This is an early review of a great knife that I recently got from Greg Shahan, a maker on the Fixed Blades makers forum here on BF. This thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/966939-EDC-Knife-for-sale?highlight=AEB
The knife included a handmade leather sheath, and scales are a bluejean/carhart micarta. The look and lines of this knife were what sold me, as I'm a sucker for a nice recurve. That, along with a little more detail from Greg Shahan regarding the steel and his heat treatment, to quote a PM from the maker:
AEB-L is manufactured by Uddeholm and was developed for use in razor blades.
I have made many chefs knives from this steel one is used in my kitchen daily,
It holds an edge well and sharpens easily.
...
Plate quench.
Cryogenic 12 hrs.
Temper X2 ... 2 hrs.
58 Rc is my target hardness. I do not have an Rc test unit but do test my work regularly.
My independent testing of the blade on a calibrated Rc lab tester showed a result of 57.4. Pretty close to the makers target hardness, although given the nature of this steel it would probably take a somewhat higher hardness well, particularly with cryo in the heat treat. Reading info from Roman Landes seems to indicate this is the case, but I also understand makers not wanting to push the envelope because they don't know how it will be used/abused and they don't want the blade to break.
Anyways enough about the technical details, when the knife arrived in my hands I was even more taken with it. The scales, the sheath, the blade finish and detail are all much better in person than in the photos. The surface is a nice balance between smooth to the touch and enough texture to not show working or handling marks too much.
AEB- edc-Sheathed by rapt_up, on Flickr
To me this is a larger size small knife with a blade approaching 3.65 in length and width of approximately 1.25 along most of its length. Yet the balance of the knife feels very light and nimble, much smaller than the knife itself, and far smaller than a similarly sized folder like ZT 0350. The handle is comfortable and is Im sure the reason for the light feel with the balance point being nearly an inch from the front of the scales.
AEB- edc-mark by rapt_up, on Flickr
AEB- edc-back by rapt_up, on Flickr
AEB- edc-mark_hand by rapt_up, on Flickr
However, despite this it handles cutting and slicing chores better than its size would suggest. The other night I sliced half a dozen potatoes into 1/8 slices with this knife. Each slice was clean and took a single pass, even on large potatoes, some bigger than my fist. Control while cutting is superb.
I was surprised the work went so quickly when I reached the end of the potatoes and all I had was a pile of slices.
Sadly the wife wanted to cook them up right away so no photos were taken. Close examination of the blade after doing this on a hardwood cutting board showed no visible edge degradation even under magnification. Seems the hardness is pretty good where it is.
AEB- edc-back2 by rapt_up, on Flickr
I hesitiate to mention this as its so minor, but in the interest of full completeness I will. The only area that would be less than perfect, in my opinion is there are a couple very small sections of sharper edges left on rear of the handle. One is in the chamfer of the thong hole, and the other on the tip of the birds beak at the butt. Both are not dangerously sharp, just slightly noticeable when compared to the smooth seamlessness of the rest of the knife. Not a significant flaw and many may not even notice them, if they bother you it would take 30 seconds or less with fine sandpaper to smooth out those minor spots. To me this is part of having a hand made knife.
AEB- edc-sheath_hand by rapt_up, on Flickr
Overall this is a small knife that feels even smaller and yet cuts like a larger knife. It is currently my favorite smaller fixed blade/EDC knife, and one I would not hesitiate to use for hiking and light camping chores ...think cutting, not chopping/prying.. as well as more urban EDC tasks.
I would certainly not hesitate to purchase another knife from Greg and would be happy to commission work from him (if he takes orders) at some point in the future. When you factor in the price, this knife was an amazing value. (and Greg if you're reading this please feel free to let us know if you take orders as I have an idea percolating that may make fruition yet.
)
A great knife from an excellent maker!!!
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/966939-EDC-Knife-for-sale?highlight=AEB
The knife included a handmade leather sheath, and scales are a bluejean/carhart micarta. The look and lines of this knife were what sold me, as I'm a sucker for a nice recurve. That, along with a little more detail from Greg Shahan regarding the steel and his heat treatment, to quote a PM from the maker:
AEB-L is manufactured by Uddeholm and was developed for use in razor blades.
I have made many chefs knives from this steel one is used in my kitchen daily,
It holds an edge well and sharpens easily.
...
Plate quench.
Cryogenic 12 hrs.
Temper X2 ... 2 hrs.
58 Rc is my target hardness. I do not have an Rc test unit but do test my work regularly.
My independent testing of the blade on a calibrated Rc lab tester showed a result of 57.4. Pretty close to the makers target hardness, although given the nature of this steel it would probably take a somewhat higher hardness well, particularly with cryo in the heat treat. Reading info from Roman Landes seems to indicate this is the case, but I also understand makers not wanting to push the envelope because they don't know how it will be used/abused and they don't want the blade to break.
Anyways enough about the technical details, when the knife arrived in my hands I was even more taken with it. The scales, the sheath, the blade finish and detail are all much better in person than in the photos. The surface is a nice balance between smooth to the touch and enough texture to not show working or handling marks too much.
AEB- edc-Sheathed by rapt_up, on Flickr
To me this is a larger size small knife with a blade approaching 3.65 in length and width of approximately 1.25 along most of its length. Yet the balance of the knife feels very light and nimble, much smaller than the knife itself, and far smaller than a similarly sized folder like ZT 0350. The handle is comfortable and is Im sure the reason for the light feel with the balance point being nearly an inch from the front of the scales.
AEB- edc-mark by rapt_up, on Flickr
AEB- edc-back by rapt_up, on Flickr
AEB- edc-mark_hand by rapt_up, on Flickr
However, despite this it handles cutting and slicing chores better than its size would suggest. The other night I sliced half a dozen potatoes into 1/8 slices with this knife. Each slice was clean and took a single pass, even on large potatoes, some bigger than my fist. Control while cutting is superb.
I was surprised the work went so quickly when I reached the end of the potatoes and all I had was a pile of slices.
Sadly the wife wanted to cook them up right away so no photos were taken. Close examination of the blade after doing this on a hardwood cutting board showed no visible edge degradation even under magnification. Seems the hardness is pretty good where it is. AEB- edc-back2 by rapt_up, on Flickr
I hesitiate to mention this as its so minor, but in the interest of full completeness I will. The only area that would be less than perfect, in my opinion is there are a couple very small sections of sharper edges left on rear of the handle. One is in the chamfer of the thong hole, and the other on the tip of the birds beak at the butt. Both are not dangerously sharp, just slightly noticeable when compared to the smooth seamlessness of the rest of the knife. Not a significant flaw and many may not even notice them, if they bother you it would take 30 seconds or less with fine sandpaper to smooth out those minor spots. To me this is part of having a hand made knife.
AEB- edc-sheath_hand by rapt_up, on Flickr
Overall this is a small knife that feels even smaller and yet cuts like a larger knife. It is currently my favorite smaller fixed blade/EDC knife, and one I would not hesitiate to use for hiking and light camping chores ...think cutting, not chopping/prying.. as well as more urban EDC tasks.
I would certainly not hesitate to purchase another knife from Greg and would be happy to commission work from him (if he takes orders) at some point in the future. When you factor in the price, this knife was an amazing value. (and Greg if you're reading this please feel free to let us know if you take orders as I have an idea percolating that may make fruition yet.
) A great knife from an excellent maker!!!
)