Initial thoughts on Busse Steak Knife

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Feb 8, 2005
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Hi All..hope you're doing great!!

Got this bad boy in a trade for a rangefinder..thought you might like to see how it has done over the last few days in some various tasks..

First task was assisting on three deer, and some hog in our family meat shop..a good initial test run for me, as just got the knife the day before we did the work. WHAHOO!!

Before I get into the detail on how it performed, have to give you some background..
This covers first experiences on the processing side of things (once the deer are gutted/skinned).
Please note the Steak Knife was not the only one used in our work in the meat shop, so I'm not saying it did it all..(there were 3 of us cutting all the time), but it did cut on everything it could :D.
Before we got started, I made it a point to talk about how a knife of the same model had skinned 12 deer and still shaved..My Uncle (Owner/primary butcher) said.."Well, this isn't Missouri, but you still gotta' show me." then he chuckled :D..

Uncle T has every right to be skeptical..he's been harvesting beef from our farm, and assisting neighboring farms with spare time every year since he was old enough to contribute...well over 40 years, is serious about his blades, and is quite an expert (as most are who do this kind of work regularly) on how a blade should perform; I respect no one more personally, or with regard to an objective perspective in blade performance in this environment of testing.

The processing goes basically from cutting all we can off the hanging deer, and then proceeding to the plastic cutting boards until the next phases.
In addition to the deer, we also had some half frozen hog that I asked my cousin to cut up for the summer sausage mix.


The last deer we had was a small one my neighbor took..since so small, I made some some intentional close cuts that I would not normally do in a few places to see if it would degrade the edge, considering there was not even half as much to work on as the other two deer.


Here's a pic of most of the hamburger processed from the first 2 deer:
(There was at least this much which was cubed for canning, not pictured)


Other than the backstraps, and filets not pictured, I'm really excited to see how the summer sausage turns out after it is smoked. (also just first 2 deer):


After we finished up, the Steak Knife still shaved as cleanly as when I got it, along the ENTIRE edge..
NO rolls, NO dings, NO visible edge deterioration whatsoever...dude...dude...........dude...never seen anything like it.
Here's a pic (intentionally flashed) of the edge:


After he methodically checked out the edge, Uncle T looked at me with the grin I was hoping for, and said.."I didn't play around with that knife; I made some intentional cuts into the ham bones...how do I get one?"

He texted me later and said "You could put it this way, I don't usually consider working my collector knives on a regular basis, but may have to reconsider."
I was glad to reply.. "With their warranty, it's the collector that you can. :)"

Uncle Tom..soon to be first time Busse owner, and one awesome Steak Knife :thumbup: ;):


Never had so much fun with a large flat rate box :thumbup:..here's 100 slices..many in excess of 1ft long each.


Wind kept blowing the hair off the blade, and since time is taking a lot from me, I wasn't sacrificing any more than what you see lol.



Next, I tried it out on some seasoned oak & fatwood..at least 100 cuts..(I like my wood curls small and tight for a firesteel.)


One pass on the firesteel got us this..

One more patch of hair gone..I'm about out!!!


From what I'm hearing on other blades performance in Elmax, I think Busse Cryo has raised the bar..significantly..
Between the deer, the cardboard, and the whittling..and all the hair I've lost..I am simply amazed..
I have NEVER had another blade that would still shave after all that..never..
 
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Thanks guys!!
They are awesome blades..but this one is the BEST slicer by far I have used.
Scrap..dude..I gotta hear about how you won them..:cool:
 
The only thing I don't like about the Busse steak knives if they seem to run the Elmax a bit low. For a knife that thin designed to be a cutter I would have liked to have see it around 62 hrc instead of the 58-60 that they run them at.
 
The only thing I don't like about the Busse steak knives if they seem to run the Elmax a bit low. For a knife that thin designed to be a cutter I would have liked to have see it around 62 hrc instead of the 58-60 that they run them at.

Hi Patrick,

I won't pretend to know a lot about hrc.. (have learned proofs in the pudding), but I've had scores of knives..all have been users...nothing has ever performed like this for pure cutting, and edge retention..nothing..Reeve, Strider S30V, 3v..just to name a few..again I don't remember hardness, but in practical terms what has mattered to me is where the rubber meets the road...this one is on a whole different level.
 
Thank you sir, for the awesome review. I've had my eyes on a Busse Steak Knife for a while :)
 
jlubas,

Concerning the "closecuts" just meant, since on our farm, we have dogs that we discard the bones too, and I don't dull a knife to get meat off a bone every time, so in this case the close cuts meant that I was intentionally cutting into the bone to remove, in patches in the pic, flesh that I would not normally take the time and effort to go for.

Sorry for the confusion,

Seeing you are a resident butcher makes me second guess myself, I only help on the farm and for personal game, I am not a professional in this trade.

Fired, You are most welcome, Sir. :thumbup: I can now see why you've been eyeing them! Have to admit, I've been a way from the W&S, and BF in general for a long while..just stumbled on to this..long story short, but had to sell my other fixed blades suitable for skinning...was blessed enough to get this in a trade as a last ditch effort to have a skinner for deer season...God took care of me!!!...so very thankful for it!!!
 
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