Kershaw Nakamura owners? Your experience

H

huugh

Joined
Jul 16, 2005
Messages
1,772
Hi,
I would like to know your experience with Kershaw Nakamura.
How good is fit and finish? Any flaws? What about the wood?
Thanks.
 
The fit and finish is normal for a production knife of the price. Flawed, but good.

The main "flaws" are going to be grinds and scale fitment. They will be no worse than any other production knife in the same price class.

The wood looks great, the bolsters look great, the clip looks great, and the knife is very stout.

The downsides are that the knife is fairly heavy for a gentlemen's folder, and that blade polish looks a little cheap (which is normal for the price).

The VG-10 inside 420 is great. The visable line between the two looks very cool.
 
IMO, the polish is good, as I don't like a high polish anyway, it scratches too easily. I didn't like the thumbstuds, IMO too abrasive.
I took smoothed out the thumbstud with a dremmel tool.
 
I don't like a high polish either. I actually like a satin finish that almost looks polished, such as on William Henrys. Doesn't scratch or show prints easily.

The polish on the Nakamura doesn't look bad, it just is the weak point visually, IMO, since the quince and mokume look top notch, but the polish looks par for the price. The line between the two steels is what saves it for me.
 
Overall, a nice knife. I had one for a couple months before trading it. My only complaint about the knife was the grind of the blade. It was fairly asymetrical, to the point where I would have had to reprofile the whole blade to even things out. Otherwise, a very cool knife for the price. I'd be tempted to get one again, but only if I could handle it first and check for any problems.
 
I love mine. The laminant blade has a vg10 base and I think the outer layer is 420. The Mokami bolster is a forged softer metal with a design all made similar to damascus. The handle is chinese quince burl wood. The blade is very strong with no play and the frame is thick and highly chromed.
 
The handle burlwood is dull looking - looked better in the picture - otherwise a nice knife
 
PS - How could you polish the burlwood handle to make it shiny ? - use clear nail polish ??
 
i can tell you this;i cut a 1" boating rope with it & it went through it like nothing! this thing cuts real nice.made well,too,very solid.
 
Hair said:
The fit and finish is normal for a production knife of the price. Flawed, but good.

The main "flaws" are going to be grinds and scale fitment. They will be no worse than any other production knife in the same price class.

The wood looks great, the bolsters look great, the clip looks great, and the knife is very stout.

The downsides are that the knife is fairly heavy for a gentlemen's folder, and that blade polish looks a little cheap (which is normal for the price).

The VG-10 inside 420 is great. The visable line between the two looks very cool.
Click to expand...

I too am thinking of getting one. When you start talking about the "for the price", $100 or more is no small potatos.

I assume you mean the quality is not the same as a $500 custom knife, but light years ahead of a $50 knife, or a $5 knife.
 
It isn't lightyears ahead of a $50 knife, because when you go from a $50 knife to a $100 knife you mainly get better materials, not better QC. To get a signifigant improvement in fit and finish, you need to spend several hundred more for a folder, or find a very good deal on a hand-made knife from a new but talented maker. Fixed blades will tend to skew cheaper than folders and there are some very flawless fixed blades for not much more than a Nakamura. But in general, getting a noticable increase in fit and finish requires a lot more cash than a Nakamura. I consider around $20-$200 to be the same class in terms of fit in finish (the difference is materials quality). This of course varies by maker.

Otherwise, yes, that is what I mean. The fit and finish is better than a cheapo piece of crap, but not as good as a high-end production knife like a Sebenza, or a well-made custom. There are flaws. But the flaws are cosmetic- the lockup is solid.

However, do not expect the fit and finish to be better than a Spyderco Native, Kershaw Storm, or Benchmade Monochrome. Unless you are very lucky, there will be flaws. Unless you are very unlucky, the flaws will not affect function. The extra money you pay over a $50 knife is for the nice materials, not for extra attention to detail, or more man-hours in QC.

I know $100 is not pocket change, but it really isn't very much for a knife in the grand sceme of things. The Nakamura is still a mass produced knife designed to be affordable to pretty much anyone.

And for the price, the fit and finish is typical. Not better than normal, and not worse.

The fact that the Nakamura requires a more complex construction that, say, a Military or 710 does give it some bonus points, though. The end result is just as flawed as knives of the same price, but the knife is more ambitious than many of the price.
 
Hair said:
The fact that the Nakamura requires a more complex construction that, say, a Military or 710 does give it some bonus points, though. The end result is just as flawed as knives of the same price, but the knife is more ambitious than many of the price.
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Wow, you are up early! Thanks for the answer. I still think it is a nice looking knife, and now I understand the differences. What do you think of the Mcusta knives? How would a similarly priced knife compare?
 
irabren said:
PS - How could you polish the burlwood handle to make it shiny ? - use clear nail polish ??
Click to expand...

To shine up dull burlwood I tape up the bolsters, (or use a torx wrench and remove them) then sand the wood lightly with 2000 grit wet-dry sand paper. From there I use successively finer grits of micro-mesh sandpaper. (4000-6000-8000-12000 grit) By the time you get done with the 12,000 grit the wood will have a very nice natural shine. The 12,000 grit micro-mesh creates a scratch pattern so fine it can't be seen by the human eye.

You can get 2000 grit wet-dry sandpaper at just about any auto parts store. The Micro-Mesh is a little more difficult to find but you can order it online at http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/craftsman_kits.htm#sheet . (Kit MMK-3 at the bottom of the page is what I use) It's seems expensive at about 15 bucks for a 4 sheet kit but the stuff is reusable. (just wash it out with dish soap and let dry) I've been using the same four sheets of micro-mesh for over a year and have polished dozens of knife handles with it... Good luck and stay away from the nail polish. :)
 
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