First real use of Tom Krein-improved Nim Cub (no pics)

[thombrogan]

Was out doing yardwork (mowing and trimming), so I didn't bring a camera. Maybe will be able to when just trimming.

Yesterday was my first large-scale use of my 145HS Nimravus Cub modified by Tom Krein. I used it to push-cut some weird, fast growing trees in the back yard. On a tree with a 1.25" diameter trunk, the blade sank in about 0.5" at 45-degree angles, so pushing all of the way through was out. Instead, I whittled down the tree in maybe six or seven cuts. Then it was time to mow the lawn.'

After mowing the lawn, I went over to oak tree in between our front yard and hill. Was able to push cut into the bark and remove little bits of wood from a 4" diameter branch, but lacked the success I had on the smaller, softer tree (no, really, the larger, harder tree was slightly more difficult!).

All in all, I was impressed the Tom Krein-ized Nim Cub's ability to cut. Its deep hollow-ground let it sink deeply into some of vegetation and it was neat to try whittling an oak tree into submission (the cocky bastich finally ceded back some lawn after my wifey handed me a saw).

The sheath Tom Krein made was amazing. This was the first time I've used a Tek-Lok and was able to carry the knife horizontlly on my belt. The sheath held the knife securely and let me draw the knife quickly. Great stuff.

Corrosion was not a factor with the largely exposed M2 and the tree it was able to whittle down immediately puts a black patina on the edges of my 52100 knives. I whittled my first tree and then used a Swamp Rat Ratweiler to maul its roots and chop down a few more. After that, it was an hour to mow the front yard, hill, and back yard. After going inside and cleaning up the knives the Ratweiler's edge turned black in spots and 0.2mm of the tip blunted while digging in very rocky soil (go figure!), but the Nimravus Cub had only a little sap-like stuff on the blade which quickly washed off. After washing, both blades were sprayed with cooking spray and towelled down. The Krein-ground M2 looked pristine. Incidentally, it didn't dull an iota (maybe because digging in rocky soil wasn't one of its tasks )

I have more trees to whittle next week, so we'll see how the Krein-ground Nim Cub does then.

Thanks for making my knife cut better, Tom Krein!

 

[knifetester]

Sounds like Krein did a great job on your knife, making a good performer into a star.

That deep hollow grind must really cut well, I'll bet the difference in performance between stock and Krein ground will really show itself in the kitchen.

Souns like you have a great utlity knife now, not that it was bad stock.

The only thing I don't like about the Nim cub (or the Nim) is that the scales are not flush with the tang, creating a spot for irratation.

It was for this reason that I switched from the Nimravus to the Gerber Yari, despite the fact that I prefer the M2 steel to Gerber's 154CM.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

There are a few custom makers willing to being their extreme talents into the field of production mods, with this ability there is a whole different dimension added into the performance of production knives.

M2 is a nice steel, offering higher toughness at the same hardness as high carbon stainless and D2, while getting as good or better edge retention for most usages (outside of possibly wet work).

It would be nice to see Spyderco offer it on some of the knives, run it really hard for a nice precision cutter and leave it softer for a big worker like the Military.

-Cliff

 

[knifetester]

Yes, it was very nice of Krein to do this for Thom.

if you already own the production knife, you can get custom performance at a good value.

On the other hand, I would not buy a knife in order to have it modified, instead I would prefer to go pure custom. (I say that, but I have done exactly that).

M2 is a nice steel, offering higher toughness at the same hardness as high carbon stainless and D2, while getting as good or better edge retention for most usages (outside of possibly wet work).

Yeah, I really like M2 as well. It offers about the best combintation of attributes for a high perfromance knife steel for moderate and light use utility knives.

It is one of the main reasons I carry Benchmade knives, M2 and Axis lock. OTher than those factors, Spyderco has some designs I really like.

it softer for a big worker like the Military.

With all due respect, I disagree. If you are gonna leave it soft, you are gonna lose the attributes that make M2 really great. Of course, if you mean soft like 60RC (instead of hard like 65RC) than it would be great.

IF you mean soft like 56-58RC or so, I think L6 would be preferable for my use. But that would really disregard corrosion resistance.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I would not buy a knife in order to have it modified, instead I would prefer to go pure custom.

Ideally yeah, but the monetary difference is huge between high end custom and production, so you have a lot of room for mods. Going that route would allow users to get extreme performance without extreme prices.

Depends on the cost of the knife and what is out there that would directly compete with the mods. Plus just how much mods you want to get done as some point you could exceed custom cost.

The warrenty is voided of course, it is all just experimentation to me so I don't really care, but for others it is a concern.

Of course, if you mean soft like 60RC

Yes, soft for M2, as Benchmade runs it.

-Cliff

 

[thombrogan]

The thing is, I already had the Nim Cub - Benchmade no longer makes the 145HS - and the prospect of a Tom Krein grind and M2, well, that's an offer too good to refuse. Since Tom also works in D2 and O1, it just gets better and better.