Foreign Traditional Folders

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SuicideFO

SuicideFO

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Just got these in the mail today. The Svord Peasant really surprised me. It has a really nice feel in hand, was a somewhat shaving sharp and had no worries about it closing on me. After a few minutes on the sharpmaker followed by a good strop sesson, it was hair popping sharp. Took it out made a few curly sticks(did an awesome job) and whittled with it a bit and was really quite surprised on how well it held an edge. It was still hair popping sharp. I believe the steel is L6 but could be wrong. This knife is going to seem some woods time.
The Opinel #7 came dull but is very well made and felt really good in hand. I spent about a half hour on the sharpmaker with it and got it somewhat shaving(still got some work to go on it). It did ok on wood. It seemed to want to bite deep into the wood instead of curling it. It could've been my technic though. I choose the #7 for the ability to EDC at work and be comfortable in the pocket. The #8 would've probably fit my hand better but is slightly larger.
All in all for around $25 plus tax and shipping you can't beat these. Great buys.

Matt
 
weird for an opinel to come dull....every one Ive had has been scary sharp out of the box...Hope they arent slipping.

Those Svords are cool...Always mean to get one, but never have.

Great pic.
 
my number 8...might be the sharpest knife i own...but it swells after cleaning for food prep...not exactly sure how i can disassemble & seal it
svord looks really cool
 
Opi's rock for sure. Good choice I like the No 6 and 7 the best also.
 
The Svord is an interesting looking little knife, but I think my next folder will be the dawsonbob/Becker/KaBar (did I forget anybody :confused: ) folder.

BTW, who carries the Svord?

Doc
 
Great Knives. I own both as well. If I'm not mistaken, they are convex ground. Accordingly, neither of mine has seen the Sharpmaker. I've been able to keep both super sharp with sandpaper and stropping on the leather hone.

Enjoy!:)
 
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In my experience, Opinels are best sharpened on flat stones. They're too thin for the Sharpmaker to work well. I've found that the best way is to use an edge trailing stroke almost flat to the stone.

I put a very scary edge on my carbon no. 6 this way.

Great knives, by the way. :)
 
Thanks I'm going to try that tonight.

Matt

Psychopomp said:
In my experience, Opinels are best sharpened on flat stones. They're too thin for the Sharpmaker to work well. I've found that the best way is to use an edge trailing stroke almost flat to the stone.

I put a very scary edge on my carbon no. 6 this way.

Great knives, by the way. :)
Click to expand...
 
Leaf-bladed Chinese Slipjoint aka Shilin Knife forged and made by a small family owned business in Taiwan, a dying trade actually since the present generation has no interest in the trade, according to the owner. They've been in the business for decades.

The leaf-bladed design has been used in China for a long time, way before Bob Lum popularised and modernised the design. Mine has buffalo horn scales, brass bolsters, brass (and nickel-copper, I think) backspring and a carbon steel blade. I did not like the original mirror polished blade (too slippery and shiny for me) so I sent it out to Tom Krein for a regrind. A delightful surprise was that the regrind exposed the differential heat treat hardening line ;)...it's clear and obvious in person, but hard to capture in the pics.

It is of course hairpopping sharp:P

The slipjoint has a strong backspring and a half stop. The spring is flushed in the closed and open position. This is a man-sized folder, blade is about 3.9" long and 1.25" at its widest. Nice solid feel. It came with a presentation box and a bit of paper on the history of the knife.

This belongs in someone's collection of exotic foreign slipjoints :p

ShilinKnife2.jpg


ShilinKnife.jpg
 
That is a beautiful knife, spyken. I have a similar model from Hanwei -- not nearly as elegant.
 
This damascus and buffalo horn came out of Asia as well, very similar to a friction folder in appearance it is a slipjoint with a backspring. It is medium sized with a 3 1/8th inch blade and 7 inches oal.

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VANCE said:
my number 8...might be the sharpest knife i own...but it swells after cleaning for food prep...not exactly sure how i can disassemble & seal it
svord looks really cool
Click to expand...

VANCE, you can seal up an opy pretty well without disassembling it.

Just take some 500 grit paper and give it a very light sanding to rough it up a bit. Make sure you sand down in the blade slot and around the blade pivot. I fold up the sheet of sandpaper 4 times to get it thick enough to be a tight fit. Wipe it off real good with a damp cloth. After it's dry, give it two light coats of Helmsman Spar Urathane, all over. I use a pipe cleaner to get down in the blade slot in the handle. Make sure you get the flat area on the top of the knife by the ring lock where you can see lathe marks. Thats the end grain, and if that area is not sealed, it will wick up moisture like a sponge. Spar urathane over that area will help a great deal.

After it's all done, there's one thing more you can do. A friend of mine is French, and his family really do carry Opinels. They take a toothpick, and lube the inside where the blade pivots with Vasoline jelly. Smear in, then wipe out exsess, and you have a darn water resistant Opinel. Crude but effective.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
That is a beautiful knife, spyken. I have a similar model from Hanwei -- not nearly as elegant.
Click to expand...

Thanks Esav...here are some more pics, shows the lamination line/hardening line (I have no idea if it's one or the other) and the curves. Most people are not aware of these leaf shaped blades outside of the Bob Lum-Spyderco collaboration.

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Foreign traditionals?
Here you are:
Klaas gentlemen knife (Germany) from the 50's
klaas_1.jpg

Navaja cabritera (Spain) from Fransico Valencia
fv_3.jpg

Klaas automatic stilett (Germany) from the 80's
springer_1.jpg

Sailor knives (Germany) from Lütters & Cie
IMG_9321.jpg

Other knives from Lütters & Cie
luetters_todas.jpg

Laguiole (France) from Fontenille Pataud
laguiole.jpg

Navajas (Spain) from JJ.Martinez
4_martinez.jpg

and some Hubertus hunting folders (Germany) not mine (yet)...
hubertus_3.jpg


Regards
surfer
 
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