Kershaw Speedform II 3550 - Elmax, plain and simple. (Picture heavy)

My opinion is it's going to be one of those that a lot of people will be looking for a few years up the road. I like mine. It's a darn fine knife and I bought an extra. It was the first Elmax knife I really felt comfortable enough with at the going price to give the steel a going over, trying to decide which grinds, edge widths, grits and finishes I liked on it. Overall it impressed me especially with the cleanness and lack of inclusions up as far as my equipment could take it.

Edge retention, wear resistance, corrosion resistance were all filed away as a reference standard for any future production Elmax blades.

It's not my favorite steel. I don't have one but it's about as close to an all around steel as I can have with the exception of very large, heavy duty chopping, or red hardness use which wouldn't be an issue with it.

I like the bite of CPM M4, the blue collar toughness and stubbornness of Cruwear, and the extreme wear of custom S110 better but I could take Elmax as a one knife on my spaceship to Jupiter scenario. Hopefully I won't have to do that though as I'd rather have a briefcase of different tools instead of a all in one user which I'm not to keen on the idea of.

Joe
 
Officer's Match said:
Nice review. I don't think its a bad looker, kinda' a mini-AFCK sorta' vibe (if you squint hard enough).
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I was just thinking AFCK as well... which was my first locking folder... which I lost :grumpy:
Yeah, this one's definitely going on the list.
 
Mine just came in today. It's an amazing knife. I'm very happy with this purchase. It's small, but fits in my hands, sharp, the g-10 feels nice, opens smooth. The thumb stud is a lil pointy, but I have a callused thumb so it doesn't really bother me at all.

Super happy I chose to pick this up.
 
Comeuppance said:
The grind on this knife is LONG. I was very happy to see that Kershaw decided to go with a longer grind on this knife, because Elmax is a hardy enough steel for that to be reasonable. It's roughly as long as the grind on the 0561, longer than the Tenacious's still-longer-than-average grind, and definitely longer than Southard's ridiculously short grind. Still kinda annoyed by the Southard's grind. I'll probably send it off to be reground.
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What determines the width, (or length, as you call it,) of the edge is thickness behind the edge combined with the angle of the edge. Increased thickness behind the edge gives you increased width of the edge bevel, as does decreased angle. (For example, if you had two knives with edges set at the same angle, but one knife was thicker behind the edge, the latter knife would have a wider bevel. Similarly, if you had two knives with the same thickness behind the edge, but one knife had a more acute edge, the latter knife would have a wider bevel.)
Since factory knives are usually ground with edge angles of around 20 degrees per side, it's usually a safe bet to assume that a knife with a thinner (less wide) edge bevel will cut better than a knife with a wider edge bevel, as it will be thinner behind the edge.

So, what I'm really asking, is:
-Why do you prefer knives with wider bevels?
-Why would you want to widen the bevels on the Southard? To do so, you'd have to either bring the edge down to a more acute angle, or grind the edge back in order to increase thickness behind it. The latter would reduce the knife's cutting ability, (but increase toughness); the former would increase it, though at the cost of toughness. There's nothing wrong with either of those options, of course, but it sounds like you want the bevel to be wider just for the sake of it being wider, (because of the looks, or something?) rather than for either of those reasons.
 
Thanks for the informative review Comeuppance. The Speedform II 3550-Elmax reminds me of the Enzo Birk. Simple elegance.
 
Great review - thanks. Another Kersahw sleeper.

When I get some $$$'s to spare I'll have to try one out.
 
Dan57 said:
What determines the width, (or length, as you call it,) of the edge is thickness behind the edge combined with the angle of the edge. Increased thickness behind the edge gives you increased width of the edge bevel, as does decreased angle. (For example, if you had two knives with edges set at the same angle, but one knife was thicker behind the edge, the latter knife would have a wider bevel. Similarly, if you had two knives with the same thickness behind the edge, but one knife had a more acute edge, the latter knife would have a wider bevel.)
Since factory knives are usually ground with edge angles of around 20 degrees per side, it's usually a safe bet to assume that a knife with a thinner (less wide) edge bevel will cut better than a knife with a wider edge bevel, as it will be thinner behind the edge.

So, what I'm really asking, is:
-Why do you prefer knives with wider bevels?
-Why would you want to widen the bevels on the Southard? To do so, you'd have to either bring the edge down to a more acute angle, or grind the edge back in order to increase thickness behind it. The latter would reduce the knife's cutting ability, (but increase toughness); the former would increase it, though at the cost of toughness. There's nothing wrong with either of those options, of course, but it sounds like you want the bevel to be wider just for the sake of it being wider, (because of the looks, or something?) rather than for either of those reasons.
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Maybe he is talking about on just the southard, not wide bevels in general. Every Southard I have owned or handled, which has been quite a few, have been very dull. I left one of mine at factory angle and sharpened it up quite a bit, but I also re-profiled my other one to 26 inclusive, and it is much much better.

I attribute the dullness to the fact that Taiwan has not had much experience with 204p, and it can be a pain to work with.
 
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