CQC-7 is in WOW!!! Sharpness question!!???

Runsalone · Apr 9, 2004

Well my cqc 7 is finally in and its awsome so far. But I kinda thought it would be sharper than this? It wont shave or cut paper clean.

Has anybody experienced anything similar?? Is this normal like a utility edge or something?

Also out of curiosity Ive heard that some batches of Emersons have had a few QC issues. Is there any way for me to tell where mine came from??

Other than a few curiosities this is the coolest knife Ive seen yet!!!

Manji · Apr 9, 2004

well, so far every emerson i've owned or handled at a store has not been very sharp. I'm guessing a "hard use" knife and a "fragile" thin sharp edge don't mix well.

musashi · Apr 23, 2004

Just got my Commander and I now realise what "hair popping" sharp means!
I always can shave with my knives and my spydies come super sharp out the box but this Commander is ridiculous!!

biogon · Apr 23, 2004

Runsalone,

The EKI factory edge usually needs to be lowered and sharpened. If you have an EP or a benchstone, you can do it without too much pain.

After you touch it up, it'll shave and slice paper and other soft targets very easily.

As for QC... you can try the spine wack test. That's pretty much it. Pretty much ones made after 2000 or so should be fine.

-j

James Y · May 11, 2004

I have a similar problem with a Mini-Commander. Everything about it seems perfect, fit/finish/lockup. But the plain part of the edge (mine has partial serrations) is ground so steep that it won't really cut. Oddly, I notice the serrated section is ground at a slightly lower (thinner) angle and has no problems cutting. I know if I reground the plain edge part I have to remove a lot of metal. I would even be happy if it was ground at the same angle as the serrated part of the blade. I'm worried that since it would require so much removal that I might not be able to maintain the desired new angle.
Jim

Semper Fi · May 18, 2004

I just bought a cqc 7b w/wave and it is hair flinging sharp. No complaints here except for the lockup. The liner lock only seems to partially engage when open. Probably will get better after being broken in. I hope.

biogon · May 18, 2004

Semper Fi said:
I just bought a cqc 7b w/wave and it is hair flinging sharp. No complaints here except for the lockup. The liner lock only seems to partially engage when open. Probably will get better after being broken in. I hope.

If it's engaging way on the left, that's normal.

Flick it open hard a few times, or just wave it some, and it'll move to full engagement.

It's set up this way to increase wear time... you'll find that (much as I love Emersons) their liners tend to wear out quickly.

Fortunately, EKI CS is great and they will replace a liner and refurb the knife for the cost of shipping.

-j

zwirek · May 18, 2004

My CQC7 was sharpened due to the advices given on the Emerson website, perhaps it does not shave, but is (I would say) tricky. It seems that this knife is not so sharp, but try to cut anything, I have got a feeling, that the blade catches the material and it is easy to cut oneself when you try it on your hand...and with my ability in sharpening it is really easy to sharpen it (first time I used the Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker handbook: how to sharpen a chisel

). Now I found the proper angle and it is a minute to resharpen the blade...
It is my first serious knife and the favourite one

...

Semper Fi · May 18, 2004

biogon said:
If it's engaging way on the left, that's normal.

Flick it open hard a few times, or just wave it some, and it'll move to full engagement.

It's set up this way to increase wear time... you'll find that (much as I love Emersons) their liners tend to wear out quickly.

Fortunately, EKI CS is great and they will replace a liner and refurb the knife for the cost of shipping.

-j

Thanks for the advice.
I am very happy with the knife. Coming out of the pocket, it opens faster than any switchblade I've owned. The wave is a really neat feature.

love4steel · Jun 15, 2004

Just received a cqc7b in the mail today. I was expecting it to be not so sharp after everything I've heard, but on the contrary it's VERY sharp. Its the type of sharp where if your not paying attention and you accidently just brush the blade - you've got trouble. Maybe they've re-profiled the edge on newer ones. F+F is awsome. dead center, ROCK solid lockup. My immediate concern was a small amount of side to side bladeplay, however I turned the screw a little bit and now there is zero bladeplay and the knife is perfect. This thing is built like a tank!

Lothar.OTHP · Jun 17, 2004

Don't judge the edge by it's shaving ability. A well sharpened knife has a very clean edge, without burrs, and without nicks. If you look at the edge of your knife, from the edge, you should not see any light reflected back. A consistent edge should have no surfaces pointed at you to reflect light.

Emerson knives, to the best of my knowledge, are ground at a "thicker" angle. This will help them resist getting nicks and dents in them. Much as the rugged point of a tanto will keep from getting broken off, a bigger grind angle will keep the edge from getting thin enough to be damaged easily.

As I just posted in another thread, this doesn't mean they can't cut. A thin blade will cut easily into the side of a hair, and shave it off. Most of my emersons won't do that. But in the few instances where I've had one of them open up in my pocket, I can assure you... they'll cut very quickly and efficiently. A sharp edge is a sharp edge, and as long as it's clean, (by which I mean no nicks or deformations in the sharpened edge, and no burrs) it will cut. As an extreme example, some of the tools made to cut metal in machine shops are ground to a very blunt edge. But they're still sharp enough to shave metal.

As long as you have a clean edge, your knife will cut. And I think you'll find that a sharp edge that's not fine enough to cut hair will actually last longer in hard usage.

Now I just wish they'd make something in D2.

yobbos1 · Jun 17, 2004

My new Specwar still has the factory edge and I've been doing a little experimenting. It seems that the steep angle does sacrifice a little slicing power but more than makes up for this in edge durability. It seems to me that if it were necessary to cut wire or sheet metal in an emergency you'd be better off with the Emerson factory type edge rather than a thinner grind. In fact I had to do some minor electrical work with the Specwar today and I agree with Lothar.OTHP that this edge will not easily allow nicks in the blade.