- Joined
- Dec 15, 2003
- Messages
- 137
Hi all,
I just picked up a new-to-me mini commander with a partially serrated edge in almost new condition. It was an impulse buy, as the person selling it was getting rid of it at a great price. I've never really looked at the commanders before as, like many people I imagine, I dislike trying to sharpen recurve blades. However, as the serrations take up the entire recurved section, I thought I'd give it a try.
After playing with it a bit, and sharpening out a chip in the edge (this was the "almost" new part), I can honestly say that this is a wonderfully designed hard use knife!
I also have a mini-cqc7b, so I was familiar with the chisel grinds that emerson uses. I like the V chisel grind on the mini-commander better I think, as it makes utility cuts easier than the off-sided cqc7b grind. Really, anyone concerned about the V chisel grind shouldn't be; I found it really easy and straight forward to sharpen. On most of my general edc knives, I usually leave the edge at around 600 grit, to give it a more toothy profile for cutting things like rope. However, with the half serrated edge of this mini-commander, I stropped the plain edge section to a near mirror finish for really fine cutting, as the serrations can be used for more fibrous materials.
Ergonomics are excellent, and the wave works as advertised once you get the hang of it. I found I needed a slightly different exit angle to get the wave to engage than on my cqc7b, but after fiddling with it for a few minutes I found it quite reliable.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the knife, and highly recommend it to anyone on the fence about buying one.
caleb
I just picked up a new-to-me mini commander with a partially serrated edge in almost new condition. It was an impulse buy, as the person selling it was getting rid of it at a great price. I've never really looked at the commanders before as, like many people I imagine, I dislike trying to sharpen recurve blades. However, as the serrations take up the entire recurved section, I thought I'd give it a try.
After playing with it a bit, and sharpening out a chip in the edge (this was the "almost" new part), I can honestly say that this is a wonderfully designed hard use knife!
I also have a mini-cqc7b, so I was familiar with the chisel grinds that emerson uses. I like the V chisel grind on the mini-commander better I think, as it makes utility cuts easier than the off-sided cqc7b grind. Really, anyone concerned about the V chisel grind shouldn't be; I found it really easy and straight forward to sharpen. On most of my general edc knives, I usually leave the edge at around 600 grit, to give it a more toothy profile for cutting things like rope. However, with the half serrated edge of this mini-commander, I stropped the plain edge section to a near mirror finish for really fine cutting, as the serrations can be used for more fibrous materials.
Ergonomics are excellent, and the wave works as advertised once you get the hang of it. I found I needed a slightly different exit angle to get the wave to engage than on my cqc7b, but after fiddling with it for a few minutes I found it quite reliable.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the knife, and highly recommend it to anyone on the fence about buying one.
caleb
