Busse basic 7 vs. Fallkniven A1

[jarrode93@gmail.com]

Thank yall very much, yall are very kind. This is a whole lot better than knife forums. I will post at knife reviews and testing. Also, what would yall say about Mercworx????

 

[Josh Muller]

the handles look slippery and the blade grinds look very, very, very low (low low saber). but thats just from pictures

 

[t1mpani]

There isn't much information available out there on the actual use of Mercworx fixed blades. I'm sure they are extremely strong, since as SethMurdoc says that have very narrow primary grinds and are full thickness for most of their blade. For those who like to throw the "sharpened prybar" phrase around, this is actually much closer to the mark on these than the full or 3/4 height flat grind Busses. Their steel choice for a big, hard-use blade is not the best but they're massive enough (with likely highly obtuse edges) that they probably are fairly tough.

However their knives are in use, their customer service DOES have some feedback on these forums. Just do a search for Mercworx and you'll find it.

 

[Cobalt]

There isn't much information available out there on the actual use of Mercworx fixed blades. I'm sure they are extremely strong, since as SethMurdoc says that have very narrow primary grinds and are full thickness for most of their blade. For those who like to throw the "sharpened prybar" phrase around, this is actually much closer to the mark on these than the full or 3/4 height flat grind Busses. Their steel choice for a big, hard-use blade is not the best but they're massive enough (with likely highly obtuse edges) that they probably are fairly tough.

It's amazing how knife design makes such a difference in strength. If you need stain resistance and want strength you need to pay attention to design. Which is what they seem to have done, kinda like Falkniven. Good work IMO

 

[Cliff Stamp]

T... Strength= absolute resistance to bending, IE: how much force you need to make it bend at all(A1 >/= Basic). Toughness refers to how difficult it is to break by smashing it with a hammer or equally massive and hard blunt object(basic>A1). And Ductility is how far it'll bend before it finally snaps in half (basic>A1). .

Yes. Lots of users and makers define them differently though, I have see makers call a steel tough becaue it takes a lot of belts to grind it, it never hurts to ask someone what the terms mean when they are not uniformly used.

-Cliff

 

[t1mpani]

It's amazing how knife design makes such a difference in strength. If you need stain resistance and want strength you need to pay attention to design. Which is what they seem to have done, kinda like Falkniven. Good work IMO

If strength, hard useability and stain resistance are Mercworx' primary concerns, they could make the same knife with the same grinds out of AUS-8 or 440B and acheive it better. Either of these steels can take hard impacts and lateral stress much better than 154CM. This latter picks up some advantages in edge retention when doing lots of abrasive cutting, but when going from 1/4" thick blade stock to cutting edge in the space of about 1/2" of blade width, I'd think the edge is so obtuse that long term cutting isn't likely to be much of an issue---they won't be able to do it very well from the get-go, so how well the edge is retained becomes a tad moot.

 

[jarrode93@gmail.com]

What would yall say about S30V????? How would it stand up against 154CM in regards to prying, cutting, chopping, etc.????

 

[Cobalt]

If strength, hard useability and stain resistance are Mercworx' primary concerns, they could make the same knife with the same grinds out of AUS-8 or 440B and acheive it better. Either of these steels can take hard impacts and lateral stress much better than 154CM. This latter picks up some advantages in edge retention when doing lots of abrasive cutting, but when going from 1/4" thick blade stock to cutting edge in the space of about 1/2" of blade width, I'd think the edge is so obtuse that long term cutting isn't likely to be much of an issue---they won't be able to do it very well from the get-go, so how well the edge is retained becomes a tad moot.

Agreed, but I would rather have the extra edge holding of 154 cm than 440B. Prying strength is not going to be much of an issue on a 1/4 inch blade that is full thickness most of the way down. Kinda like the old Timberline Specwar, which was a brute. Doubt you could put enough force n one by hand to get anywhere near breaking it or even bending it.

 

[idahoskunk]

What would yall say about S30V????? How would it stand up against 154CM in regards to prying, cutting, chopping, etc.????

wasn't s30v a spy plane that was removed from action

 

[jarrode93@gmail.com]

I`m talking about the steel.

 

[t1mpani]

Agreed, but I would rather have the extra edge holding of 154 cm than 440B. Prying strength is not going to be much of an issue on a 1/4 inch blade that is full thickness most of the way down. Kinda like the old Timberline Specwar, which was a brute. Doubt you could put enough force n one by hand to get anywhere near breaking it or even bending it.

Granted 154CM has superior wear resistance, but with an edge that thick (forget the edge bevel--think how steep the primary grinds must be to go from 1/4" thick to cutting edge in so little room) I don't think it's likely to cut or chop much of anything so much as beat it into submission. For that type of work, the 154CM falls behind in edge holding as it will fail and chip more readily than AUS-8. I don't doubt that the edge can be made to be quite sharp--probably shaving sharp. But the bevel is so obtuse and would spread the material it was trying to cut so violently I think it'd be more likely to rip/split it than cut it.

However, I'll admit that I haven't tried one. The above are merely my suspicions, and what I can gather from pictures and the maker's own descriptions. I could certainly be wrong.

 

[KnifeAddictAK]

wasn't s30v a spy plane that was removed from action

Indeed. Due to many breakup issues. They have decided more so on the USS BG42, but will eventually save time and money with the all out I.N.F.I.

 

[t1mpani]

What would yall say about S30V????? How would it stand up against 154CM in regards to prying, cutting, chopping, etc.????

Prying and chopping are not friends of either steel. Both are brittle, the S30V being the more so of the two. In cutting, of you mean slicing, the S30V will outstrip the 154CM by a bit in edge holding (assuming both are heat treated well and to similar hardnesses) when cutting abrasive materials, and be slightly less likely to blunt when cutting harder stuff--again, cutting, not chopping. 154CM is friendlier to sharpen unless you have diamond-mediums available.

 

[greens]

If I remember correctly, there was some tests done by Mike Turber a while ago He tested the Basic, cold steel's trailmaster or bushmaster and fallkniven. Needless to say, the Basic came out on top, later followed by Fallkniven.