Mule Team #4 - Pics

Sal Glesser said:
Hi Vassili,

you do have talent. That's why we put up with you.;)

Thanx for the support.

The mule team pieces are very hard. All of the steel-heads said as hard as possible so we did. They're in the 65 range. We've not made such a large piece of ZDP before, so this is a good test for us as well.

Let us know how she responds to cutting and sharpening. Can you whittle hair with it from us?

Can the hard edge handle hard cutting?

sal
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Sal, mine tree topped hair very high above the skin, making me think it could whittle hair. My only other factory knives to whittle hair were SE Spydercos, and I would bet this knife would be my first PE production piece to hit that milestone, though I have seen pics of some other knives (lots of the Spyderco) that whittled hait out of the box. The Sharpness definately was into the Tom Krein level of sharpness, which is a first for me from a production piece. I sent mine off to Tom Krein the day after I got it and like a dummy didn't test for hair whittling to verify it, but from reports it looks like the sharpness on these pieces from the factory is absolutely great and I bet it wouldn't be uncommon to see hair whittling sharpness from these Mules. I'm also glad it is ran so hard. I remember getting my Endura ZDP tested and it came in at 63 (could have been an actual 64 due to Rockwell testing accuracy range, but who knows, and it performs great), but I haven't been able to test my other ZDP knives due to all of them being cladded, except my recently aquired Stretch 2. The Stretch 2 takes an amazing edge, and if I can ever pry it from my pocket I will send it in for testing. I guess my question is if you run the Caly 3 CF, Stretch 2, and other ZDP models as hard as the Mule, or if you went an extra point up in hardness on this one to test the limits of the durability at higher hardness on a utility/EDC type of knife.

I will definately post my findings on sharpening and edge retention and a comparison of those same attributes against my M4 Mule. I really thank Spyderco for this project, as now I have 2 great EDC fixed blades that are actually legal to carry here in California in my two favorite steels. With Tom Krein's great handle and Kydex work I get a custom quality knife for a discount price, and get to try out fun and exciting steels in a very useful if not beautiful blade shape. I must say after using my M4 Mule all weekend last week I just love the great cutting ability and amazing sharpness and edge retention I get from that knife. I have a feeling ZDP 189 will out shine it a tad in edge retention, but M4 has gotten even sharper than ZDP 189 for me and hasn't had 1 chip come out of the blade on me. If the ZDP 189 Mule had a special recipe to harden it up I might be in for a surprise when I hit the stones and polish it out to 400000 grit at under 10 degrees, we'll see. That is the joy of this project, seeing how each steel performs on the same platform, and hopefully improving future production pieces based on user feedback.

Mike
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi Vassili,

you do have talent. That's why we put up with you.;)

Thanx for the support.

The mule team pieces are very hard. All of the steel-heads said as hard as possible so we did. They're in the 65 range. We've not made such a large piece of ZDP before, so this is a good test for us as well.

Let us know how she responds to cutting and sharpening. Can you whittle hair with it from us?

Can the hard edge handle hard cutting?

sal
Click to expand...

I just like to point out to those who hesitate to by Mule, because it has not handle, that this is not a problem at all and anyone able to add some reasonable handle in an hour or so and even have a fun making it.

This knives suppose to be test horse for people like me, but they turns out to be best all around small project knives - I pick Mule first if I need to do something - from drywall cutting (they are actually perfect to make accurate hole in the wall to put let say DircTV cable inside etc...) to cutting paper (I am talking about 500 sheets of old perforated computer paper).

So I like them around not only because this is exotic steel - but because it is best small project knife and I also able to add my personal touch to it, which make it almost like part of the family...

I will do full report, but I expect it to be best - based on all other ZDP189 I have and testing I done, before. A already use this knives to made handle for each other and can not really check out of the box sharpness. I will resharpen them and post results here if you do not mind.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Thanx Mike, Vassili.

We are always interested in "real world" opinions from steel-heads.

sal
 
Sal Glesser said:
Thanx Mike, Vassili.

We are always interested in "real world" opinions from steel-heads.

sal
Click to expand...

This is one of the reasons I love Spyderco so much, and have so much respect personally for you Sal. If you will listen to a guy like me that loves absurdly thin edges at extremely acute angles polished to grits way beyond the practical, you will listen to anyone. Seriously, when such an innovator of cutlery such as yourself listens to us ELU's so much and gives us designs that aren't neccesarily profitable but are what us knuts want despite running a relatively small company in these tough economic times. I know I personally have tons of loyalty and appreciation to Spyderco for it's innovation, just plain great knives, and respect for it's customers. The Mule project, especially releasing a 1000 piece run with a risk of not selling the batch speaks to that commitment to us knuts.

Mike
 
I want to thank you also, Sal. You give us a chance to have an knife made of exotic steel for a price we can afford. It also gives us a chance to make a custom, in a short period of time, easily.
Below is my Mule, S90V, Lacewood, that I SS pinned and contoured to fit my hand.

mule.jpg
 
Alright Vassili!. Nice job on another one. I'm not sure how mine would do unsharpened out of the box. I know it can easily "treetop" hairs on my arm.

Believe it or not but I can't grab or hold a human hair due to nerve damage to my arms. I'll try to figure an alternate way of grabbing and holding them. Tweezers won't work. I've tried. Joe
 
Hi Joe,

I can see it all now. Spyderco's new tweezer, with special vise-grip accessory to hold hair for whittling. ;)

Actually, we did invent a new type of tweezer about 5 years ago.

Nice job AR fan.

sal
 
This makes me want to grab a MT04 now. :o Sorry to say I haven't done so yet.

I do have the M4 and S90V ones though. This ZDP-189 one should be interesting.
 
Are the Mules only available from Spydero directly or are they sold at the distributor level?
 
Looking at those makes me think...I guess you could use shrink-wrap tubing...
 
A bicycle inner tube makes a good temporary grip for light handling.

 
Marion David Poff said:
With what did you wrap those?

Marion
Click to expand...

overgrip
this is usually wrapped over the original handles of tennis racquets to prevent slipping or to fatten small handles. It is lightweight, has a tacky feel, gives a nice amount of traction and doesn't slip even when it absorbs sweat
also comes in nice colors and is pretty fast to change when it becomes dirty or you're getting bored
 
brj said:
overgrip
this is usually wrapped over the original handles of tennis racquets to prevent slipping or to fatten small handles. It is lightweight, has a tacky feel, gives a nice amount of traction and doesn't slip even when it absorbs sweat
also comes in nice colors and is pretty fast to change when it becomes dirty or you're getting bored
Click to expand...

Racquet tape. Good Choice.

Marion
 
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