I am going to update this thread as my experience with this knife grows.
Farid Mehr has produced a run of Mules in CPM-Rex 121 (see Crucible's website for technical details and comparison with some other steels.)
CPM Rex-121: it is a high alloy, high speed, tool steel with the following composition:
Carbon 3.40 %
Chromium 4.00 %
Vanadium 9.50 %
Tungsten 10.00 %
Cobalt 9.00 %
Molybdenum 5.00 %
The crazy recipe does not necessarily make for a "good" knife steel, though. Farid is confident enough in the steel (and in his ability to work with it) that he has released this unhandled run of mules, with a K2 folder to follow.
I've handled mine in amboyna burl (I think):
In hand you can see it's not the huge chopper it might seem to be above:
She's a stout girl:
Feels nice in the hand. The thick spine provides a naturally rest for thumb during controlled, light cuts. Balance point is at the first rivet.
Here are some pics of the edge as it arrived:
Macro:
Belly
Tip
I left the edge unmolested and took the knife into the woods for a quick play:
Some standing, dead pine was gathered:
...and some birch bark to get it going:
Broke one of Farid's rules about NOT batonning with it:
No problems with this knot:
(of course, with batonning the edge sees very little use, especially with a thick spine like this, but the risk of the blade shattering/cracking was much on my mind. Sorry Farid but it's a mule!)
Made some feather sticks (fuzz sticks):
The blade shape doesn't lend itself to feather sticks: the lateral force required to get thin shavings creates torque as the edge is offset from the axis of the handle. This means a lot of grip strength is needed through the small handle, to prevent the knife twisting, and leads to early fatigue compared to a purpose-designed bushcraft knife (or any knife with a bigger handle). This isn't really a criticism of the knife as it isn't what it was designed for.
Got the fire going:
Had a quick brew and dried my knees before heading home (fire thoroughly extinguished.)
Unsurprisingly, given the light use, the edge was unchanged:
Macro:
Not any sort of real test, but at least it didn't chip or crack (yet
)
I was keen to sharpen the knife (to make it mine and see just how hard it would be) but I had to get some soup made (SWMBO has dental work tomorrow!)
I chopped some veg and chicken for a soup. Here the blade shape works well, giving clearance for fingers against work surface. Needless to say the thick spine hinders performance on food prep though not as prone to launching carrots as eg. scandi ground knives.
Food prep:
With the soup on the go, I took a deep breath, sat in my sharpening spot and set to work...
...in fact, it wasn't anywhere near as hard to sharpen as I had expected.
Granted the final edge is NOT a true mirror-polish but this is a thick blade and a lot of metal was removed.
I was using my usual set of waterstones (coarse and medium- not diamond) before switching to micromesh on thick, veg-tanned leather. Worked from 180 to 8000 on the micromesh MX, then a spell on the Spyderco extra fine stone (not sharpmaker) before lots of stropping. More work is needed as the stropping seems to be the stage that takes most time. The paper curls below have fluffy edges and little powdery bits were spitting off during cutting -a sign that the edge is not quite there.
I don't know the angle as this was freehand (as you can see from the rather uneven bevel). I will most likely put a micro-bevel on at 30 deg.
Will keep you posted on how it performs.
Farid Mehr has produced a run of Mules in CPM-Rex 121 (see Crucible's website for technical details and comparison with some other steels.)
CPM Rex-121: it is a high alloy, high speed, tool steel with the following composition:
Carbon 3.40 %
Chromium 4.00 %
Vanadium 9.50 %
Tungsten 10.00 %
Cobalt 9.00 %
Molybdenum 5.00 %
The crazy recipe does not necessarily make for a "good" knife steel, though. Farid is confident enough in the steel (and in his ability to work with it) that he has released this unhandled run of mules, with a K2 folder to follow.
I've handled mine in amboyna burl (I think):
In hand you can see it's not the huge chopper it might seem to be above:
She's a stout girl:
Feels nice in the hand. The thick spine provides a naturally rest for thumb during controlled, light cuts. Balance point is at the first rivet.
Here are some pics of the edge as it arrived:
Macro:
Belly
Tip
I left the edge unmolested and took the knife into the woods for a quick play:
Some standing, dead pine was gathered:
...and some birch bark to get it going:
Broke one of Farid's rules about NOT batonning with it:
No problems with this knot:
(of course, with batonning the edge sees very little use, especially with a thick spine like this, but the risk of the blade shattering/cracking was much on my mind. Sorry Farid but it's a mule!)
Made some feather sticks (fuzz sticks):
The blade shape doesn't lend itself to feather sticks: the lateral force required to get thin shavings creates torque as the edge is offset from the axis of the handle. This means a lot of grip strength is needed through the small handle, to prevent the knife twisting, and leads to early fatigue compared to a purpose-designed bushcraft knife (or any knife with a bigger handle). This isn't really a criticism of the knife as it isn't what it was designed for.
Got the fire going:
Had a quick brew and dried my knees before heading home (fire thoroughly extinguished.)
Unsurprisingly, given the light use, the edge was unchanged:
Macro:
Not any sort of real test, but at least it didn't chip or crack (yet
)I was keen to sharpen the knife (to make it mine and see just how hard it would be) but I had to get some soup made (SWMBO has dental work tomorrow!)
I chopped some veg and chicken for a soup. Here the blade shape works well, giving clearance for fingers against work surface. Needless to say the thick spine hinders performance on food prep though not as prone to launching carrots as eg. scandi ground knives.
Food prep:
With the soup on the go, I took a deep breath, sat in my sharpening spot and set to work...
...in fact, it wasn't anywhere near as hard to sharpen as I had expected.
Granted the final edge is NOT a true mirror-polish but this is a thick blade and a lot of metal was removed.
I was using my usual set of waterstones (coarse and medium- not diamond) before switching to micromesh on thick, veg-tanned leather. Worked from 180 to 8000 on the micromesh MX, then a spell on the Spyderco extra fine stone (not sharpmaker) before lots of stropping. More work is needed as the stropping seems to be the stage that takes most time. The paper curls below have fluffy edges and little powdery bits were spitting off during cutting -a sign that the edge is not quite there.
I don't know the angle as this was freehand (as you can see from the rather uneven bevel). I will most likely put a micro-bevel on at 30 deg.
Will keep you posted on how it performs.
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