- Joined
- Jan 25, 2000
- Messages
- 4,492
I just received my much anticipated folder from Mastersmith Ed Caffrey. To say that the knife met my very high expectations is indeed an understatement. First of all, it is much more attractive and better finished than I had imagined. Ed makes an effort to promote these knives as utility folders, very simply done in basic materials that come together to define a working folder in his mind.
The knife is built around a liner-lock frame of 15N20, features blasted black G-10 scales and a 3 1/2" blade of forged 52100. Sounds pretty drab, does it not? There were many surprises to be found after I received the knife. This is one beautiful knife for a working folder! Ed's heat coloring of the liners results in a vivid blue/purple hue that is nearly as bright as anodized Ti. As an added touch, the edges of the liners are beautifully textured which in addition to improving the looks, have the added bonus of increasing grip to a small degree. The knife uses a 3/4 length backspacer (G-10?) for strength and it looks very nice sandwiched between the colored liners. The pivot pin is also colored and nicely fileworked which is a nice touch. The Ti clip is anodized to match the liners and set up for deep pocket, tip down carry and it works very well. The blade sits perfectly centered in the handle when closed, lock up is 100% perfect and the blade is super smooth with no noticeable blade play in either direction. Folder function basically doesn't get any better than this.
The real beauty of this knife however, lies in the blade. While Ed's website proclaims him to be the "Montana Bladesmith", rest assured that this is an area where he excels. The resulting forged 52100 blade is 3 1/2" long and approx. 3/32" thick. It is fully flat ground with a very nice distal taper and convex edge with no secondary bevel. The blade also is highlited by an acid etched double temper line. Cool. The blade is topped off with dual Ti thumbstuds and while their shape did take a little while to get used to visually, they function perfectly, offering good purchase when opening and they seem impervious to snagging.
The knife performs even better than I had imagined. As one would expect, this knife cuts like a laser! The combination of a relatively thin blade, full flat grind, distal taper and lack of a secondary bevel all come together to allow the blade to ease through the cutting medium with a minimum of resistance. 1/2" rope was push cut with amazing ease. Hard Maple dowels were whittled with good bite and penetration. I personally have never used a knife so adept at cutting cardboard. When I received the knife, this was the first material I cut. Grinning from ear-to-ear, I proceeded to cut box after box, just because of the ease in which this material was handled. I actually just kept cutting until the edge was totally shot. This resulted in a pile cardboard, a dull knife and one extremely satisfied knife user
A few swipes on my Sharpmaker followed by stropping on leather had the edge back to a razor in record time. The blade was rubbed with Ren Wax when received and has been carried daily for a week with no signs of rust (this included a weekend of hunting in the wet woods). I have absolutely no reservations about the forging or heat treating on this knife as the edge holding was very good, sharpening easy and the resulting edge very, very fine. Seems as though I had heard that Ed learned to work his 52100 from a certain Mr. Fowler whom is said to make a decent blade in his own right 
If you are looking for a do anything, hell for stout, car door prying tactical folder, you best look elsewhere. If you are looking for a superbly designed pocketknife that excels in cutting and slicing the material that 99% of us cut, this baby is just the ticket. The fact that this knife is the least expensive custom folder I have purchased is icing on the cake. Did I mention that I really like this knife
The knife is built around a liner-lock frame of 15N20, features blasted black G-10 scales and a 3 1/2" blade of forged 52100. Sounds pretty drab, does it not? There were many surprises to be found after I received the knife. This is one beautiful knife for a working folder! Ed's heat coloring of the liners results in a vivid blue/purple hue that is nearly as bright as anodized Ti. As an added touch, the edges of the liners are beautifully textured which in addition to improving the looks, have the added bonus of increasing grip to a small degree. The knife uses a 3/4 length backspacer (G-10?) for strength and it looks very nice sandwiched between the colored liners. The pivot pin is also colored and nicely fileworked which is a nice touch. The Ti clip is anodized to match the liners and set up for deep pocket, tip down carry and it works very well. The blade sits perfectly centered in the handle when closed, lock up is 100% perfect and the blade is super smooth with no noticeable blade play in either direction. Folder function basically doesn't get any better than this.
The real beauty of this knife however, lies in the blade. While Ed's website proclaims him to be the "Montana Bladesmith", rest assured that this is an area where he excels. The resulting forged 52100 blade is 3 1/2" long and approx. 3/32" thick. It is fully flat ground with a very nice distal taper and convex edge with no secondary bevel. The blade also is highlited by an acid etched double temper line. Cool. The blade is topped off with dual Ti thumbstuds and while their shape did take a little while to get used to visually, they function perfectly, offering good purchase when opening and they seem impervious to snagging.
The knife performs even better than I had imagined. As one would expect, this knife cuts like a laser! The combination of a relatively thin blade, full flat grind, distal taper and lack of a secondary bevel all come together to allow the blade to ease through the cutting medium with a minimum of resistance. 1/2" rope was push cut with amazing ease. Hard Maple dowels were whittled with good bite and penetration. I personally have never used a knife so adept at cutting cardboard. When I received the knife, this was the first material I cut. Grinning from ear-to-ear, I proceeded to cut box after box, just because of the ease in which this material was handled. I actually just kept cutting until the edge was totally shot. This resulted in a pile cardboard, a dull knife and one extremely satisfied knife user
A few swipes on my Sharpmaker followed by stropping on leather had the edge back to a razor in record time. The blade was rubbed with Ren Wax when received and has been carried daily for a week with no signs of rust (this included a weekend of hunting in the wet woods). I have absolutely no reservations about the forging or heat treating on this knife as the edge holding was very good, sharpening easy and the resulting edge very, very fine. Seems as though I had heard that Ed learned to work his 52100 from a certain Mr. Fowler whom is said to make a decent blade in his own right If you are looking for a do anything, hell for stout, car door prying tactical folder, you best look elsewhere. If you are looking for a superbly designed pocketknife that excels in cutting and slicing the material that 99% of us cut, this baby is just the ticket. The fact that this knife is the least expensive custom folder I have purchased is icing on the cake. Did I mention that I really like this knife
I sincerely hope that you found my descriptions of both the knife and your design goals accurate. I certainly appreciate the extra effort taken to ensure that everything was perfect when it left your shop. I speak from experience when I say that I have received knives in the past in which this little extra effort would have made the difference between a very good knife and a truly great one. BTW, not much luck with that Whitetail buck 
