Initial Impressions: Strider SMF Re-Grind......

JR88FAN

JR88FAN

Joined
May 5, 2013
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The Strider SMF is my absolute favourite knife, hands down.

It does a lot of things exceptionally well, and I never really felt like it was anything less then a good enough slicer for what I need.

I have been carrying this particular SMF 24/7 for about the past 5 months, and I use it for whatever I need.
If that's chopping or prying because it's what's in my pocket, then I expect it to perform, and I have never felt let down, or uneasy about doing harder tasks.

I decided to get it re-ground by Josh at REK (Razors Edge Knives)
Not to get too off topic, but Josh is extremely talented and very professional.
He understands what he's doing and how to achieve the results you want.

I have worked with him before, and I can't recommend him enough.

The premise for this re-grind was to make this SMF a better slicer, but to still maintain it's strength.
Best of both worlds scenario for me.

With that in mind, Josh re-ground the blade as follows: (Blade steel: CPM154, sent to Josh with the Edge at 18DPS)

The thickness behind the edge on the main edge is . 022" on the main, and it widens up near the tip to .035" in case I need to pry with it. Those are the measurements at the transition between the secondary and primary the secondary bevel is at 15 dps which he then applied a micro bevel to at 20 dps.

Here is what I got back today;







 
After putting the knife back together, I have spent the last few hours trying to get a feel for how much better it slices, and I spent the last hour beating it up a bit to see how not only the edge at 15DPS would hold up, but the tip as well.

I have to say that the lines on the grind are clean and absolutely perfect.....

I started with some paper.
It's an edge test, I don't sit around slicing paper, but I was never able to make clean turns without issue in a piece of paper before, even at 18DPS with a razor edge.

This has everything to do with the grind;



On to something that I do a lot of; break down cardboard.
This was the real test for me, and where I really wanted to see an improvement.

I saved up an especially dirty/gritty Amazon box for this, and obviously the performance of the blade was much improved. It took a lot less force to get through the material, and the cuts where much cleaner.
If I had to give it a %, I would say it's about 30% easier to get through the material, and that to me is a huge number.

 
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I was going to stop here, but I had to do a quick test just to make sure that my SMF still had the qualities I so love!

It's now a much better slicer, but how about some harder use.

I went for a little hike near the back of my property where we had just cut down a tree, can't remember what type of tree this was, but it's some evil hard wood that gave our chainsaws a bit more trouble than normal!

This was just a quick test, but I started by chopping through some 1 to 2 inch thick branches.
It was much easier than before.
Even though the blade is lighter, the 15DPS really made a difference here.
It took way less chops to get through, and that's a good thing!

I chopped through about 10 pieces at different sizes;



Next up, prying.
I don't do this a ton, but there have been numerous times when I have needed to and all I had was the SMF.

I took a 10 inch wide section of the tree and just went to town.
This was a test. I want to be confident that this knife can still do this.

This wood is evil, I put everything I had into prying chunks out using the tip.
I repeated this at least 15-20 times until I had dug a nice hole.
Zero issue, everything felt solid.



I didn't really do enough today that should have damaged the edge, I am however comfortable in saying though that the force I put on the tip while prying would have easily caused issues for some knives.
The edge and tip are still perfect;




This was just a few hours of testing, but I am very thankful to Josh for using his knowledge to make my knife better. What more can I ask for?!
It slices much better, yet is still as tough as nails. It's what he said he would do, and it's what I got.

This knife is a hard user, so there is a lot more 'tests' for this re-grind in my everyday use.
I will update this thread and share results as I do more....

Thank you.
 
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Josh is the MAN! That's perfection! I am anxiously awaiting 4 of my blades in the mail coming back to me. ;)
 
Perfection you have there's friend. The SMF is a well rounded knife that handles anything you throw at it. Now you just made it even better than before.

Crazy how it can cut the curves in the paper now, and still manage to maintain its strength under heavy prying. I love it.

I am now looking at the SNG in my pocket wondering what he could do with it!!

Badass knife there Alex!!!
 
Gizler00 said:
Perfection you have there's friend. The SMF is a well rounded knife that handles anything you throw at it. Now you just made it even better than before.

Crazy how it can cut the curves in the paper now, and still manage to maintain its strength under heavy prying. I love it.

I am now looking at the SNG in my pocket wondering what he could do with it!!

Badass knife there Alex!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark.

Highly recommended.
I had some big expectations and some reservations, and everything is perfect so far.

I am maybe the most pimper-phobic person on the planet. Josh is not a knife 'pimper'
This guy is a craftsman who knows his stuff.

We are lucky to have him, otherwise this would never have happened.
 
I love watching testing in progress... nice photos and very happy to see it's holding up well so far! The biggest issue is that we don't want any blow outs into the primary grind, if the secondary gets chipped or dinged up that can be fixed pretty easily and then optimized.

You don't know what your knives can handle until you test them - that's why I like to get involved in testing (not enough time to do a whole lot unfortunately!) when I can and opportunity arises. It is excellent that you are testing yours now to see what it can handle before you really need it. After you are done and if it holds up, you will have no doubt!

Here's a little testing I've been doing over the past year or so lol. (didn't want to derail thread but thought it pertains) ;)
 
razor-edge-knives said:
I love watching testing in progress... nice photos and very happy to see it's holding up well so far! The biggest issue is that we don't want any blow outs into the primary grind, if the secondary gets chipped or dinged up that can be fixed pretty easily and then optimized.

You don't know what your knives can handle until you test them - that's why I like to get involved in testing (not enough time to do a whole lot unfortunately!) when I can and opportunity arises. It is excellent that you are testing yours now to see what it can handle before you really need it. After you are done and if it holds up, you will have no doubt!

Here's a little testing I've been doing over the past year or so lol. (didn't want to derail thread but thought it pertains) ;)
Click to expand...

Amazing work you did here. As well as the other work you have done for Alex.
 
razor-edge-knives said:
I love watching testing in progress... nice photos and very happy to see it's holding up well so far! The biggest issue is that we don't want any blow outs into the primary grind, if the secondary gets chipped or dinged up that can be fixed pretty easily and then optimized.

You don't know what your knives can handle until you test them - that's why I like to get involved in testing (not enough time to do a whole lot unfortunately!) when I can and opportunity arises. It is excellent that you are testing yours now to see what it can handle before you really need it. After you are done and if it holds up, you will have no doubt!

Here's a little testing I've been doing over the past year or so lol. (didn't want to derail thread but thought it pertains) ;)
Click to expand...

I am going to keep my eye on that thread and learn with you.

Not to keep throwing the love at you, but how many emails did we exchange before I sent you the GB?!

(I am not going to answer that!)

It's one thing to be able to do nice edges/grinds/bevels, it's a whole other thing to be able to understand what works when and how.

Just keep going man, you're what a lot of people are looking for but just haven't found you yet.....!!
 
JR88FAN said:
I am going to keep my eye on that thread and learn with you.

Not to keep throwing the love at you, but how many emails did we exchange before I sent you the GB?!

(I am not going to answer that!)

It's one thing to be able to do nice edges/grinds/bevels, it's a whole other thing to be able to understand what works when and how.

Just keep going man, you're what a lot of people are looking for but just haven't found you yet.....!!
Click to expand...

I think it was about 100 emails per project/blade ;) No worries man, I enjoy keeping in contact w/ my customers and making sure I get it how you want it! It's great to be able to communicate that way though since you live in Canada... worked out well.
 
Very cool Alex! Thx for the write up and pictures. Looks like a tough, mean slicing machine!
 
marcus52AR said:
Very cool Alex! Thx for the write up and pictures. Looks like a tough, mean slicing machine!
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Thank bro.

So far it's exceeded all expectations.

I still have a lot of miles to put on the re-grind, and I will post updates.

Been a while, we should catch up soon....
 
JR88FAN said:
Thank bro.

So far it's exceeded all expectations.

I still have a lot of miles to put on the re-grind, and I will post updates.

Been a while, we should catch up soon....
Click to expand...

Ya man for sure. No re-grinds for me. No new knives either for that matter. Just another $1700 bill for my audi.

You were right when you said I should sell it months ago. It's tough when you put a lot into a car and have had it for years. Tough to know when to let go.

Sweet blade! I'm happy for you.
 
Just a simple test, but you want these curls as thin as possible.
Much easier and better than before:

 
Awesome write up JR88FAN. Very in depth and excellent pictures.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us. It was a very good read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And hats off to you Josh at REK knives. I am very impressed.
 
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Had some time today to go for a decent Fathers Day hike with my Dog.

We went to an area behind my house that's mainly fields, and I decided he needed a 'stick' to run after.....
There was not much on the ground, if you have a BullBoxer or any Bull breed, then you know that dead wood is going to be useless as a more than one time throwing toy!

I made sure to find a branch that wasn't going to make it much longer (No sense in chopping down good branches for a dog toy) This piece is just under an 1-1/4, and is good hard fresh Maple.





No issues, as easy as any fixed blade at 4 inches.
I did notice that the thinner grind makes this task easier. No 'stick' and it's better at deflecting out the chopped pieces (hope that makes sense)

Not a huge deal, as the stock thickness on an SMF chops extremely well already, this is a bit more 'refined'
 
I was interested to see the if there was any 'edge roll' or any other damage.

The blade felt perferct, and a very un-scientific paper test, upon getting back to the house, confirmed that the edge at 15DPS had zero issues chopping through this hard wood.



 
I own several Microtech's. But I should tell you that I just ordered my first Strider because of you and your excellent chronicle.

If it's 1/10 as good as your what your pictures show, I know it will be an awesome knife. If not... I'll be ringing Josh's number. :)

Also, what breed of dog do you own? I'd say Bulldog, but it looks far too athletic. And far too interested in that stick. So I'd guess Bulldog and Vizsla??
 
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