Critic: Thoughts on my FBMLE

J

Justabuyer

Joined
May 7, 2006
Messages
3,338
Well I got mine today! Thanks Amy and crew.

Any way... I pulled it out of the cardboard and I was shocked at the width of the spine. Looks like somebody section off a slab of plate Armor. What a chunk of steel. Then I noticed it was much lighter than it LOOKED and that drew my eye to what I was hoping for and what in my mind makes this the greatest Busse blade ever.

Man can you dig those GORGEOUS deep flat grinds! This Knife is a stone cold cutter!!!! MUCH better in my mind to the FBMCG which is no slouch to begin with.

I have to wonder if the edge bevel on mine is typical. Mine was very acute. First knife I have bought in a LONG while that I did not want to thin the edge out right away. It did have a lot of burr left. I worked the edge just a little bit on some 600 grit then took it up to 1500 grit then stroped it just to remove the burr and polish the edge in. This is not bad at all and expected. This is by far the best edge I have ever had on a Busse.

Mr. Busse if you read this first of all THANKS for this knife. I can not wait to beat some wood with this one. Here is my suggestion...

Please Consider a knife like this with a Full height Convex grind all the way to the egde. What a Vampire killer that would be.

Thanks

Jim
 
Justabuyer, congrats. Sounds like you got a great bevel. Enjoy it. I'm going to thin one of mine out tomorrow. They are mean when you thin them out.:thumbup:
 
I don't have that much experience with Busse. I only have a couple. But, They all came shaving sharp and the edge on the FBMLE is absolutely perfect. It is frighteningly sharp, the edge is quite smooth, no burr. I would not touch it as I could hardly improve it. I guess I was lucky that I got such a perfect knife
 
The edge on my FBMLE is also the best factory edge I've had on a Busse. My thanks to whoever did mine.
 
MAybe we should post serial numbers of the nice thin sharp ones...

Then maybe we can track the grinder with the HOTT SKILLZ!

Mine was very good leaning towards great..... #238
 
Justabuyer said:
Please Consider a knife like this with a Full height Convex grind all the way to the egde. What a Vampire killer that would be.
Click to expand...

Jim, Busse did make a knife with a Full height convex grind. The Satin Jack TAC. It's nothing close to the length and heft of an FBMLE, but the LE version sure would match up great with the FBMLE.
Check it out here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050422022949/www.bussecombat.com/knives/

I got my FBMLE today. And I totally agree with everything you said
WOW! What a blade! I knew it was gonna be a big knife, but I didn't really realise it until it was in my hand! Thanks to Jerry's family and crew!
 
When i saw 'Critic' i was expecting at least something negative, but even a self proclaimed critic loves the blade and has no negativity to share... and that is saying something.. I can hardly wait for my LE to come... but will prolly be a while as i got her 2 days before they were pulled offline
#867? who knows, who cares, i am gonna go after my front yard tree, 5'+ diameter... yikes!
 
No complaints here. I got 102 and 103 and they're awesome!

I can't believe anyone would be anything but totally elated upon receiving theirs. It is the finest large production blade I've ever seen or owned.

Not a single tree or shrub in my neighborhood should feel safe now!
 
im pretty sure ill have to grab one from skunk. im kicking myself for not ordering the le.
 
Justabuyer said:
It did have a lot of burr left. I worked the edge just a little bit on some 600 grit then took it up to 1500 grit then stroped it just to remove the burr and polish the edge in. This is not bad at all and expected.
Click to expand...

You paid how much for a knife that is supposed to be a "Limited Edition" (LE) only to have to work the edge over with two different grits of sandpaper and then call it "not bad and expected"? Sounds like you been drinking too much Busse'lade'.
 
Chief said:
You paid how much for a knife that is supposed to be a "Limited Edition" (LE) only to have to work the edge over with two different grits of sandpaper and then call it "not bad and expected"? Sounds like you been drinking too much Busse'lade'.
Click to expand...

My LE came shaving sharp right out of the sleeve.
However, like Jim said, there was a slight burr where the blade curves toward the tip. I just used some sandpaper and stroped it out smooth. This is the sharpest knife I have ever recieved from Busse. Also the edge does not come polished, so if you want a shiny edge, you must smooth it out with fine sandpaper or fine hone.
 
Chief said:
You paid how much for a knife that is supposed to be a "Limited Edition" (LE) only to have to work the edge over with two different grits of sandpaper and then call it "not bad and expected"? Sounds like you been drinking too much Busse'lade'.
Click to expand...

note - limited edition, not custom shop.

I was dissapointed to see that the blade thickness immediately dropped to 1/4" right after the ricasso. I'd much rather have had the handle tang taper down, and the blade be a full 5/16. It's heavy, but it doesn't blade heavy like I would have expected (and liked).

And the magnum scales hurt my palm :(

I'm still very glad I have one though.
 
Well I can't wait to get my CG Blade, and I SO want an LE version... super shiny lovelyness!

I will try to get one off of skunk, but fear that they won't be around for long... maybe it will get re-released one day in the future when I am a millionaire and can afford 100 of them just for the hell of it!
 
Chief said:
You paid how much for a knife that is supposed to be a "Limited Edition" (LE) only to have to work the edge over with two different grits of sandpaper and then call it "not bad and expected"? Sounds like you been drinking too much Busse'lade'.
Click to expand...


Its a two fold problem Chief.

My expectations are very high for the edge bevel. I do think that every manufacturer could meet those expectations given enough time and money but none has so far.

I am reasonably skilled with sharpening and have UNLIMITED TIME to work a edge. NO manufacturer production or custom can spend that much time and still sell me a knife I can afford.

This edge had the FUNDAMENTALS right! Perfect blade grind, beautiful edge bevel, very acute with just a hint of convex and a nice smooth transition the blade.

It was just a course finish and had some wire edge that did not get buffed off. I really enjoyed the time I got to spend Getting to know the knife while polishing and bring the edge up to my standards.

Bottom line if your standards are high and you want a very sharp polished edge on your knives you have to learn to sharpen. End of story.

Jim
 
Did anyone else notice that their CGFBM was about a 1/4" longer than their FBMLE?...
 
Justabuyer said:
This edge had the FUNDAMENTALS right!
Click to expand...

Ya, as far as metal directly behind the edge - I can only think of 3 busse's that I've handled that were this thin, the active duty, skeleton key, and a custom shop assault shaker wich was very close to being a true zero edge configuration.

It's a weird busse knife for a number of reasons - the blade is exceptionally broad, making the satin finish and the overal appearence just seem weird and customy.... The swedge on the tip/forward portion is slack belt convex rather then flat ground, and the edge is exceptionally thin for busse.

The tip isn't, the tip has 3/32" (about 3mm) of metal behind the edge - wich is what I'd expect for the entire edge of any large production peice straight from Busse. The edge itself is around 3/64" (about 1mm) - Wich is what I'd expect out of the smaller less "abuse designed" busse's.


If I ordered this as a custom, there are a few things I'd like to have different. i'd like
-Standard handle scales
-A straight back (no swag bag, making it more like the fsh)
-A 3/8" thick stock thickness - with iether a tapered handle, at least a blade that stayed 3/8" thick until the begining of the swedge.
-Either a convex main bevel, or a saber grind to add weight to the blade, but with the same accute edge thickness thats already present. That and the tip is a little burn on mine :)


OOOOOOOH.... And I want a super version. All the mod's I've said above where the blade is concerned, but extend the blade 10", and make it a 2 handed handle. Super heavy choppers/impact weapons are awesome...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top