Busse ASH Transformation

Interesting. I didn't see that. I don't use any kind of buffer, or grinder on my knives or edges because of the danger even with commercially available wheels. A buffer is the most dangerous tool in your shop until you get a salt pot.
 
Looks good Kevin! My scrapyard SOD's coating is starting to flatten out quite a bit with the use I've been giving it. The natural wear patters with use tend to occur where you cut with the knife. I suppose if you can suffer slightly lower cutting efficiency at first, that the actual act of cutting over time will improve the friction performance. I also convexed my SOD - seems to work better that way.

wildmike said:
Nice peice. I have convexed the edges of my RC6 and RC4. I find it gives a better edge and cutting performance.
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Did the same think wildmike.
 
The Skinny ASH1 is a great knife, even better with a good convex edge. Nice work!
I stripped mine and put a convex edge on it. But not having a sandblaster, it looked pretty rough,
ASH-1CE001.jpg

So then I went nuts and gave it a full spine to edge convex grind.
ASH-1SK005.jpg

Getting still crazier, I even polished the blade!
ASH-1SK020.jpg

But the pommel and ricasso areas were still rough, so I just gave the whole thing a brushed satin finish.
ASH-1SK024.jpg

ASH-1SE009.jpg
 
Thanks. I need to get the proper equipment to remove the tube fasterners so I can sand the flat ricasso and pommel to remove the rough INFI "dimples" and then re-attach the scales. All my Busses except my ASH1 SE have these nice convexed edges but rough pommels and ricassos. I guess it has become the Horn Dog look. :eek: Maybe one day I'll do that and make them right.
 
Nice job Kevin!!! Cant wait to see your review on it. Wait til you see my ASH transformation that is in the works.
 
That looks sweet! I have an ASH-1, but haven't used it yet as my BM gets all the big knife work.
 
Looks nice! I square the spine on my users also for firesteel striking. You can use the choil, but it's pretty easy to cut yourself. Infi can be thinned out pretty good, IMO. I usually take them down like you did, but with a v grind. I think you'll find it works very well. It can really take a wicked edge also.

I haven't noticed any problems with the coating and cutting, but YMMV. To me, it's an aesthetics issue, I prefer to look at the coating, but what you did looks pretty good also.

I'm anxious to hear what you think of it after you use it!
 
Horn Dog said:
Thanks. I need to get the proper equipment to remove the tube fasterners so I can sand the flat ricasso and pommel to remove the rough INFI "dimples" and then re-attach the scales. All my Busses except my ASH1 SE have these nice convexed edges but rough pommels and ricassos. I guess it has become the Horn Dog look. :eek: Maybe one day I'll do that and make them right.
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I like the way it looks man. You do very nice work...

Nice Mod Kev!!!!!! Simon, that thing looks sweet!
 
Okay, big question. We are alone here... the Busse/hawg-spies won't read this...

Is the INFI steel that good? Seriously, some have put it close to 420HC, while others say it's closer to D2. Is it that good? I have a friend with a huge collection - nice knives - but are they that much better than, say, my Bark River 'Gameskeeper' with it's .215" thick A2 blade? It came with a convex edge - and a sheath - for a fraction of the Skinny ASH price. I really want to know - I actually have a few bucks - may just take the Busse plunge...

Confused in Pinson...

Stainz

PS BTW - Nice work Horn Dog!
 
Busse spies are everywhere, especially on this thread. Busses are incredibly tough. INFI has both hardness and toughness, much tougher than D2. I like my Bark Rivers a lot, and they are more than tough enough for anything I'll do with a knife. Since I never test them to breakage, on purpose, I can only go by other tests, like those done by Noss and others.
 
At those prices, they should come from the factory already "modded" like that... so they actually cut well. There is simply no reason a big knife shouldn't be a cutter. INFI steel has a great reputation for toughness, so I don't understand why their edges aren't ground thinner to begin with.

Sorry, Busse spies, but I'm still not buying the hype. No way am I paying multi-hundreds of dollars for a knife I have to re-grind.

On the other hand, the ones you guys have modded look great!
 
Thanks for the back-up, Horndog. I'm not knocking Busse knives, by all accounts they are nearly bullet-proof. Just a different set of priorities than mine, I reckon.
 
Stainz said:
Okay, big question. We are alone here... the Busse/hawg-spies won't read this...

Is the INFI steel that good? Seriously, some have put it close to 420HC, while others say it's closer to D2. Is it that good? I have a friend with a huge collection - nice knives - but are they that much better than, say, my Bark River 'Gameskeeper' with it's .215" thick A2 blade? It came with a convex edge - and a sheath - for a fraction of the Skinny ASH price. I really want to know - I actually have a few bucks - may just take the Busse plunge...

Confused in Pinson...

Stainz

PS BTW - Nice work Horn Dog!
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What are you looking for? Edge retention, chopping, what type of cutting? It's a great all around steel, but the question is too vague.

For big choppers, it's great. For cutting fibrous materials, other steels can outperform it, but it's still good. It's very easy to put a screaming sharp edge on also. It really depends on how you want to use it.

I've used INFI for some tasks that snapped my other knives. I've also had other knives outlast it's edge a little. Everything's a tradeoff...
 
Horn Dog said:
You are certainly not alone in your view, James. They should come like that!
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Well... I'm no spy ;)...but I am convinced that INFI is fantastic knife steel based on my experiences. Busse recently released several blades in a competition (no coating, but rough) finish with a wicked convex edge. I bought 2 models and they are ungodly sharp.

I have modded some others to have convex edges and find it to be superior to the V grind. I have used it around the ranch (cutting haystring, feedsacks, etc...) gutted, skinned, and processed (going through bones and all) 4 deer with the knife below this year. It is as sharp now as when I applied the convex edge before deer season. It will split hairs. I have owned and used a lot of knives and none of them have been better at edge retention that this one.
IMG_2316.jpg


I would like them all to come convex... but then the guys that like the V grind would likely be starting a similar thread somewhere about how they hate convex edges. :)

They are expensive... but damn well worth it (at least to me). :thumbup:
 
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