yablanowitz
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
- 9,903
I better steal a few minutes to set this down before I forget completely. 
First impression out of the box was the knife is smaller that I expected, which is nothing new for me. I have a hard time scaling things from pictures. The knife was well-constructed and quite sturdy, but I noticed the blade was somewhat off-center when closed.Too bad for those who care about such things. The action was quite stiff, and the placement of the thumbstud required the use of both the stud and the flipper to open the knife. A couple of drops of RemOil and a few dozen cycles eased the effort somewhat, but is still remained uncomfortable stiff. Had it been mine, I would have done some adjusting, but since it was a passaround, I left the screws alone.
The bladesteel was the main topic of interest here, so I'll get to it. Out of the box, it failed every sharpness test I use. It would not shave arm hair, push-cut or slice paper cleanly. A few minutes with my protracter and loupes told the story. The backbevel was set at 23 degrees on the mark side and 20 degrees on the pile side, for an included angle of 43 degrees. I couldn't get an exact measurement of the microbevel even with the 30X magnifier, but it seemed to be around 60 degrees. Given the type of steel, this was an edge that should have lasted forever, but I prefer to cut materials rather than beating them apart with a blunt instrument, so the rest of you won't get to enjoy the factory "edge".
Thinning the edge a bit wasn't much of a challenge on the diamond hones, although it did reveal how well the black coating was hiding a dip in the main grind. It seemed quite similar to sharpening Spyderco S90V, something I have a bit of experience doing. Once I got it sharp, it stayed that way through about 300 linear feet of cardboard and a good bit of hardwood whittling. I didn't use it for any of the really tough stuff I use my S90V Military for, but it held up at least as well for what I did do with it.
Overall, a nice little knife with great steel, but in my opinion, not worth the price.
First impression out of the box was the knife is smaller that I expected, which is nothing new for me. I have a hard time scaling things from pictures. The knife was well-constructed and quite sturdy, but I noticed the blade was somewhat off-center when closed.Too bad for those who care about such things. The action was quite stiff, and the placement of the thumbstud required the use of both the stud and the flipper to open the knife. A couple of drops of RemOil and a few dozen cycles eased the effort somewhat, but is still remained uncomfortable stiff. Had it been mine, I would have done some adjusting, but since it was a passaround, I left the screws alone.
The bladesteel was the main topic of interest here, so I'll get to it. Out of the box, it failed every sharpness test I use. It would not shave arm hair, push-cut or slice paper cleanly. A few minutes with my protracter and loupes told the story. The backbevel was set at 23 degrees on the mark side and 20 degrees on the pile side, for an included angle of 43 degrees. I couldn't get an exact measurement of the microbevel even with the 30X magnifier, but it seemed to be around 60 degrees. Given the type of steel, this was an edge that should have lasted forever, but I prefer to cut materials rather than beating them apart with a blunt instrument, so the rest of you won't get to enjoy the factory "edge".
Thinning the edge a bit wasn't much of a challenge on the diamond hones, although it did reveal how well the black coating was hiding a dip in the main grind. It seemed quite similar to sharpening Spyderco S90V, something I have a bit of experience doing. Once I got it sharp, it stayed that way through about 300 linear feet of cardboard and a good bit of hardwood whittling. I didn't use it for any of the really tough stuff I use my S90V Military for, but it held up at least as well for what I did do with it.
Overall, a nice little knife with great steel, but in my opinion, not worth the price.
