Loving this M4 in the Bradley

slimshaneee

slimshaneee

Joined
Jun 24, 2008
Messages
1,410
Who else is loving this M4?

I'm not able to get any of my other knives sharper. It is easy to get sharp and stays sharp.

This Gayle Bradley knife is one great user too. In and out of the pocket easily and smoothly, no pocket destruction. With a nice hefty and comfortable handle.
Just an amazing knife for the money.
 
Yeah. What a tremendous knife. Love the blade shape, reminds me of the Starmate but has a graceful little "dip-down" that provides more belly than the old Starmate did. And it touches up on the white stones very easily, has me patrolling for a set of ultra fine rods. No need to re-profile this baby. Very fine edge from the factory. I wish it was a tad lighter and had a wire clip but aside from that, homerun. Mine already has some nice color spots. Been slicing limes in an effort to speed the process along. This blade would be a great candidate for sending off to get DLC coating applied. Sort of tempted to do that depending on how the patina looks after a while. Who knows?

I also like the way the scales have been left sort of textured utilizing the fiber pattern itself. Neat effect. Never seen anything like it. Thumbs up. I understand the thought process behind the whole "buy American" debate that rages around here, but the die hards that choose to avoid these Taiwan Spydies are really missing out. This is one knife (the Sage is another) that presents a tough counter argument. That Taiwanese maker has got his act TOGETHER. :cool:

Look for other companies to try and get his services. Hopefully Sal signed him to an exclusive contract. Locked him in to a five year deal or somesuch... (threw in a little baseball lingo there). :D
 
loving it here, so sharp, no chipping. A future mili with m4 will be an automatic buy for me( I missed out on the m4 sprint mili). I also have a sage1 with the best edge retention compared to my other s30v knives. Great maker in Taiwan.
 
I love it too! One of my favorite carries so far! Extra jimping would be nice though but other than that, just a damn rock solid knife and the m4 keeps wicked sharp.
 
GB fit and finish are top shelf. I just touched up the edge and it seems for me to be easier than s30v.

Oh, the Sage2 is in the other back pocket. It puts a smile on me every time it comes out.

--Jason
 
M4 is an amazing steel.
Amazing cause I was not able to dull it yet in two months of exclusive carry....
Seems like leather stropping is enough to keep it razor like.
Mine has not been touch buy the sharpaker yet.
Just some stropping. The convexed edge turns into mirror.
And it's good to go.
 
I really love this one. Haven't had to sharpen mine yet.
 
The Bradley is a jewel, there is no doubt.
I was worried about buying something from Taiwan.
Not anymore... that factory whips out some damn fine stuff.
I was seriously surprised at the quality of that blade in a very good way.
Let's hope for a Bradley II.
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
The GB is my EDC and is still sharp. It's a little larger/heavier than I'd like, but it sure is nice to have when I need it (more than I thought). Makes whatever task I'm doing easier. Love the M4.
 
I have to admit that I haven’t sharpened mine yet. It hasn't really been used too hard, but the edge holding seems great; it's still super sharp. I'm going to try touching it up with a strop soon and see what that does.
 
cerulean said:
I have to admit that I haven’t sharpened mine yet. It hasn't really been used too hard, but the edge holding seems great; it's still super sharp. I'm going to try touching it up with a strop soon and see what that does.
Click to expand...

It's frustrating, isn't it ? No more weekly stroking on the sharpmaker.

I appreciate to have a little blueish patina developping slowly. By stropping the blade on leather only the edge turns like mirror: the blade is even sexier.:thumbup:
 
Nemo said:
It's frustrating, isn't it ? No more weekly stroking on the sharpmaker.

I appreciate to have a little blueish patina developping slowly. By stropping the blade on leather only the edge turns like mirror: the blade is even sexier.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I bet that looks really cool. Do you have a picture of that by chance? How did you manage the blue? Mine seems to go towards the yellow end.
 
Harry Callahan said:
Yeah. What a tremendous knife. Love the blade shape, reminds me of the Starmate but has a graceful little "dip-down" that provides more belly than the old Starmate did. And it touches up on the white stones very easily, has me patrolling for a set of ultra fine rods. No need to re-profile this baby. Very fine edge from the factory. I wish it was a tad lighter and had a wire clip but aside from that, homerun. Mine already has some nice color spots. Been slicing limes in an effort to speed the process along. This blade would be a great candidate for sending off to get DLC coating applied. Sort of tempted to do that depending on how the patina looks after a while. Who knows?

I also like the way the scales have been left sort of textured utilizing the fiber pattern itself. Neat effect. Never seen anything like it. Thumbs up. I understand the thought process behind the whole "buy American" debate that rages around here, but the die hards that choose to avoid these Taiwan Spydies are really missing out. This is one knife (the Sage is another) that presents a tough counter argument. That Taiwanese maker has got his act TOGETHER. :cool:

Look for other companies to try and get his services. Hopefully Sal signed him to an exclusive contract. Locked him in to a five year deal or somesuch... (threw in a little baseball lingo there). :D
Click to expand...
Can you explain to me what you are talking about with the color spots and cutting limes???
I have honestly NEVER heard of what you are talking about, But then again I have mainly been into guns my whole life and am just now getting heavier into knives
 
RevDevil said:
I bet that looks really cool. Do you have a picture of that by chance? How did you manage the blue? Mine seems to go towards the yellow end.
Click to expand...

its a blueish reflection... I'll try to capture it tomorrow.
I use it everyday and vinegar did not make any patina.
Hot meat did not.
Guess I clean my blade to quick...
 
M2 speed steel isn't stainless. As a high carbon steel it is prone to discoloration. The reason I've been cutting limes (aside from the need for sliced lime) is to speed up the discoloration process and make it more even. It's almost like bluing the blade. Controlling rust with "rust". Once an overall patina is achieved it's gonna have that old school look AND it will be somewhat better protected from huge ugly fuzzy brown rust spots. Hope this makes sense. Maybe someone else has a better way with words.

Anyhoo, if my forced patina experiment doesn't pan out as planned. A great alternative would be to send it off for DLC coating. Time will tell. In the meantime, I'm loving this blade steel. ;)
 
singularity35 said:
Won't mustard work to force a patina on carbon steels?
Click to expand...

Any acidic food will, really. Mustard works. Lemon juice works MUCH faster. I had used my Opinel for food prep at work for a couple months and it had a nice subtle patina to it. One day someone cut a lemon up with it and set it down for about ten minutes, and the lemon juice had left a much darker mark than anything else had, even if left for 45 minutes before wiping down.
 
M2 and CPM M4 are not "carbon steels". 1075 on opinel, Fred Perrin customs knives or 1095 on old Schrade or ESEE knives are Carbon steel and getting a patina with a blink of the eye.
Here is a patina on a 1095 Newt Livesay NRG:
Livesay.jpg


I love carbon steels and I love to get patina on them. M2HSS and CPM M4 are totally different animals.

Here is a picture showing a BM AFCK HS with M2HSS blade
and the Spyderco Gayle Bradley with CPM M4 !
Each steel is very different and is not made through the same process. (One is a CPM !)
Two knives that I really love as they give the most modern design with a non stainless blade and M2 & CPM M4 makes great knives for whittling. (it cuts and leaves some kind of "patina" on wood. The best woodchisels are made in M2HSS BTW... there is perhaps a reason.)

Both has been used as EDC without the purpose to get a patina.
The M2 got its patina very quick and I was not able to get rust pots on it (even used on sea shores).
CPM M4 is not getting patina very quick. I was not able to catch the blueish reflection on the blade but despite two little brown spots there is no real patina... yet.
All my M2 knives developed a patina in a week of use.
I got my M4 GB for two months and use it daily and if it doesn't shine anymore like a CPM30V blade, it is not yet dull grey.
I clean it with hot water and wipe it. That's all.

Someone else on the forum has shown a picture of a GB after all a night in mustard. The patina was beautifully dull grey.
Now I don't feel like "forcing" the patina" as CPM M4 looks very stain resistant anyway and I'm not considering to leave the blade all night long with acidic goo on it.
I have even started a BG Patina Thread for comparaison purpose but it's now in oblivion...

With the GB, I have been cutting some sticks of wood all this morning and trimming some plants. The picture was taken after I clean the blade and strop it five times on my leather belt.

M2M4comparaison.jpg


Mr Bradley and the Glesser (father & son) were clever enough to offer us a very thin shallow grin with a extraordinary steel which can stand that configuration. My GB cuts hard wood much deeper and easier than my good old AFCK.

cheers
Nemo
 
Last edited:
Thanks for pointing that out Nemo. I was unaware of the striking differences between M2 and CPM M4. Great explanation and pics. :)
 
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