Hi yall... its been a while.
-I kept the Tanto profile as much as possible, but I lowered the point to be inline with the new lowered grip, so to keep the point directly in front of any thrust.
-The blade is convexed from spine to edge... (0 ground?)
-I took out mucho carne from the belly of the grip. Thinning it as much as possible, but leaving a widening/wedge that begins mid pinky finger.. Awesome retention from this (a trick i borrowed from my HI Khurks).
-I thinned the top out, but only from the midpoint of the hump forward. I dug in fairly deep for the thumb relief, but wanted to keep the rearmost hump functional for a lower grip position.
-Paint is cheap BBQ paint. I choose it as it is so flat, and great on my auto applications, but on the super smooth polished blade, it seems the paint has not enough to hold onto, as she flakes whenever I use her.
-She chops and chops hard, with a deep bite! With minimal effort, she sinks very deep, and batons with little to no effort. (made quick work of even a knothole.)
-Overall, I am very happy with her now. I know some may not like the look of the grip, but for how I choose to hold and use her, the grip is beautiful in my hand.
-No duracoat yet, but I will try some and see if it holds any better. If not, I may just use a strop on the entire blade for a super fine polish, and then try to keep her oiled (rather than painted). I am a bit leary of this, as SR101 rusts so easily (IME).
-I would be proud to carry her. And did I mention she is a wicked chopper for her size?
