Demko Custom in ELMAX full review.

Ankerson

Ankerson

Knife and Computer Geek
Joined
Nov 2, 2002
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This is going to be a full review with photos.

What I did was cut 5/8" Manila rope 100 times making slicing cuts then without touching the blade cut cardboard after that. Knife was sharpened to 6000 grit on the Edge Pro.

Specs are:

Steel - ELMAX - 60.5-61 HRC
Scales - CF
Ti Liners .050"
Blade Thickness .200"
Blade Length - 3.75"
Lock - Tri-Ad
Weight - 7 Ounces

A few photos I took this morning before the testing:

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Now onto the testing.

I cut the 5/8" manila rope first making 100 slicing cuts though the rope, the edge was in excellent shape after and was still very sharp slicing through paper easy. I didn't wear gloves because I wanted to see how the knife felt when cutting hard. It felt great in hand with no hot spots and handled excellent.

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Next was the Cardboard, it was very tough cardboard, very stiff stuff, I had cut this stuff before and it will really test an edge. The knife did very well slicing through it keeping it in a straight line. ELMAX held up great and would still slice though printer paper easy so we still had a nice working edge.

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Last but not least, here is a photos of the edge after all the cutting, the edge held up great with no damage, chipping, rolling or flat spots. You can still see the glue and junk on the blade from the cardboard.

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Summery:

Overall I can't say one negative thing about the knife or ELMAX. Andrew Demko really knows how to put a knife together and it's excellent. ELMAX isn't new to me as I have tested it a few times before and it really hold up great even to hard cutting.
 
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Nice Review Jim, thank you.

Other than blade geometry, do you think the Elmax of your Demko is comparable to the Elmax on the ZT0551? Is there possibly a different or differential heat treatment on your Demko?

Thanks,
 
Gunsnknives said:
Nice Review Jim, thank you.

Other than blade geometry, do you think the Elmax of your Demko is comparable to the Elmax on the ZT0551? Is there possibly a different or differential heat treatment on your Demko?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

It's harder than the 0551 and it's noticable at least to me.

It's a very thin grind with a good HT and that makes the difference.

Compared to this the 0551 is a block, very different blade grinds.
 
It's harder than the 0551 and it's noticable at least to me.

It's a very thin grind with a good HT and that makes the difference.

Compared to this the 0551 is a block, very different blade grinds.
Click to expand...

Great, thank you. For a beast of a knife, I love how the hollow grind allows for it to be such an awesome slicer. Nice knife!:thumbup:

Is there any reason you went with Elmax vs. S90V vs. M390 vs. M4...etc.?

I guess at some point you have to pick a steel and I think I remember you saying in one of you posts that your favorites steels were M390 and S90V. But I also remember something about you saying that your custom Elmax and Custom M390 (due in part to HT and geometry) were your best slicers. Just wondering since I am always on the prowl for the "best knife".

Thanks again...hope I'm not pestering too much.
 
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Gunsnknives said:
Great, thank you. For a beast of a knife, I love how the hollow grind allows for it to be such an awesome slicer. Nice knife!:thumbup:
Click to expand...

The thickness behind the edge really makes a huge difference, the Demko is thinner behind the edge than the Spyderco Military, a lot thinner just to give you an idea.

I have cut with knives as thin as .004" behind the edge and the difference is unreal.

Most factory blades are around .028" to .030" + behind the edge, this blade is around .025".
 
Looks like a nice comfortable handle. No hot spots with all that cutting?
 
When I look at the numbers on Elmax it looks like M390 with a touch less of everything across the board. Like maybe it's positioned as a less pricey little brother to M390 with essentially the same character. Very fine edge, very stain resistant, sharpens up easy, cuts aggressively, ect. No real weaknesses so far. Does that sound about right?

I'm waiting to see if my little brother is redeployed to Crapistan. If so, I've been thinking of having one of those beasts made up for him. There's no one feature or line but it's just a plain ole' thing of beauty.
 
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jimnolimit said:
excellent review, that's one fine piece of machinery you got there :thumbup:.
Click to expand...

Thanks. :)

jeffphansen77 said:
When I look at the numbers on Elmax it looks like M390 with a touch less of everything across the board. Like maybe it's positioned as a less pricey little brother to M390 with essentially the same character. Very fine edge, very stain resistant, sharpens up easy, cuts aggressively, ect. No real weaknesses so far. Does that sound about right?

I'm waiting to see if my little brother is redeployed to Crapistan. If so, I've been thinking of having one of those beasts made up for him. Thee's no one feature or line but it's just a plain ole' thing of beauty.
Click to expand...


It's different than M390 with a different formulation of Alloys.

ELMAX is tougher than M390 while still taking that extreme edge and having excellent corrosion resistance.
 
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