Gravelle Evisceration

[Rupestris]

This will be my first review in quite a while. It will also be an ongoing review with additions as I put this knife through its paces. I'll be going out of my way to test it including doing things I usually don't do with knives (battoning, prying, and general abuse).

Details:

Maker J-Siah (Gravelle)
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828497

specs:

Steel: 5160
oal:9 3/4"
blade:3 3/4"
width:1 1/2"
Thickness: 1/4"
Weight: (with sheath) 12.7oz
Weight: 9.98oz
Honey Micarta scales
KG Gun Kote 24 coating

Initial impression:

Fit and finish is great. Coating is even, shaving sharp out of the box, polished edge, pins are better than flush - you can't even feel 'em. The micarta scales have a light sand sctatch running front to back which adds some fine texture and makes the handle quite "grippy".

I had a couple minutes today so I took it out for its first photo shoot. Cut up some card board and shaved a little pressure treated lumber. Nothing too destructive today. Just documenting the early stages of its life .

The tip/polished edge:

Glamor shots while its still pretty:

I've got some thin but long hands. The handle is long with a pronounced "belly" but very comfortable. No hot-spots and room to choke up on it for fine work and a very secure if move down to a three finger grip for some chopping.

Did a few small curls then a few leaning into it a bit more:

A few cuts on cardboard and the edge still takes hair off:

So far the coating shows no wear and just a slight polished look just above the edge from rubbing on the wood.

The only complaint I have right now is the sharp edge at the ricasso just below the hole. In the 6th pic you can see a small spot where the coating has worn off. This is where the sheath is the tightest when removing the knife. The sharp edge there digs in and actually shaves small pieces of the kydex off. Easy fix though. I'll round those edges just to smooth them out. Had to get some pics before I ugly it up.

I think the next stop will be the kitchen to see how the coating does with some acidic foods. Yeah, I'm starting small. I promise I will work my way up to things that will make some cringe .

Note: Gravelle is currently serving as a Hospital Corpsman and has a shop in North Carolina. His knifemaking will be put on hold while he is deployed to Afghanistan. If you're considering getting one, do it now.

Thanks for reading,

 

[Mistwalker]

Nice, I'm digging that design, and I love 5160 steel with the right heat treat. I like the price point on this model.

On the blade measurement are you talking the entire blade (tip to handle) or just the cutting redge (tip to plunge). I'm assuming tip to plunge, and that the handle isn't six inches long but just thought I'd ask to be sure.

 

[Rupestris]

Nice, I'm digging that design, and I love 5160 steel with the right heat treat. I like the price point on this model.

On the blade measurement are you talking the entire blade (tip to handle) or just the cutting redge (tip to plunge). I'm assuming tip to plunge, and that the handle isn't six inches long but just thought I'd ask to be sure.

Thanks mistwalker. I used the length posted in J-siah's original thread. The actual blade length is:

From the point on the scale to the tip - 4 5/16"
Plunge to tip (straight line) - Actually 3 11/16"
Cutting edge (contour included) - 3 7/8"

Plunge to end of handle is just a hair under 6".

Hope that helps,

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks mistwalker. I used the length posted in J-siah's original thread. The actual blade length is:

From the point on the scale to the tip - 4 5/16"
Plunge to tip (straight line) - Actually 3 11/16"
Cutting edge (contour included) - 3 7/8"

Plunge to end of handle is just a hair under 6".

Hope that helps,

Oh yeah, that's what my eyes were telling me I really like this design. Looks great for multi-role functionality and high portability.

 

[J-siah]

this looks like a good thread. I cant wait to see how it goes, be sure to detail your complaints to I know what to work on.

yeah the sheaths are some thing I constantly struggle with. I think my latest batch is my best yet but Im still working on it. and I am getting better at smoothing out my corners.

-Josiah

 

[MikeyJ]

Nice review. Great looking knife!! I was watching the sales thread for this model, but the Mrs. put me on restrictions for new knives! Hopefully there will be some more available soon!

I'm looking forward to the subsequent reviews! That blade seems like it'll take whatever you throw at it!! Good Luck!!

 

[Mistwalker]

yeah the sheaths are some thing I constantly struggle with. I think my latest batch is my best yet but Im still working on it. and I am getting better at smoothing out my corners.

-Josiah

The sheath looks good from what I can see. I haven't seen pics with the knife in the sheath yet but a thumb-push could be helpful. Personally I like my sheaths to fit tight for tip-up carry if I want, so I tend to like a place to push with my thumb when drawing the knife.

I really do like this design, I'll be watching to see how the edge and the heat treat do in the rest of the testing.

 

[J-siah]

Nice review. Great looking knife!! I was watching the sales thread for this model, but the Mrs. put me on restrictions for new knives! Hopefully there will be some more available soon!

I was waiting for sheath material and I got it this week. there will be 7 up tonight and I popped my G10 cherry, so first knives in G10 will be available.

The sheath looks good from what I can see. I haven't seen pics with the knife in the sheath yet but a thumb-push could be helpful. Personally I like my sheaths to fit tight for tip-up carry if I want, so I tend to like a place to push with my thumb when drawing the knife.

I really do like this design, I'll be watching to see how the edge and the heat treat do in the rest of the testing.

I never cared that they were stiff for that reason, however most people belt carry and want easy access to their knives so Ive been working on fixing that.


thanks for doing this Chris, I wish I had the time to do it myself. I cant wait to see what you do with it . I really want to see how that coating I use I use holds up.

 

[Rupestris]

Update:

I haven't had the best of luck getting to the kitchen. I did get to use it on a single soft tomato. Not the thinnest slicer with its 1/4" thickness but it did fine.

Took it to work today as the weather was supposed to gt over 40°F for the first time in a week. Loving that global warming .

Another bonehead move by me, I took the camera but forgot the SD card that I had taken out to dump :grumpy:. That left me enough room on the internal memory for a half dozen pics. Two I wasn't sure I had saved so I got four before the "Will not save" message popped up.

I did get to mess around a little.

This old tire turned out to be Nylon belted so it wasn't much of a challenge. Anyone need some new sandals?

The coating, while a little dirty held up better than expected. I did manage to cut down to the steel bead and rolled the edge a little. I'd have kept at it but didn't want to bang the edge into the rusty wheel (yet ). No chipping at all. I'll touch it up and get back at it.

Thanks again for reading.

 

[Maniacal Pete]

This is very cool, Chris, keep it coming.

That looks like a great little knife.

Someday I'm going to pick me up one of these small batch customs that the great folks here make.

pete

 

[Rupestris]

Update:

The temp got up to 80°F yesterday and I had some work to do out at the lake. Leaves needed to be burned so I had an opportunity to do some wood cutting.

I had plenty of dry wood but decided to baton the knife through some hard woods.

I'm pretty sure most of you know what batoning looks like so I won't bore you with a dozen pics of the knife half way through a log. Just two.

Any well built knife can be beaten through 2" of relatively knot free wood. This was more or less to see if I could damage the coating or wear it thin.

Surprisingly, I couldn't seem to damage the flats. some very mild scuffs was all I could manage.

As you can see the micarta is starting to darken up and getting a little bit richer in color.

I did stick the knife in a log when it wasn't in use. Probably a dozen good stabs. I'm sure there might have been some dirt or abrasives on the wood so I did manage to put a couple small scratches on the tip.

The only real damage done to the coating was on the spine. Repeated whacks with a ~2" wide stick caused some light chipping. The yellow paint is from a section of broom handle I used as a baton. It failed.

A comparison pic of the knife with a BRKT Bravo-1 and a Mora 780 TriFlex.

Stay tuned. I'm tired of babying this one. I've got some hoods and fenders at work. I'll ugly this knife up yet.