Lion Steel "Roundhead" Euro-Barlow

Pomsbz said:
Roundhead gets thrashed here in a review.

https://www.everydaycommentary.com/2018/1/27/lionsteel-roundhead-review

I agree about the tang and grind (just got mine back from an expensive regrind) but otherwise I'd take a Roundhead over a Proper any day.
Click to expand...

“Bland designs”
“Devoid of any warmth”
“Terribly forgettable knife”

Really????

8257DE83-A793-44B6-A62E-AD3F19236E69.jpeg

“The reason folks still bother with traditionals, despite the lack of one handed opening or a lock...”

This tells me that the writer doesn’t understand traditionals or the people who love them. I think he’s a modern knife guy who pretends to understand how traditionalists think.

However, I do agree with him to a degree about the tang, although since its very clean-lined and feels slightly chamferred, it’s not that obtrusive.
I’ll also agree about the screws. I’m okay with the torx screws, but maybe dress them up with some mosaics well-matched to the different covers.

Last point. “The Proper is the knife the Roundhead wishes it was” Um, no. I have a Benchmade Griptilian and love it and I like the idea of them delving into the slipjoint market, but I seriously doubt that anyone who owns a Roundhead would happily trade it straight up for a Proper.

But, like the writer, I understand this is my opinion only (and worth every penny you paid for it :) )
 
Interestingly, everydaycommentary got me moving toward traditional knives, which really started with a Victorinox Cadet back in 2013. I was a fan of his blog before that... but over the last couple of years, it seems like he either raves about a given piece of gear, or he views it as garbage. A lot of childish attacks (Cold Steel lawsuit?) and double standards (i literally laughed out loud when he compared the AG Russell Barlow's tang favorably to the Roundhead. When my shuffler gets here i will try to take a comparison picture) and moving "objective" standards, like when he announced that s30v was officially a 1 point steel, then gave it a 2 for the Proper. I even agree with some of his points about edge thickness, and maybe the screws, but his tone and inconsistencies are really offputting to me. He's gone from a trusted reviewer to a site I never visit anymore. Oh well.
 
HeathH said:
Interestingly, everydaycommentary got me moving toward traditional knives, which really started with a Victorinox Cadet back in 2013. I was a fan of his blog before that... but over the last couple of years, it seems like he either raves about a given piece of gear, or he views it as garbage. A lot of childish attacks (Cold Steel lawsuit?) and double standards (i literally laughed out loud when he compared the AG Russell Barlow's tang favorably to the Roundhead. When my shuffler gets here i will try to take a comparison picture) and moving "objective" standards, like when he announced that s30v was officially a 1 point steel, then gave it a 2 for the Proper. I even agree with some of his points about edge thickness, and maybe the screws, but his tone and inconsistencies are really offputting to me. He's gone from a trusted reviewer to a site I never visit anymore. Oh well.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking the same. He used to be a good reviewer but of late, it's all about his own personal tastes and nothing else.
 
How have your initial factory fresh edges been? Mine wasn't too spectacular, but I recently took it to my poor man's strop with some green compound (~450-600 grit), and got it to an edge that will slice a lot better than it originally did. To me, that means that although I did not receive a scary sharp blade out of the box, the edge that I got was not bad at all, and I can't wait to push it further and further in terms of sharpness!
 
Edges are generally something that everyone holds a little pride in being able to improve to their tastes.
I have discovered that once the factory gets the first 80% out of the hone, the last 20% is throwing money away. Preferences vary so much, there is no static perfection on cutting edges.
 
knifeswapper said:
Edges are generally something that everyone holds a little pride in being able to improve to their tastes.
I have discovered that once the factory gets the first 80% out of the hone, the last 20% is throwing money away. Preferences vary so much, there is no static perfection on cutting edges.
Click to expand...

- agreed, Mike

There are few production folder edges that come hair shavin’ out the box. Not a problem.

Using a permanent marker on the cutting edge, I find out its angle, then sharpen to that......this gives me more of a ‘bond’ with the knife, daft as that may sound...
 
jwb01 said:
Seems most of his objectivity was very subjective...
Click to expand...

Seriously!

“…there is also an objective problem or two. To start, I think the entire appearance....

Aside from the screws I have two other objective criticisms.”

Did he edit some of the discussion? I thought he said there were good alternatives to using screws for the bolsters. But I don't see it now. I'm not sure of a practical way to attach titanium bolsters to titanium liners without screws. Integral bolsters would be expensive to cut and really expensive/wasteful to machine. Welding titanium is done in an oxygen purge chamber filled with argon and would most likely need to be outsourced. I think it would be a lot of trouble and increase costs.

I have no idea what he means by hiding the cover screws. But cover screws were a proud trademark of Miller Bros (a company known for quality) over 100 years ago.
 
Last edited:
Interesting review. I agree that it seems that he doesn’t quite get it.

I’m surprised by the Benchmade Proper comment... this is just my subjective opinion, but the Proper is an extremely ugly knife.
 
My opinion on the Proper was that it was a missed opportunity. I have no idea what old pattern it is supposed to be but a lot of modern knife companies seem to be producing similar knives. Maybe they are just copying eachother.

"The basic handle shape is similar to knives posted recently by brancron (quoted below). It seems to be what a lot of companies think is traditional. Someone should send these companies a copy of Levine's guide and antique catalogs. ;)

In my opinion, it would be much more interesting to mix an actual old pattern with the best features of modern knives... like open back screw and pillar construction and axis lock, for example. Keep the grinds, handle shape and size of the old knife but use modern construction and materials.

For this reason, I think the Proper is a missed opportunity. .."

319_319-1_pair_1000x1000_1.jpg


35S7n5y.jpg


C7riyNX.jpg
 
Chui-888 said:
Using a permanent marker on the cutting edge, I find out its angle, then sharpen to that......this gives me more of a ‘bond’ with the knife, daft as that may sound...
Click to expand...
It’s not a silly thing to give your knife the edge you want, I’ve seen some people regrind their Roundheads to FFG, and I’m personally surprised how very well a convex grind is working on a small knife
 
knifeswapper said:
Edges are generally something that everyone holds a little pride in being able to improve to their tastes.
I have discovered that once the factory gets the first 80% out of the hone, the last 20% is throwing money away. Preferences vary so much, there is no static perfection on cutting edges.
Click to expand...


I agree about the factory provided edge. Don't waste any more time on the edge than is necessary. Time (yours) is money ,(mine). Do no harm to the edge, just keep it uniform, and it's my knife, I'll put my edge on it.
Sure was a weird review on what has turned out to be my favorite knife.
 
After Anthony Scumbrene's, everydaycommentary review, I thought I would give my own impressions of the First run Euro's.
I looked back at Scumbrene's archive and according to him the benchmade Proper scored 19/20.
The Euro will slice circles around that over priced, saber ground, lousy slicing, inferior steeled, slip joint wannabe, flat ugly, POS.
Is Scumbrene crazy or what?
It's obvious he has advertiser money he doesn't want to loose because he doesn't know diddly about blade geometry.
At least in my humble opinion.

I decided from the beginning these would not be safe queens. The two samples I got were usable sharp and burr free, so in the pocket they went. After a couple days usable sharp isn't good enough for me, so on the KME they went. I have to admit I'm a bit OCD when it comes to edges. I sharpened it with a 600 diamond to 20 DPS, then I measured the thickness behind the edge at .021 to .022. Then it was time to put it to work on a bit of cardboard, 120 feet later it was still sharp. My experience with M390 is I should be able to cut another couple hundred feet before sharpening. The handle was very comfortable to use and I did not notice any hot spots. With use you will appreciate the radiused everything on the Euro.

At .021 to .022 it is a bit thick behind the edge. I dug around and found a blade that was close to the same size but .016 behind the edge. It did take less pressure to slice cardboard. The difference was not enough to cause me to take it out to the shop and regrind the primary and thin it out. The reality is I don't cut 120 feet of cardboard at one sitting, on a day to day basis. Never actually. Some day if I ever wear the M390 back enough to warrant it, I will thin it out.
I did give the knife a second sharpening only this time. I sharpened to 17 DPS and put a 20 DPS - 1500 diamond micro bevel in it. That improved the slicing ability and I'm happy with the results. The second run Euro's are thinned down a bit, so they should be even better.

The other complaint I've heard is the tang. I've never noticed any problem there. Function before beauty and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To me there is no issue there, it works as it should.

It is tall but I do not believe it will eat a hole in your pocket, because like the rest of the knife it does have a nice radius on it. The Queen Railsplitter was my main working knife for a few years and if that tang won't eat a hole in your pocket nothing will. I like to joke that Queen sharpened their tangs better than their blades.

What can I say about the screws and the screwed construction. I like it. Why aren't more pocket knives built like this.

Smooth is the way to describe the way it opens and closes. I dug out my 2 CSC barlows and Stockman
they used to be my champions of smoothness. I wish my GECs should were as smooth as the Euro.

I've used them everything you would use a pocket knife for. They have been in my pocket since day one and I don't see that changing. At least until the Shuffler comes in. :) In fact now that CollectorKnives has brought these to market and Queen's D2 is gone. I don't see myself buying another traditional pinned knife. CK is listening and learning so I'm sure future designs will get better.

I'm one of those cracker heads that carries 2 knives and from day one, 9 times out of 10 the Euro Barlow is what I reach for.
I wonder if a clip blade version of the Viper will come out.??????? Hint.
 
I replied to the review with the following...

"Modern knife folks who are just getting acquainted with traditional knives may not know that cover screws were actually a proud trademark of Miller Bros over 100 years ago. Examples with well preserved screws are prized by collectors.

The use of screws seems practical for attaching titanium bolsters and liners. I think cutting or machining integral bolsters would kick up the prices considerably. And I suspect welding titanium in an oxygen purge chamber filled with argon would need to be outsourced—also kicking up the prices.

The blade may “feel” narrow to modern knife aficionados who are used to a blade shaped to accommodate a huge “Spydie” hole or thumb stud but the proportions are not so very different than some of the oldies and won’t be a big surprise to traditional knife collectors. Here are some old catalog examples of barlows: https://i.imgur.com/n3xLZv3.jpg Here’s a very old jack that still has the original edge: https://i.imgur.com/o4ZEogT.jpg It is a thin blade but not comparable to a melon tester.

I know a lot of young collectors are only interested in aesthetics but it's as uninteresting to me as a fashion magazine! It is the utility and the history of old knives that interests me. Some old patterns have proven their utility for 100 years or more.

A barlow is definitely not the oldest but it is old. I’m not sure what old pattern the Benchmade Proper is supposed to be. It has some similarity to knives from other (predominantly) modern knife manufacturers like Fantoni and Al Mar. Similar knives from Al Mar go back a couple decades but aren't really old. Although social media circles tend to classify anything without a thumb stud or a pocket clip as “traditional”, I think the Proper and these others are just modern knives that lost those accessories! ;)

There aren’t many traditional patterns built using high end steels and/or modern construction. There are the custom traditional knives, collaboration knives and a few regular production factory examples.

As traditional knife aficionado, I see the Roundhead as smart step into a growing market. Buck took a similar step many decades ago… in the 60s IIRC (before some of the new collectors were born!). Buck’s 110 was a change to the old folding hunter pattern. Some folks liked it. Some didn’t. Real change tends to be polarizing. But it also leads to growth in the industry. It can also lead to growth of the small niche hobby of “traditional” knife collecting as well."
 
Pomsbz said:
Roundhead gets thrashed here in a review.
https://www.everydaycommentary.com/2018/1/27/lionsteel-roundhead-review
Click to expand...

I don't even know what to say about this review. It was unbearably cumbersome to decipher and interpret, both objectively and objectively. LOL. His writing style makes my head hurt, and I'm the product of a father and a grandfather who were both English professors. Methinks he loves to hear the sound of this own fingernails upon his chalkboard.

The guy clearly doesn't have enough experience with traditionals to be able to write an informed review of them. He was wrong on almost every count. And to even compare the Roundhead to the Benchmade Proper........ The Proper is nothing more than a modern slipjoint. There's nothing even remotely traditional about it, other than perhaps the nail nick. I'm not saying that I hate the Proper and will never buy one, as it does look to be a functional curiosity, but I certainly won't be calling it a traditional. The Proper looks more like what tactical knives may have ended up looking like, if Sal Glesser had never been born; a modern knife devoid of ingenuity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top