Review Bushmaster / Bushcraft Explorer ( United Cutlery )

O

old4570

Banned By Request
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Jul 28, 2010
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So a while ago I was chasing for some decent information on this knife .. Ans the results were disappointing !
So , here we are and my wallet is some $80 Republic bananas lighter .

Leather Sheath ( Yes , it's leather )
Holds the knife well .. Over all , above average !

Knife .. Bushcrafty 1095 (?) Made in China
It's carbon , I know because it came with free rust !
Spine feels crispy , but it's not crispy enough to scrape wood .
Sprays ferro though . over a wide area ! ( Does that at least )
HRC .... 55HRC file bites HARD ! , 50HRC file skates . So , for me ! On the wrong side of 55HRC ( Soft ) For 1095
Factory edge gave up @ 100 slices .. That's nothing new , a bad factory edge ( or / poor performing )

That factory edge did not impress .. There is FUBAR that can be seen with the naked eye .
The grip is filling , plenty of room for my hand , and should accommodate Medium to large hands .

1st thing I did was put the spine on the bench grinder .. Id like the knife to scrape wood , it's supposedly Bushcrafty ..
Also would be nice if the ferro spray was a little more directional .. ( She said )
Anyways , I will put a fresh guided edge on the knife and then see if we can't crack 100 slices of rope .
 
Re sharpened !
Factory bevel is 20 degrees ( per side )
Factory edge was / is / FUBAR ..
On one side about 50% of the edge is still FUBAR from the middle back to the handle .
Another very ( very ) ordinary factory edge ..
The portion of the blade that will be hitting the rope should be good .
Till next time .
 

Ok , Took the edge to 5000 grit oil stone .
I put the spine to the grinder and then stoned it .
Scrapes wood now and is very ferro friendly ( directional ) .

The edge rolled @ 200 slices .. That's double factory , but still very ordinary for 1095 .. @ 20 degrees .
Stropped back strong !
Stropped back on pure leather ..
Just a few minutes of stropping and we had a very nice edge . A few more minutes and it might have been back where we started .. ( Why not ? )
It's getting a 80 grit regrind , so why bother stropping for 100% . It strops very nicely ( probably because it is soft 1095 ) , so there is that ( The strop back ) .
So next , a 80 grit ground edge .
 

80 grit 20 degree edge .
Micro hacksaw like
Really grabs the rope
Result was a 300 Roll ( fail ) ..
So $80 Oz Bananas and 300 slices ( rolls ) .. Could be worse , could be half the performance for double the money ( No - really )

I decided to tighten the bevel a little ( 18 degrees ? & 80 grit ) .. It slices paper so much cleaner at 18 degrees ( so far my best guess for a slightly tighter grind )
I guess I might have to run another slice test .
 

Final ....

Ok , another 80 grit grind , only this time @ 18 degrees ..
Yes it's more slice 'y .. Feel it !
Still rolls the edge at around 300 slices ..
But at 18 degrees the strop back is much stronger / faster ( etc ) .
In fact it looks like I was able to strop back 100% @ 18 degrees .

$80 Australian bananas or around $50 USD 'ish ...
Looks like a 300 roller that strops back well .
Carbon steel , so watch that rust .
Mine is SOFT , so is it a 1095 worth buying ? ( My opinion = No ! )
If your going to buy a rust bucket , then it needs to be damned good .. This knife is only average . ( If that )
But , it may have qualities you want ? Like the strop back !
Is it a really bad buy = No , it's not a bad buy .. You could do a lot worse ( and I have ) .
But I can't say it's a really good buy either . Just another average knife for average money ! ( I guess you get what you paid for )
 
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