Care and Feeding of My Mistress

[Uncle Screwtape]

Greetings Jerry,

I have recently purchaced a collectors grade battle mistress, serial #15 from an individual on another forum. The knife arrived in wonderful shape;but, I paid less than the new price of the knife an am reasonably concerned about the history of the knife. It shows no sign of abuse, and little sign of use. There are some marks on the handle, and the blade has a series of machine type marks arcing from the spine to the edge...these are not present on the blade handle juncture beyond the finger choil grind nor on the birds head butt. Is this the original finish of the blade? If not, should I be concerned? (i.e. Blade distempering from additional grinding)

The knife appears in an issue of Tactical Knives; however, it seems as if the handle material has a different grain than that in the picture...could it have been replaced? The author was attending a survival class in Canada, in which he commented on how much he approved of linen micarta as it is not uncommon to leave a knife to close to a fire in those harsh conditions. This troubles me, I have never left a knife to close to any fire, nor have I used one in a fire: I understand that INFI is a superior product; but does that superiority extend to extreems in temperature? What would be an indicator of such misuse?

I have waited a long time for the opportunity to aquire one of your blades, and feel sort of lucky to get one with such a low serial number, I guess I just want some assurances as to its condition.

I also am curious as to what I must do to maintain the INFI steel, and if the Spyderco Tri-Angle system is correct in angle for resharpening?

Any Information would be appreciated,

Screwtape

 

[Jerry Busse]

It is difficult, at best, to ascertain the condition of your knife without seeing it in person. If you would like to send it to the shop, we will gladly give it a once over. You may have stumbled onto a great buy as we have sold most of the Collector Grade BMs under the serial #50 for $900.00 - $1200.00. The collector grade sold out almost immediately with only 500 being produced. We are currently sending out the last of the breed.

As for INFI and temperature extremes, it is amazing. INFI is tempered at nearly 950 degrees. It does not begin to lose any significant hardness until it is held above 1050 degrees for a considerable amount of time. I have to believe that it would need to be extremely mishandled in order to do any noticeable damage.

Most of the simpler high carbon steels (of which INFI is NOT a member) can be drawn down in temper in a matter of seconds if the temperature hits above 500 - 800 degrees. Along the thin edge of a knife, a buffer or dremel can produce this level of heat and can cause serious damage if not executed by a professional. Always check the grade of steel and heat-treat specs. before assassinating it with the dremel tool Uncle Leo gave you for Christmas. Always keep the steel cool to the touch and you should be fine.

As far as INFI is concerned, care for and feed it like a friend. If the blade does get warm pour beer over it to cool it down. Stories out of Africa indicate that “Beer Tempering” only increases the performance of the steel. Is this true? I question nothing I hear from our friends in Africa.

Jerry Busse



[This message has been edited by Jerry Busse (edited 03-06-2000).]