- Joined
- Jul 9, 1999
- Messages
- 3,316
Being the cutlery curious crazy that I am, I recently bought this knife to perform a little experiment with it.
I got the AutoClip home, sharpened it at a 20 degree bevel and went to work on some 5/8" Manila rope. I got 39 cuts out of it before the blade started to drag a little and it would no longer shave hair. A little mediocre, perhaps, but it is 440A hardened at Rc56-57. Not too bad really, I suppose.
Well, now comes the fun.
I took the edge to the grinder and very carefully ground the edge flat until all I saw thru a Jeweler's Loupe was the black of the Titanium Nitride on both sides of the blade. I then turned and ground a 20 degree bevel on the right side of the blade only. This left the TiNi all the way to the edge on the left side of the blade. I got most of the burr off the edge by making a couple of dozen cuts down a length of medium thick cardboard and then stropped the edge on cardboard and got most of the rest of the burr off. This left me with a razor sharp edge that would pop hair quite easily.
Back to the rope.
I cut the rope 153 times
and my hands are TIRED. The blade is just starting to slow down a little and I'm sure it would cut at least a few dozen more times, but the knife outlasted me.
Wow!
This is the same method that Buck Knives is using on their BuckCote blades. The knive's performance was really greatly increased by this treatment.(No DUH! Ya think?!)
Now, 440A is not well known for it's great edge retention capabilities, but this treatment seems to have taken a mediocre steel and turned it into a REAL performer.
Imagine this treatment on VG10 or 440V.
The possibilities almost boggle my mind.
I think Buck is on to something here.
Thoughts anyone?
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If it's stupid but works, then it isn't stupid!
I got the AutoClip home, sharpened it at a 20 degree bevel and went to work on some 5/8" Manila rope. I got 39 cuts out of it before the blade started to drag a little and it would no longer shave hair. A little mediocre, perhaps, but it is 440A hardened at Rc56-57. Not too bad really, I suppose.
Well, now comes the fun.
I took the edge to the grinder and very carefully ground the edge flat until all I saw thru a Jeweler's Loupe was the black of the Titanium Nitride on both sides of the blade. I then turned and ground a 20 degree bevel on the right side of the blade only. This left the TiNi all the way to the edge on the left side of the blade. I got most of the burr off the edge by making a couple of dozen cuts down a length of medium thick cardboard and then stropped the edge on cardboard and got most of the rest of the burr off. This left me with a razor sharp edge that would pop hair quite easily.
Back to the rope.
I cut the rope 153 times
This is the same method that Buck Knives is using on their BuckCote blades. The knive's performance was really greatly increased by this treatment.(No DUH! Ya think?!)
Imagine this treatment on VG10 or 440V.
The possibilities almost boggle my mind.
I think Buck is on to something here.
Thoughts anyone?
------------------
If it's stupid but works, then it isn't stupid!