- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 515
This is my first destruction test.
I figured that since this knife only cost me £22 I would lose much less in monetary value than I'd gain in knowledge. I haven't tested my Busse knives in this way... I'll let Noss keep doing that.
I bought this knife because I've always liked the Trail Master design and the Mtech version got some very kind reviews from a Mr Cliff Stamp, whose scientific brusqueness has upset many a knife manufacturer. And it was cheap. Very Cheap!
My initial impressions with this knife were that it is more or less an exact replica of the Trail Master. I don't think it's unkind to Mtech to call this a stolen design. Of course the bowie shape isn't unique to Cold Steel, and in many ways the Trail Master was a modern update of the Randall 12-9 bowie, but this is just a straight copy.
It should be pointed out that quality control is a lot lower than more expensive knives. The join at the guard/handle area is not perfect. Also the primary grind was slightly off. However, all of these issues can be negated if you simply go into a bricks and morter store and buy it in person, or email the online retailer ad ask that they do a quick check.
Aaaaaanyway, back to the test! (pics at bottom of post)
===========================================================================================================
Part 1.Throwing
First of all, I spent yesterday afternoon throwing this against my fence. When it failed to stick it regularly fell onto stones in the soil with no damage at all. At one point i missed the fence altogether and it ent over into the neighbours pile of broken bricks. No problems. I also climbed a tree in the garden and did some chopping and throwing it into the soil from a height. Again not a very strenuous test, and there were no problems.
Part 2. Hitting/stabbing screws and nails
I got bored of this and so I decided to stab it into a wooden board full of old screws and nails and deliberately tried to hit the screws with full force. One of these hits caused a dent in the tip of the blade about 2 or 3mm long but only about 0.1mm deep
I then tried to chop about 6 or 7 nails but without a hard surface underneath it merely bent them. This caused minor impactions on the blade, again no more than about 0.1mm deep, so nothing major.
This morning I decided to chop nails but this time do it on my anvil. This time the nails were easily chopped into bits. Again this caused minor impactions (NOT CHIPS) along the blade, again only about 0.1mm deep.
Part 3. Obligatory concrete chopping
Chopping breeze blocks was quite easy and didnt really do anything to the blade edge apart from dulling. I suspect that my breeze blocks are softer than the ones used by Noss in his tests. This is when I decided that I should try and chop concrete paving slabs. (probably quite a bit harder than Noss's blocks, as mine were full of pebbles and harder concrete) This caused some denting and dulling but still no chipping.
Chopping sheet metal steel
Finally I decided I wanted to see whether the Mtech could take chopping through 4mm sheet thickness mild steel, like in Noss's tests (this is my favourite of his tests) It managed this with localised denting certainly less than 0.2mm deep and narrower than the width of the sheet metal. This metal looks to have been an almost identical thickness to Noss's. I was really impressed by this!
I should point out that I throughout this testing I was hitting it on the spine with my Blacksmithing ballpein hammer, and as you can see from the photos the spine is fine, with some slight paint missing, but no noticeable denting.
I also hammered the tip through the same metal. This fractured the rubber on the butt, and impacted the tip slightly, but nothing major
My thoughts so far
I'm actually quite impressed. This knife is quite genuinely one of the toughest knives I've ever see in action. Like I said I haven't 'destroyed' any of my Busses, they're just too expensive. I do know that they are very tough, but I know from experience that even they will roll or dent if they hit a stone. It should also be pointed out that the Busse Skinny Ash which Noss uses to successfully chop metal bars with has a much thicker edge than this Mtech, as he has reprofiled the edge upwards to remove the choil.
I am NOT claiming that this Mtech is in any way a superior or even equal to premium brand knives. Premium brands will have far superior QC. Busses are set about 58RC ad so are about 2 or 3RC points higher. Because of this the Busse will hold a better edge. The edge holding of the Mtech is ok, but nothing to boast about. Cliff Stamp suggests it is similar and perhaps slightly superior to Mora 12c27 blades in terms of edge holding. (I should point out that it will still 'cut' paper, but it is not smooth due to the 'serrations' which have been caused by impactions. Impressive really...)
Where this knife DOES excell is toughness and stain resistance. 440A (a much maligned and misunderstood steel) has about 0.5% carbon (as does INFI from Busse) which I suspect is one of the major reasons for the oustanding chip resistance. It does however have a large amount of Chromium and so is one of the best steels for use around salt water. Cliff Stamp in his reviews on youtube explains why this steel is actually very tough
As I said the Mtech isnt as hard as a Busse, however it is decently hard. In fact it's probably a couple of points harder than Randall knives in 01, and harder than many Kukris. Would I want a folder RC'd at 55/56?? -- Probably not, but in a large blade it's just fine. It's certainly not THAT soft as you'll see from how little denting it took from chopping mild steel
I can't imagine a better rough tough beater bowie to be honest, especially if you are in a line of work that may involve being in and around salt water, or where your gear may become regularly encased in mud, gunk or water for an indefinate amout of time
To be continued
As you can see it isn't broken yet, but I wont stop until it is. Will keep you posted, let me know if you thik of any other tests you'd like to see!
After Pics!!!!!
Sorry that the pics aren't the best -- I only have a phone camera
I figured that since this knife only cost me £22 I would lose much less in monetary value than I'd gain in knowledge. I haven't tested my Busse knives in this way... I'll let Noss keep doing that.
I bought this knife because I've always liked the Trail Master design and the Mtech version got some very kind reviews from a Mr Cliff Stamp, whose scientific brusqueness has upset many a knife manufacturer. And it was cheap. Very Cheap!
My initial impressions with this knife were that it is more or less an exact replica of the Trail Master. I don't think it's unkind to Mtech to call this a stolen design. Of course the bowie shape isn't unique to Cold Steel, and in many ways the Trail Master was a modern update of the Randall 12-9 bowie, but this is just a straight copy.
It should be pointed out that quality control is a lot lower than more expensive knives. The join at the guard/handle area is not perfect. Also the primary grind was slightly off. However, all of these issues can be negated if you simply go into a bricks and morter store and buy it in person, or email the online retailer ad ask that they do a quick check.
Aaaaaanyway, back to the test! (pics at bottom of post)
===========================================================================================================
Part 1.Throwing
First of all, I spent yesterday afternoon throwing this against my fence. When it failed to stick it regularly fell onto stones in the soil with no damage at all. At one point i missed the fence altogether and it ent over into the neighbours pile of broken bricks. No problems. I also climbed a tree in the garden and did some chopping and throwing it into the soil from a height. Again not a very strenuous test, and there were no problems.
Part 2. Hitting/stabbing screws and nails
I got bored of this and so I decided to stab it into a wooden board full of old screws and nails and deliberately tried to hit the screws with full force. One of these hits caused a dent in the tip of the blade about 2 or 3mm long but only about 0.1mm deep
I then tried to chop about 6 or 7 nails but without a hard surface underneath it merely bent them. This caused minor impactions on the blade, again no more than about 0.1mm deep, so nothing major.
This morning I decided to chop nails but this time do it on my anvil. This time the nails were easily chopped into bits. Again this caused minor impactions (NOT CHIPS) along the blade, again only about 0.1mm deep.
Part 3. Obligatory concrete chopping
Chopping breeze blocks was quite easy and didnt really do anything to the blade edge apart from dulling. I suspect that my breeze blocks are softer than the ones used by Noss in his tests. This is when I decided that I should try and chop concrete paving slabs. (probably quite a bit harder than Noss's blocks, as mine were full of pebbles and harder concrete) This caused some denting and dulling but still no chipping.
Chopping sheet metal steel
Finally I decided I wanted to see whether the Mtech could take chopping through 4mm sheet thickness mild steel, like in Noss's tests (this is my favourite of his tests) It managed this with localised denting certainly less than 0.2mm deep and narrower than the width of the sheet metal. This metal looks to have been an almost identical thickness to Noss's. I was really impressed by this!
I should point out that I throughout this testing I was hitting it on the spine with my Blacksmithing ballpein hammer, and as you can see from the photos the spine is fine, with some slight paint missing, but no noticeable denting.
I also hammered the tip through the same metal. This fractured the rubber on the butt, and impacted the tip slightly, but nothing major
My thoughts so far
I'm actually quite impressed. This knife is quite genuinely one of the toughest knives I've ever see in action. Like I said I haven't 'destroyed' any of my Busses, they're just too expensive. I do know that they are very tough, but I know from experience that even they will roll or dent if they hit a stone. It should also be pointed out that the Busse Skinny Ash which Noss uses to successfully chop metal bars with has a much thicker edge than this Mtech, as he has reprofiled the edge upwards to remove the choil.
I am NOT claiming that this Mtech is in any way a superior or even equal to premium brand knives. Premium brands will have far superior QC. Busses are set about 58RC ad so are about 2 or 3RC points higher. Because of this the Busse will hold a better edge. The edge holding of the Mtech is ok, but nothing to boast about. Cliff Stamp suggests it is similar and perhaps slightly superior to Mora 12c27 blades in terms of edge holding. (I should point out that it will still 'cut' paper, but it is not smooth due to the 'serrations' which have been caused by impactions. Impressive really...)
Where this knife DOES excell is toughness and stain resistance. 440A (a much maligned and misunderstood steel) has about 0.5% carbon (as does INFI from Busse) which I suspect is one of the major reasons for the oustanding chip resistance. It does however have a large amount of Chromium and so is one of the best steels for use around salt water. Cliff Stamp in his reviews on youtube explains why this steel is actually very tough
As I said the Mtech isnt as hard as a Busse, however it is decently hard. In fact it's probably a couple of points harder than Randall knives in 01, and harder than many Kukris. Would I want a folder RC'd at 55/56?? -- Probably not, but in a large blade it's just fine. It's certainly not THAT soft as you'll see from how little denting it took from chopping mild steel
I can't imagine a better rough tough beater bowie to be honest, especially if you are in a line of work that may involve being in and around salt water, or where your gear may become regularly encased in mud, gunk or water for an indefinate amout of time
To be continued
As you can see it isn't broken yet, but I wont stop until it is. Will keep you posted, let me know if you thik of any other tests you'd like to see!
After Pics!!!!!
Sorry that the pics aren't the best -- I only have a phone camera
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