My First Handmade Knife: Burger EXK1

Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
5,951
First of all I would like to thank Burger Knives for their hospitality. My father and I were at their workshop at the end of December last year. Even though we told Burger we would not have the money to buy one of their knives nor one of their sword canes, they still treated us with the utmost respect. They even took us through their workshop and showed us how they work.

I asked “How long does it take to make a knife?” The reply; “Twenty years and one day……Twenty years of experience and one day’s hard work”

Thank you Burger Knives. Specifically Trevor and Barry Burger. They were in contact with me through the whole process, guided me threw the ordering, paying and posting. Great service and great people.

On to the knife review:

I received my first handmade knife on Thursday the third of April. This is my first handmade knife and I ordered one for my father as well.

The postage:
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The postage was overnight and arrived on time at 12 o’clock the next day.

Opened up the envelope and immediately took out the knives, one for my father and the other for myself…..looked back into the envelope and behold…another envelope containing certificates of origin…what a nice touch!

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My knife (EXK1) is the one on the left and my father’s one (HP1) is the one on the right.
Statistics on my knife:

Blade: 440c
Overall length: 6.5 inches (162mm)
Handles: G10

FEATURES:
• Hardened 416 Stainless Steel Stop Pins
• Titanium Locking Spring for Firm Safe Lock
• One Handed Lip Assisted Opening and Closing

First Impressions:

1. This knife is light!
2. Opening with Lip is easy and very smooth.
3. Fits the hand nicely.
4. The fit and finish is excellent.
5. It rides easy in the pocket.
6. It’s small but efficient and I love knives with blade length close to 3 inch.

The knife
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The Lip: Ambidextrous ( Right and left handed opening)
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Detail: Red line between spacer and g10, coloured titanium liner.
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The Lock:
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Lockup is solid with no side to side or up and down blade play. The liner lock’s up solidly and really has a nice click to it. (I am not big on liners but am truly impressed by the lockup) The liner has broken in a bit more but lockup is still solid with no problems.
The liner is hidden somewhat when you hold the knife so that you cannot disengage it by accident. One side of the g10 has a small cut-out on the inside of the g10 for your thumb to disengage the liner.



The blade:

Drop point fully flat ground blade….both styles that I love. Really a nice slicer and very sharp!!!

The blade is very thin at the edge but at the spine of the blade it is thicker that my Delica4.

Ergonomics:

Because the knife is so light it really feels nice in the hand. The handle is a bit shorter than the D4, but the blade is longer, because of the smaller distance between the pivot and the nearest part of the cutting edge. (Does that make sense?)
The knife fits my hand like my swiss climber that has been with me for 17years.(Love those swiss)

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The jimping on the spine of the blade holds your thumb securely in place.

Conclusion:

A great knife that is really light. Great to edc and is comfortable in the hand. It is really a pleasure to own something that has been made by hand. The leather pouch is so nice and really protects the knife from dust and debris. I really love this knife and will buy myself another one in December when we go visit Burger again.

PS. Her name is EVA. (All my knives have names and has sentimental value for me.)

Thank you for reading and let me know what you thought about my first review.
 
Looks like a very well made knife, love the grind
nice shot of the blade there too...
G2
 
CONGRATS! That is a great looking knife!! Your pix are very nice too.
 
freddy1

I actually went through the archives and found that thread on burger. Our family go to Munster for holiday each year where burger knives are situated. After seeing all their knifes I knew there had to be someone hear that had experienced their knives. It was that very same thread that just pushed me to knowing that i had to have this knife!
 
I just have one question. I am not a big fan of liners, most of my liner locks have blade play, have you experienced this at all with your burger?
 
What is the "ambidextrous lip" that you mentioned? I noticed there isn't any visible way to open the knife with one hand unless you flick it open with your wrist.

Great looking knife by the way :thumbup:.
 
Nice score brother!

I remember seeing these knives years ago at the Easter Knife Show.

A little small for my tastes, but I am intrigued by the prospect of a bigger one.

Could you mail me the contact details for Mr Burger?

Thanks!
 
What is the "ambidextrous lip" that you mentioned? I noticed there isn't any visible way to open the knife with one hand unless you flick it open with your wrist.

Great looking knife by the way :thumbup:.

batosai117

Here are a sequence of photos I took to show how the lip works. My friend is a lefty and he has no problems opening the blade.

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Nice score brother!

I remember seeing these knives years ago at the Easter Knife Show.

A little small for my tastes, but I am intrigued by the prospect of a bigger one.

Could you mail me the contact details for Mr Burger?

Thanks!

they have a larger model of the ExK1. You can visit their website on www.swordcane.com all their contact details are on there, but I will email it to you also.
 
Sorry for the email. I did not realize you are also a South African citisen. :o:foot:

Anyway. They are situated in Munster. Just south of Margate. So not that far from you!

Hope you got my email.
 
Great looking knife! Very good innovation and quality materials put into this. Looks very user friendly.
 
Great pics, GREAT knife I really like it.
I always wondered what the difference between an inexpensive knife and a more expensive one was and I can see it now. More attention to detail and almost a handmade look about it.
 
well. a years of carry later and here is an update. The Liner has become moved over and become level with the blade. It has stayed like that since its been broken in. The blade is all scratched up. The g10 shows wear marks. All and all. I love this knife. One of the best knives I have ever bought.

On a side note. The grind is in fact a hollow grind and not fully flat! I prefer hollow over anything and since it is a HIGH hollow its a great slicer!
 
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