Knives you overestimated

palonej said:
Really surprised bout the Katana complaints. Don't hear that too often.
I have one and the only complaint I have is the spinning pivot is a pain in the ass to mess with.
Otherwise, mine is a great example. Ordered it from Japan. Maybe that has something to do with it??
Joe
Click to expand...
I bought mine from BladeHQ
 
My Katana also has no detent at all. I had just assumed it wasn't supposed to. The anodizing is also spotty and there were scratches on the blade from the factory. I didn't have my hopes too high for this one, so it didn't break my heart or anything...

Also, I just got my Lionsteel SR-11 Titanium. Quite underwhelmed.... perhaps for another thread, though...
 
I know different strokes..... but there are several knives listed here that are on my short list including a couple of spyderco knives.

The plastic handles on spyderco and some of the benchmades, though very functional, just don't feel right in the hand. The Griptilian is one of those. I just can't buy it no matter the recommendations for the way it feels.
 
Anything with a saber grind that was less than 70% of the blade.

Seriously...just get an ax already.
 
Emerson Protech CQC-7 for me. Handles seem thin, it's fairly small and the blade itself is thin. Also, not a fan of the grind on the blade. Also, they use some kind of rivets to keep the scales together, if those get damaged I'm pretty sure you could not fix them...
 
Gaston444 said:
Beyond CPM steels being terrible, both to sharpen and to hold an edge (probably because they are so hard to grind, so whatever "characteristics" they have is shot to hell by the grinding), and Carbon steels being really easy to sharpen, and having acceptable, but second rate edge holding, I never observed much "characteristics" by "steel type". I tend to go case by case. An individual knife makes it or it doesn't.
Click to expand...
Condemning all CPM steels with experience from only two of them, and not the one that would hold up to your intended tasks the best (3v) is a ridiculous notion. New or inexperienced members should completely ignore these thoughts.

Gaston444 said:
A steel type having "characteristics"? What about the characteristics of the grinding? The grinding comes mostly last, and can ruin the edge holding in an instant... Why not talk about grind "characteristics" instead? You don't talk about it because you have no means to verify exactly what happened in the grinding of any particular knife, which, even on the cheapest knives, is a long series of uncontrolled hand actions, so you stick to steel types because that makes you feel like you have control over what you are getting...
Click to expand...
Then, you contradict yourself proving why your evidence is bunk.
 
Kershaw Nura.
Worst flipping action ever (IKBS, my balls), uncomfortable handle and horrible blade grind, add to that blade play out of the box and a horrible pocket clip.
Thought it was going to be one of my favorites, turned out to be one of the worst.
 
LX_Emergency said:
Don't they use 440B?
Click to expand...

O-1 for the carbon steel. 440b was the stainless for a number of years, but my understanding is that they quietly changed it to 440c in the mid 2000's. They also used ATS-34 on some newer and smaller models, but they changed those over to 440c in the mid 2000's too.
 
LX_Emergency said:
Anything with a saber grind that was less than 70% of the blade.

Seriously...just get an ax already.
Click to expand...

Actually David Boye has had a very successful and long career as a custom maker and now small manufacturer. His main folder has a saber grind that's about 50% of the blade width at the midpoint. The key lies in using thin stock to begin with and a 0.01" hand ground edge. Kind of like the Scandinavians do with smaller blades ;)

My biggest over estimation was the large plain Sebenza. Good thing I got to handle one before I bought one by mistake. It's ugly and not the best ergos for me. That said, a small sebenza has much better ergos for me and when decorated with graphics and color plus the shiny blade, it was a good fit. I was a sebenza hater until I found a small decorated one. I instantly changed my mind once it was in hand.
 
brownshoe said:
Actually David Boye has had a very successful and long career as a custom maker and now small manufacturer. His main folder has a saber grind that's about 50% of the blade width at the midpoint. The key lies in using thin stock to begin with and a 0.01" hand ground edge. Kind of like the Scandinavians do with smaller blades ;)
Click to expand...
That'll work as well. Seems like more of the exception though. And don't get me started on scandi blades. I'm clearly not a fan of those.
 
Gaston444 said:
A steel type having "characteristics"? What about the characteristics of the grinding? The grinding comes mostly last, and can ruin the edge holding in an instant... Why not talk about grind "characteristics" instead? You don't talk about it because you have no means to verify exactly what happened in the grinding of any particular knife, which, even on the cheapest knives, is a long series of uncontrolled hand actions, so you stick to steel types because that makes you feel like you have control over what you are getting...

Beyond CPM steels being terrible, both to sharpen and to hold an edge (probably because they are so hard to grind, so whatever "characteristics" they have is shot to hell by the grinding), and Carbon steels being really easy to sharpen, and having acceptable, but second rate edge holding, I never observed much "characteristics" by "steel type". I tend to go case by case. An individual knife makes it or it doesn't.

Gaston
Click to expand...

Sooo... Does this mean that all the times you've had a knife blade reground to an edge geometry befitting a sashimi knife, treated it like a felling axe and then posted on the forums how much X highly respected hard use steel failed and sucks, that you've been there to watch the regrind process before you expounded your unconventional wisdom or does grinding not have an effect on steel properties when it's done at your behest?
 
hexenjager said:
Sooo... Does this mean that all the times you've had a knife blade reground to an edge geometry befitting a sashimi knife, treated it like a felling axe and then posted on the forums how much X highly respected hard use steel failed and sucks, that you've been there to watch the regrind process before you expounded your unconventional wisdom or does grinding not have an effect on steel properties when it's done at your behest?
Click to expand...

And just where do you think I got the idea that grinding worsened the edge holding of some of them? I tested them before and after: For a majority of them nothing happened, but for some of them something probably did. I usually don't buy CPM knives (and I never had any re-ground thinner), but the few I had were all pristine factory edges and were all screwed from the box. It could be the structure of CPM just soaks up and retains heat better, but probably the higher abrasion resistance also plays a role...

I base my geometry choice on exactly what Randall offers in edge thickness, 0.020" at the shoulders: According to you a stock Randall Model 12 with a hand-applied 30 degree inclusive edge is a sashimi knife? So be it...: It showed no issues in over 1000 chops...

The S30V knife I tested that failed was never re-ground thinner, only the edge was sharpened by hand on a diamond hone...: It kept its 0.040" edge base...: That's a "sashimi" knife to you?: It could hardly slice a tomato...

The Gerber Mark II in S30V micro-folded severely while slicing thin cardboard, this with a stock edge that had a slight strengthening micro-bevel added by hand... Yeah, I'd say the factory grinding has been hard on it...

Gaston
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top