Initial Impressions : Allen Blade / Ed Caffrey MEUK

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Cliff Stamp

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This blade is the result of the work of two well respected makers. Ed Caffery forged the steel, Allen Blade ground the blade, Ed did the heat treat, Allen made the handle and sheath. Based on my experience with the other MEUK I had Allen make in Talonite some time back :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/MEUK_talonite.html

I discussed alterations to the edge geometry with Ed based on his vast experience with the steel and email exchanges we had in the past which left me very impressed.

Ed modified the profile from a hollow grind to a convex one. I wanted a high performance cutting blade, optomized for light use and when I got the blade I was more than pleased :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/meuk_side.jpg

It has just a hint of an edge bevel, you can't even see it on the picture. I tried to measure it to estimate the angle, but the blade is only about 0.005" thick behind the bevel which is not much more than a hair wide and thus the only estimate I can make is very crude about 15 +/- 5 degrees.

Due to the very thin bevel I expected it to cut extremely well on binding materials and it did. Using the modified Sub-Sniper from Lynn Gritth as a reference I did some test cuts on wood. The MEUK outcut the Sub-Sniper by almost 2:1. While the Sub-Sniper has a more acute edge bevel, about 9.5 degrees, the blade is about 0.044" thick behind the bevel, almost 10 times as thick as the MEUK.

Here is a shot of a point cut with the MEUK, the line marked out is 2" apart :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/meuk_wood_cut.jpg

As well considering the acute bevel I also expected good performance on loose material and was not dissapointed. The MEUK would press cut through 1/2" poly rope with only 62 +/- 4 lbs of force, the Sub-Sniper due to its slightly more acute edge, slightly outcut it, requiring only 52 +/- 3 lbs of force.

I have used the blade extensively in the last while and its cutting performance it very strong. As well it sharpens quite easily, I have been using a smooth steel and a strop loaded with CrO. This has been enough to restore the edge to a fine shaving finish, even after sectioning eight chicken wings (two cuts each).

These cuts were a combination of clean cuts through the tissue connecting the joints (15 +/- 5 lbs), sloppy cuts through the joints (50 +/- 10 lbs), and hard press cuts through the bone (100 +/- 20 lbs), no resulting visible damage. Under strong light a small glint was seen, that is all.

More results to follow as I do more work with it including covering the above in more detail as well as expanding it to other topics. As usual, suggestions entertained. The final writeup will contain info from Ed Caffery including some commentary on the steel and heat treat.


-Cliff
 
Ed + Allen = Wow! Great looking knife, Cliff. Since I have been making knives I have definitely gained new appreciation for convex edges. When you sharpen it, will you roll the bevel back to blend with the rest of the blade or will you simply sharpen it at a fixed angle as you would with a flat ground knife?
 
I assume that this is your 52100 alloy test blade. It seems like a dynamite combination. I want hear more. Did MDP test the blade as well?
 
Steve :

When you sharpen it, will you roll the bevel back to blend with the rest of the blade or will you simply sharpen it at a fixed angle as you would with a flat ground knife?
Click to expand...

I have been keeping the edge up with a hanging strop loaded with CrO a stainless steel buffing compound. It will remove metal quite quickly and I don't think I will need to go beyond the strop unless I damage the edge in a visible way and thus need to remove a decent amount of steel. With high alloy knives I would periodically recut the bevels with a DMT pad to maintain a cutting surface of fresh carbides, but considering the low alloy content of the steel I don't think this is necessary in this case. But yes, when it does come time to sharpen the blade in a more extensive manner, I will use SiC sandpaper on a leather backing and press down so as convex the edge. I may then proceed to CrO paper and blend in the bevel. However Odds are I will try some cutting with the 1000 grit SiC for awhile to see how a more aggressive finish performs.

Rdranger, it is just to show one aspect of the high cutting performance. The main reason I don't show a lot of such pictures is that while I know how difficult that wood was to cut, you really don't know if it was any denser than Balsa or harder than Hickory. I think I may start including some cutting on standard wood stock as it is more consistent than random pieces of lumber. This will not replace any of the work but just be an added cut that is more controlled. And as a huge benefit anyone can duplicate the same thing as long as I specify the wood and geometry. I won't be able to do a lot of cuts because of the cost, but if the wood is consistent in nature, only a few cuts are necessary anyway. One of the things I am looking for now if some kind of "baseline" knife to use as a ready standard for such cutting performance. It will be kept at NIB geometry and thus the performance can be ranked to a readily avaliable and commonly used blade.

Jeff :

It seems like a dynamite combination.
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Very much so indeed. It is what Ed calls "The complete package". Basically by picking the correct steel and optomizing the heat treat for the geometry that you want you are able to craft a very high performance cutting tool. The cutting performance I expected given the geometry however the edge durability was quite unexpected. This edge is very thin and I was quite surprised to see how it handled extended use in the kitchen. I started off with some light use on vegetables and such, which is handled very well. It could perform right alongside a paring knife except on really binding foods (thick turnip) as then the ultra thin paring knife (1/32") doesn't need to distort the material as well when cutting through it.

What was interesting though was that it handled frozen foods with similar ease, cutting through meats and vegetables under 50+ lbs of drive, making smooth cuts. After all of that was when I proceeded to cut through the chicken. Since it took no damage through the disjointing I proceeded to cut through the joints and after it handled that with similar ease I cut right through the bone. I don't think for example that the flat ground light utility knife I have in 10V would handle the same task near as well. It has a similar edge profile, however I don't think that 10V at 62.5 RC has the necessary ductility and in any case is far below 52100 at 57-59. I will discuss this with Phil Wilson and depending on what he says I may do some more rigerous cutting with it, but I won't risk knocking a large piece of out it because it is one of the knives I use most often.

This also bring up another point. The durablity of the edge on the modified-MEUK is also much more that you might expect as it is backed up by a convex profile and thus any damage is minimized both because of the extra support from just a greater cross section (as compared to a flat grind) however the profile actually has benefits all its own. It has great resistance to shocks and torques due to the way it prevent excess loading of the edge. For example if you chop into a piece of wood with a flat ground blade (primary and secondary flat grinds) and torque to the side, a large part of the load will be applied right at the start of the edge bevel and the actual edge will take a significant load as well - these are the weakest parts of the blade. If however the blade is convex, the curvature prevents this from happening. It is the same thing with a lateral shock. If this happens to a flat ground blade the edge can see a high energy impact, on a convex one, again due to the curvature this is prevented. Note hollow grinds are worse in both regards than flat grinds as they will focus nearly all the stress on the edge.

Marion did have this blade for some time, but that was before Ed modified the primary grind.

-Cliff
 
I would just like to say that I read this review with great relish, along with the one of Ray Kirk's JS Bowie. I have been waiting for Cliff to test some 52100 blades.

I am strongly considering purchasing one of Allen's MEUK's, especially if I can get one modified like the one in this review.
 
Allen Blade is quite a skilled maker and I have no doubt that he could make a similar profiled blade. However, last time I heard he was working on clearing up his backlog due to his move and he might not be taking any new custom work until he gets back on track. I would suggest dropping him an email and discussing the project with him.

Something else to consider would be one of Ed Caffery's EBK's. These are slightly slimmer which would allow a greater performance in many areas, basically when you are turning a knife in a cut. I assume these have similar edge geometry and I would expect the performance to be quite high. You may want to drop Ed and email and discuss it with him.

Finally Ray Kirk also works in 52100 as you know and also has a line of user knives, the WIRK collection. You may want to check those out.

-Cliff
 
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