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cnc ignorance

I

infrared

Joined
Dec 4, 2005
Messages
13
Please pardon my ignorance.Through looking a reading posts on this site I've managed to add to my knife collection.Have had a EDI genesis II from when they were still around-works great,never had a complaint(must have been one of the good ones from what I've read here) and have added a Benchmade Ares,black Apparition,Snoody Resistor folder,SOG Trident and Flash II as well as a Tops Cougar claw and a 7" Anaconda(non-tanto).My question,hence my ignorance,has to do with CNC knives.I've seena few out there stating that's how they are made.What exactly is it?Is it a good process or is it cookie cutter.Basically if I see one that looks good at about $70,is that a good thing or a bad thing?In case it's relevant to the question most knives are used around the house,or for camp purposes.

Thanks
 
Mass produced knives are made in two ways. Stamping and CNC. Not all steels are good for stamping, but there are some good knives made this way. THis is closest to your cookie cutter analogy. Most kitchen knives are stamped. 12C27, a decent steel, can be stamped as was done for Outdoor Edges tactical line.

CNC stands for Computer Numeric Control. This is a code language fed to a a machine to remove metal in a specifed repeatable way. There are many types: laser, water jet, Wire EDM, milling machines, even lathes.

Phil
 
A CNC machine is a machine which shapes metal based on a computer program. As to whether or not the knives made by CNC are any good comes down to the person making the knives and/or writing the program. Its definitely not a "cookie cutter" method, but it IS a way to consistently make the same part multiple times.

Some of my favorite knife makers use a CNC machine- namely RJ Martin, Darrell Ralph, and Rick Hinderer-, and I'd venture to say that none of them make poor knives. The CNC machine cuts out the parts, but they're still hand-finished. No matter how a knife is ground or cut-out it still comes down to steel, Heat treat, and finishing. It also can be an expensive manufacturing technique. I've seen RJ's CNC in action and its a marvel of the knifemaking world (and manufacturing in general).

Hope I helped some!
 
There is nothing sub-standard about CNC-made knives; in fact, when programmed by a skilled operator, CNC opens up a world of possible designs that would be impossible or extremely difficult to accomplish by hand, even for the best machinists and blade grinders around.

CNC is why you see so many collaborations between factories and custom makers: the factory makers are willing to invest in developing CNC programs that can economically duplicate what the custom makers do by hand, and do so with great consistency. The factory makers get great designs to sell, the custom makers get about a buck per knife in royalties without the thousands of hours of work, and we get to buy these custom designs at affordable prices; everybody wins!
 
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