to stay more of the same thinness towards the tip, because the whole knife is ground along with the edge, so it is more like one curved surface, and not a meeting of various geometries that must be done neatly: Neatness often meaning opening the edge towards the tip, if you want to avoid creating a lot of cosmetic problems for yourself...

This is why most knives are actually unsuitable for combat, even when presented as such...: Combat implies having the ability to cut with the very limit of reach, at the tip, and most "combat" knives at the tip can only scratch or push flesh... Daggers tend to do better at tip-slicing because they usually have little of that belly that "opens" the edge angle, and the lack of belly also means an acute tip profile that is closer to a "hook" shape than a deep bellied point, which "pushes" flesh...

Worst combat point design of all is the American Tanto, unless very acutely raked in profile, because the tip's edge bevel worsens the whole problem of the edge being more open, and the less acute Tanto point designs move away further from "hooking", and more towards the dreaded "pushing" of bellied edges...

Gaston
 
This is accentuated in many cases by the edge belly having a tight and deep radius: This tip-opening of the edge angle is done to look "neat", and avoid issues of the edge bevels changing in "height", and thus having those bevels becoming taller towards the tip, as towards the tip the inherent geometry becomes less thin and so less favourable, unless you are really careful grinding the whole blade initially (which is difficult to do while avoiding the "fragile point" syndrome).

I hate convex edges with a purple passion, but even I have to admit they tend to stay more of the same thinness towards the tip, because the whole knife is ground along with the edge, so it is more like one curved surface, and not a meeting of various geometries that must be done neatly: Neatness often meaning opening the edge towards the tip, if you want to avoid creating a lot of cosmetic problems for yourself...
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It took me a while to figure out why I couldn't sharpen knives consistently. My original problem was a failure to maintain my angle the entirety of the blade, I would lift up when transitioning into a curve. Then I couldn't get the tips sharp on several knives. It wasn't until I started convex sharpening and started using a marker that the truth became apparent. Having to tediously remove a lot of metal just to get a consistent edge all the way to the tip has become an onerous task.
 
Like many, I've gotten both good and bad edges on everything from Rough Rider's to ZT's.

Sharp is one thing, but my biggest pet peeve is an uneven bevel. A knife can be sharp, but with an uneven bevel, takes much more time to re-sharpen. Obviously manufacturers use electric grinders/sanders to sharpen, to accommodate manufacture speed needs. But with such, a tiny wrist roll, and/or tired employee can really murder an edge. I've also gotten my fair share of blades that rivaled a dull stick in sharpness.

I would guess that probably 60-70% of the knives I get to use, really need a full sharpening before use. Of the knives I own that have come with the most universally usable edge (even grind and sharp), has got to go to Spyderco. Next in line would be US Kershaws, and the most recent ZT releases. One specific model that I've purchased at least a half dozen of, with the most consistently even bevel and razor sharp....goes to the Kershaw Blur with standard edge. Even better than my first couple ZT's. Go figure. The ZT I've carried and used the most, and still with factory edge, is the ZT562CF. Unsure if I've just been a little easier on it, or if the 204p steel is really that good. It's my first and only 204p at the moment, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. But when you start out with a perfect and sharp bevel, you just get more mileage.

On the traditional front, I've purchased well over 100 of RR/Colt's, Taylor Brands etc, that are usually a little uneven, but almost always sharp. However the RR's seem to be more consistent than Taylor's. But the few GEC's I have needed to be sharpened right out of the box. I have no problem with a $7 Colt that may need a bit of touch up. But when paying $150 for a GEC, I should have something a little sharper than a Bic pen out of the box.

I've only got a few Boker Solingen's that are very decent. A ton of Boker Plus that are a little more hit and miss. And a few Boker Magnum that are really hit and miss.
 
Best edges OOB that perform for long durations are found on Bark Rivers IMO. Especially in their A2. Almost always perfect convex edges with no secondary micro bevel on their A2. Can't say the same about their stainless models, even though they still cut like light sabers
 
My worst edge to date was a united cutlery karambit that i bought as a novelty. Edge on it wasnt even sharpened and it was wavy too. Almost like they tried to serrate it then attempted to slice through a brick.
 
JN7556 said:
My worst edge to date was a united cutlery karambit that i bought as a novelty. Edge on it wasnt even sharpened and it was wavy too. Almost like they tried to serrate it then attempted to slice through a brick.
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I'm not sure if I even consider United Cutlery like a real thing, more of a mall toy manufacturer. Could be they make something worth checking out, but I've never seen it.
 
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