- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Messages
- 6,192
You're looking at:
TK-1 Necker with green micarta
TK-4 with black micarta
TK-7 with sanded black G10
A one-of-a-kind hollow-ground Krein Walkabout with green micarta
They're all D2 except for the Walkabout which is A-2.
I know they look like safe queens, but they aren't. I don't BELIEVE in safe queens! I wear the necker. The TK-4 I do carry daily and have for a long time, but it just came back from a refurb. The TK-7 and the Walkabout, other than around the house, I just haven't had much occasion to use yet. Living in the city doesn't give me occasion to use larger knives like these very often and I haven't heard my buddy for a while who lives out of town that sometimes puts me to work doing the kind of work that these would be good for.
Since D2 is my favorite steel, Tom Krein's Knives were a natural attraction for me. I have tried Dozier's knives and I consider Krein and Dozier's to be of equal quality and value, but I personally like some flare - some personality - in even a working knife so Tom's are more my personal taste. I've already made complimentary comments about my personal dealings with Tom over in GB&U, but this isn't the place for that so let's talk nuts and bolts.
Tom's knives are of exceptional fit and finish. I realize you've heard that said about hundreds of knives, so I'll be specific. All 4 of my knives are perfectly symetrical. Each of the grinds on the left side is exactly mirrored on the right. Exactly. Not one milimeter forward or back. Not a little deeper or coarser on one side. They match. That's all. The handle scales are carefully radiused and matched to the tangs. If you close your eyes you can't tell by feel where handle meets metal. No bumps. No seams. Micarta in the hands of Tom Krein is really something to behold, but more on that later. Tom's are the kind of knives you'd fondle in front of the TV because it feels good to do so. They're rounded and radiused in all the right places and delightfully sticky in others. Using his knifes are a sensory experience like driving while seated in a leather bucket seat.
Let me do a little on each of them:
The Walkabout
This is a one-of-a-kind. Tom asked me how I wanted it ground and suggested a flat grind. Against his recommendation, I had him hollow grind it because I like hollow grinds and have liked them on a big working knife since an old Buck 120 General I once had that I abused the heck out of. The result is interesting. The knife is light and ultra-fast in the hand like a fighter but shaped like a hard-working knife. It must have taken super-human skills to create a hollow grind that wide. Tom himself indicated that it was quite the challange. He mentioned something about having to cheat to do it. What ever he did it's executed perfectly - uniform and symetrical. The blade is very thin behind the edge and maintains the same thickness well up the blade (hense the cheating?). The blade has a nice temper - an almost a springy quality to it. I can get it to flex ever so slightly with my bare hands and if I hold it flat and lightly strike something hard with the tip, it rings. I can't wait to work with it. I'm sure that blade will really penetrate and since its light and has that choil I can choke up for regular cutting chores. The handle is a little big for me, but sometimes over-sized handles are better on tired hands. A person with large hands wearing gloves would certainly handle this one well. Next to maybe rag micarta, this is probably the finest I've ever seen and Tom gives it all the attention it deserves. When the knife first arrived I was simply stunned by the micarta. My only concern is that I may have made a mistake by ignoring Tom's advise to have it flat ground. I'm a little afraid that the thin steel behind the edge might bend or fracture under any kind of chopping, escpecially if I make a chop and then pull laterally with the knife to seperate the wood or something. It's definately a cutting machine and versatile, but I will take care how to apply it and not abuse it. It's like a giant version of my TK-7.
TK-7
The TK-7 was obviously designed to take anything you could possibly dish out. I'd put it up against a similar-sized Strider any day. I don't think you could break it. It's 0.2" thick D2 that's radiused on the back and around the guards to be comfortable under the pressures of hard work. The black G10 is flat on the sides and utilitarian, but rounded where it matters and mates to the steel perfectly. I admit that I had to wipe a tear from my eye when this knife arrived. ("WTF? Where's Tom's beautiful micarta?") When I wrote him and inquired he said, "Try it. I think you'll like it. If not, I'll fix it." I still like his micarta better, but there's something to be said for the slightly grippier finish of the sanded G10 (and the fact that I won't be afraid to mar it) on a knife that was ment to be used hard anyway. Speaking of hard use, this is where Tom's hollow grind really shines. The hollow grind allows the steel to be thinner behind the edge (which is the same on all but the necker) but quickly become thick so it has the strength this knife requires. The steel remains nearly full-thickness very close to the tip where it tapers down to, still, a pretty thick point. You're not going to break it off in anything. It's handle is a little longer than most people may be used to, but I figure it would allow a person to get two hands on the knife for leverage when neccessary. The knife is heavy, beefy and reasuring.
[Continued next post down...]
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TK-1 Necker with green micarta
TK-4 with black micarta
TK-7 with sanded black G10
A one-of-a-kind hollow-ground Krein Walkabout with green micarta
They're all D2 except for the Walkabout which is A-2.
I know they look like safe queens, but they aren't. I don't BELIEVE in safe queens! I wear the necker. The TK-4 I do carry daily and have for a long time, but it just came back from a refurb. The TK-7 and the Walkabout, other than around the house, I just haven't had much occasion to use yet. Living in the city doesn't give me occasion to use larger knives like these very often and I haven't heard my buddy for a while who lives out of town that sometimes puts me to work doing the kind of work that these would be good for.
Since D2 is my favorite steel, Tom Krein's Knives were a natural attraction for me. I have tried Dozier's knives and I consider Krein and Dozier's to be of equal quality and value, but I personally like some flare - some personality - in even a working knife so Tom's are more my personal taste. I've already made complimentary comments about my personal dealings with Tom over in GB&U, but this isn't the place for that so let's talk nuts and bolts.
Tom's knives are of exceptional fit and finish. I realize you've heard that said about hundreds of knives, so I'll be specific. All 4 of my knives are perfectly symetrical. Each of the grinds on the left side is exactly mirrored on the right. Exactly. Not one milimeter forward or back. Not a little deeper or coarser on one side. They match. That's all. The handle scales are carefully radiused and matched to the tangs. If you close your eyes you can't tell by feel where handle meets metal. No bumps. No seams. Micarta in the hands of Tom Krein is really something to behold, but more on that later. Tom's are the kind of knives you'd fondle in front of the TV because it feels good to do so. They're rounded and radiused in all the right places and delightfully sticky in others. Using his knifes are a sensory experience like driving while seated in a leather bucket seat.
Let me do a little on each of them:
The Walkabout
This is a one-of-a-kind. Tom asked me how I wanted it ground and suggested a flat grind. Against his recommendation, I had him hollow grind it because I like hollow grinds and have liked them on a big working knife since an old Buck 120 General I once had that I abused the heck out of. The result is interesting. The knife is light and ultra-fast in the hand like a fighter but shaped like a hard-working knife. It must have taken super-human skills to create a hollow grind that wide. Tom himself indicated that it was quite the challange. He mentioned something about having to cheat to do it. What ever he did it's executed perfectly - uniform and symetrical. The blade is very thin behind the edge and maintains the same thickness well up the blade (hense the cheating?). The blade has a nice temper - an almost a springy quality to it. I can get it to flex ever so slightly with my bare hands and if I hold it flat and lightly strike something hard with the tip, it rings. I can't wait to work with it. I'm sure that blade will really penetrate and since its light and has that choil I can choke up for regular cutting chores. The handle is a little big for me, but sometimes over-sized handles are better on tired hands. A person with large hands wearing gloves would certainly handle this one well. Next to maybe rag micarta, this is probably the finest I've ever seen and Tom gives it all the attention it deserves. When the knife first arrived I was simply stunned by the micarta. My only concern is that I may have made a mistake by ignoring Tom's advise to have it flat ground. I'm a little afraid that the thin steel behind the edge might bend or fracture under any kind of chopping, escpecially if I make a chop and then pull laterally with the knife to seperate the wood or something. It's definately a cutting machine and versatile, but I will take care how to apply it and not abuse it. It's like a giant version of my TK-7.
TK-7
The TK-7 was obviously designed to take anything you could possibly dish out. I'd put it up against a similar-sized Strider any day. I don't think you could break it. It's 0.2" thick D2 that's radiused on the back and around the guards to be comfortable under the pressures of hard work. The black G10 is flat on the sides and utilitarian, but rounded where it matters and mates to the steel perfectly. I admit that I had to wipe a tear from my eye when this knife arrived. ("WTF? Where's Tom's beautiful micarta?") When I wrote him and inquired he said, "Try it. I think you'll like it. If not, I'll fix it." I still like his micarta better, but there's something to be said for the slightly grippier finish of the sanded G10 (and the fact that I won't be afraid to mar it) on a knife that was ment to be used hard anyway. Speaking of hard use, this is where Tom's hollow grind really shines. The hollow grind allows the steel to be thinner behind the edge (which is the same on all but the necker) but quickly become thick so it has the strength this knife requires. The steel remains nearly full-thickness very close to the tip where it tapers down to, still, a pretty thick point. You're not going to break it off in anything. It's handle is a little longer than most people may be used to, but I figure it would allow a person to get two hands on the knife for leverage when neccessary. The knife is heavy, beefy and reasuring.
[Continued next post down...]
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