D.Koster Bushcraft

Fiddleback said:
She was talking about your Nessmuk?:D





Hey TT, I'm jealous that your Bushcraft is 01.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Hmm.., now that you mention it, she had the shirt before I got the nessie, probably a reference to my Fusion Battle Mistress....

BTW - O-1 is great!
 
Q: What steels do you use and for what purposes? What can I expect from that steel?


O-1
High carbon. Great toughness. Good for small to medium sized knives. Inexpensive. Rusts and tarnishes easily.

5160
Medium carbon. Greater toughness ("springy"). Has chromium - polishes easily and doesn't rust as quickly..but still can. Better on larger/thicker knives. Inexpensive.

1095
High carbon, low alloy steel. Inexpensive. Can be clay-quenched for a hamon line. Can achieve a higher hardness (over 60 HRc). Takes a keen edge and keeps it. Best on knives where hardness and ease of sharpening is most important...kitchen knives...nessmuks.

A2
Very similar to O1, but with 5% chromium...makes it "somewhat stain resistant". Good all-around steel. Moderate in price...similar to O1.

3V
Very tough steel - a true super-steel. At hardened thicknesses over 3/16" it is nearly indestrucible (in knife sizes). Great edge-holding too. Trade-off? Expensive!

W-2
Same as 1095, but with vanadium for better wear-resistance. Has to be forged down from bars. Moderate in price, but takes time/effort to get usable billets for knives.

D2
Large-carbide semi-stainless steel. Best for "toothy-edge" knife needs (cutting rope, draw cuts, etc.) Moderate-high in price. Hard to sharpen - need diamond hones.


CPM D2
Same "recipe" as regular D2...but made in the "CPM way" - which means smaller carbides, more even grain structure. Slightly easier to sharpen, better finish. Med-high price.

S30V
Excellent stainless steel. Med-sized carbides. High carbon. Moderate-high in price. Difficult for some to sharpen - need diamond hones. Best performing stainless for edge-holding.


13C26
New steel from Sandvik (Sweden). Fine grain structure. Stainless. Med-high carbon. Takes a polished keen edge (like 1095/W2). Easier to finish.


CPM154
New take on the old 154CM (aka ATS-34) by Crucible steel. Great overall stainless steel. Easy to sharpen, good edge-holding, easy to polish - great stain-resistance. Finer edge than S30V, but not as fine as 13C26


O1/L6 Damascus
Considered "high-performance" damascus. Can be made with or without nickel. Nickel adds contrast, but decreases performance (imho). I usually have mine made without it...(performance junky). It marries the best of both worlds: O1 for toughness, L6 for fine grain/keen edge. Both by themselves are excellent cutting-competition-quality steels. Sometimes mixing two steels means optimizing for on only. In this case, the two compliment each other. I need to look up my notes from Kevin Cashen for more info....when I do...I'll post it!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------




From hardest to sharpen (top) to easiest (bottom)

S30V
D2
.
.
3V
A2
1095
O1
5160

__________________________________________________ ______________


Edge holding ability = cutting
(vanadium influences this most)

S30V
3V
CPM154
D2
A2
O1
1095
5160



Edge holding ability = Chopping
(otherwise known as toughness)

3V
5160
A2
O1
1095
S30V
D2
CPM154


__________________________________________________ _____________


rust resistance:

CPM154
S30V
-
D2
-
-
3V
A2
5160
1095
O1
 
My first Koster Bushcraft was perfect. The second had the edge not ground down to the guard like on the first one.

If I had have known that Dan was going to make the second batch different from the first I would not have ordered a second.

Also mine had a chip in the edge. Looked like maybe it had been in the box with a bunch of others and hit against them. I have almost got the chip sharpened out now but a chip in a scandi grind you have to take WAY more steel off to remove:thumbdn:

I have seen and held many of Dan's blades and consider them top flight. I think that what you are seeing here is the growing pains when you go from custom knife maker to production knife maker, and at this time while Dan has outsourced the cutting of the blanks and the heat treating, he possibly needs to outsource the Quality Assurance check when it goes into the box.

If you look at Bark River they are basically doing what Dan is doing, but they have a much higher number of employees so they can QA them a bit better before going out, but in the event they miss one they are a bit more easy to contact to have your blade fixed because with the bigger payroll Mike Stewart isn't doing it all himself like Dan is.

I'm figure as Dan's operation grows he'll add on more people to do grinding and quality assurance/returns and stuff like we have experienced will become way less of an issue.
 
mneedham said:
Hmm.., now that you mention it, she had the shirt before I got the nessie, probably a reference to my Fusion Battle Mistress....

!
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: Yea. Maybe it was your FBM.....;):thumbup::p:D
 
Wow.....I'm humbled that I've inspired 6 pages of commentary...:p













Tony - I believe you were shipped the wrong knife...:foot:


In my haste to get things wrapped up before I left on my trip...I must've grabbed the wrong one. I shipped upwards of nearly 100 knives that week....but, no excuses.

I saw yours today when I stopped by the shop on my way home. (with red liners)



Regarding the finish...the as-forged finish on the O1 knives rubs off easier than the CPM steel knives. Meaning...when it's in a kydex sheath...it gets all scratched to heck. I haven't done enough of the O1/kydex combination to remember to let people know ahead of time of the possible scratches.



Regarding the deep scratch....that is how the material came to me. I have tested several blades with such "cuts" in them and have had zero failures. It should not affect function, and if it ever does, it will be replaced for free.




That said....the knife you received is not yours...go ahead and send it back with the kydex sheath - I'll cover shipping. it's headed for the discount rack.

I'll send yours out on Monday (7/7)





Martin - I have no idea how that got out of the shop. I must have clearly been asleep at the wheel. Please send it back and I will replace it and pay for shipping both ways. Allow me to offer you a free firesteel for your troubles. Shoot me an email/PM.




I don't mind the chatter, honestly. Stuff happens...and I don't mind discussing it publicly either (sometimes it's more likely to get my attention that way...:foot: )


Thanks for letting me know....as others have said...I will do the best I can to rectify the situation and get you guys squared away. :thumbup:


Dan
(just got back today)
 
You are a stand up guy dude. I had no doubts that this would be your reaction. Kudos bro, I will surely order more steel from you in the future!!!!!

BTW how was your trip? :DGot pics?
 
What a great response Daniel! I think this demonstrates the true depth of your crafstmanship as much as your products do.
 
Not at all suprised by your answer Dan, great job.

How was the big trip?
 
I really don't think there was any question to what your response would be, Dan. You should be proud of the reputation you and your knives have carved out for yourself.

Rick

Though, I'd never buy that junk....... Ha!...... cheap shot!! ..... kidding, of course.
 
Dan,

Your knives and personal integrity impress me!

I will be adding one of yours to my collection soon.

cmdr249
 
Gotta love that response from the man himself. :thumbup:
My Koster Bushcraft kept me good company on my hike with dog, and I am thankful.
Cheers & Happy 4th all!:)
 
My Dan Koster Bladeforums Bushcraft in 3V may be my favorite knife. I never pass up the opportunity to show it off and promote Dan AND Bladeforums.

After reading Dan's response to the posts in this thread, I'm even more impressed with him.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
Dan, your response has just convinced me that I need to get one of your Bushcraft knives. I am greatly impressed with your honesty, candor, and backing your knives to the hilt the way you do! Would that all who do business were like you!

Ron
 
Daniel Koster said:
Wow.....I'm humbled that I've inspired 6 pages of commentary...:p













Tony - I believe you were shipped the wrong knife...:foot:


In my haste to get things wrapped up before I left on my trip...I must've grabbed the wrong one. I shipped upwards of nearly 100 knives that week....but, no excuses.

I saw yours today when I stopped by the shop on my way home. (with red liners)



Regarding the finish...the as-forged finish on the O1 knives rubs off easier than the CPM steel knives. Meaning...when it's in a kydex sheath...it gets all scratched to heck. I haven't done enough of the O1/kydex combination to remember to let people know ahead of time of the possible scratches.



Regarding the deep scratch....that is how the material came to me. I have tested several blades with such "cuts" in them and have had zero failures. It should not affect function, and if it ever does, it will be replaced for free.




That said....the knife you received is not yours...go ahead and send it back with the kydex sheath - I'll cover shipping. it's headed for the discount rack.

I'll send yours out on Monday (7/7)





Martin - I have no idea how that got out of the shop. I must have clearly been asleep at the wheel. Please send it back and I will replace it and pay for shipping both ways. Allow me to offer you a free firesteel for your troubles. Shoot me an email/PM.




I don't mind the chatter, honestly. Stuff happens...and I don't mind discussing it publicly either (sometimes it's more likely to get my attention that way...:foot: )


Thanks for letting me know....as others have said...I will do the best I can to rectify the situation and get you guys squared away. :thumbup:


Dan
(just got back today)
Click to expand...

:thumbup: Daniel, 1st of all I hope your trip was a great one ? Thank you for being a great guy about all this ,I did not expect this thread to reach this many pages.....I will return the Knife w/kydex. I still am a big fan of your blades and this mishap has not tarnished it one bit,I totally understand being busy,I knew if I posted I would get a few post about how great your blades/you are and I did !!Thank you Dan...:DTony
 
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