- Joined
- Apr 7, 1999
- Messages
- 514
Just want to share my opinion of the Machax that was just delivered half an hour ago. But first I want to let the guys at Camillus know that they are doing a really good job making their Becker knives as well as they do for the prices that they are charging us. I had originally placed an order for a Bush Hog, but since it has encountered some production asperities, I switched my order to a machax so that I could get the blade before the holidays. Im pleased to say that the machax has surprised me in terms of fit and finish. Previous posts had me concerned about the lack of handle fit, and they were truthful in that there are small places where the handle is not perfectly matched to the tang, but we are talking about maybe a half a millimeter gap near the corners where the grip wraps around the index finger. This is seriously not a problem, and it isnt even worth mentioning. But just to be clear, the nature of plastics like zytel or this polymer is such that occasional burrs from the grinding of the handle are left behind, and I wonder if they may be the culprit responsible for people posting about feeling the uneven handle slabs. I just passed some fine sandpaper over the edges once or twice and now the handle is smooth and perfectly level over the spine of the knife. To address another issue that prevented me from ordering earlier, I have always been concerned about the thickness of the edge and the saber grind on the machax--fearing both would lower its performance to the level of a mallet. But those concerns were brought on by internet pictures and not actually handling the knife. Now that the knife sits before me, I see the grinds are perfectly done, and though the saber grind does remind me of an SRK, the weight advantage and strength of the edge have convinced me that the present grind is better than a full flat one. I have an ontario kurkri with a full flat grind that is super thin at the edge, and while it has not broken yet under the strain of chopping, the blade is significantly worse at doing this because it is too light (despite being the same thickness) and a strong chop will also lodge it into the wood with such strength that five seconds or more must be devoted to un-wedging between every strike. A few minutes with the machax today has confirmed that the extra weight in this short blade length and thicker grind, both let it chop with sufficient depth and much less binding. Ill post more after I use more.
