Gizler00
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2006
- Messages
- 3,449
Hey all...
After watching my good buddy (JR88FAN) pick up an XM-18 in 20CV, and then have some custom work done by Josh at REK. I knew I had to jump on the band wagon and give it a try.
Much like JR88FAN, I gawked at the thought of letting anyone near my blades with a grinder. There was no way that I could justify getting a perfect blade reground to be better.... Well after seeing the results in this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...rer-XM-18-Wharncliff-20CV-Regrind-by-Josh-REK , I was completely blown away and just had to havve one.
A few years ago, I would have also told you that a Wharncliff style balde was for the birds. I just could simply not get past the look of the blade. After having owned a custom with a wharncliff blade, and using it quite a bit at work and around the house, I realized how great the design actually is.
I am an Automotive Technology Instructor and I am constantly cutting a wide variety of materials and just non typical things every day. I have been struggling to find a balance between a knife that not only has superior cutting ability, but can also retain that edge all day without a touch up, all the while being comfortable enough to carry all day long.
In comes the XM-18. I have never given any RHK a second glance. Primarily due to the fact that they were very far out of my price range. So as the years went by, and even though they would occasionally pop up on the exchange, I just kept avoiding them.
Well My Buddy Alex insisted that they are just as comfortable if not more so than my Strider SNG. After seeing his experience with the XM-18 and especially the Re-grind, I wanted to give it a try.
I impatiently waited for one to show up on the exchange with the exact configuration that I wanted, sold a few other knives and voila...... I was a New RHK owner.
I did some initial testing to give me a baseline for the results, post re-grind.
Quite frankly......it did not cut very well in the stock form. It would cut but not slice with precision. I tested it on things like Printer paper, Some light wood crafting of sticks for my boys, and a few pieces of paracord. Dont get me wrong, it did all of these things but not very well. From my experience, it cut about the same as a stock ZT0551 or ZT300 that I owned in the past. Actually the ZT's might have cut better than the RHK .
The knife went straight to Josh at REK Literally the very next day after it showed up. The wait was painful but very well worth it!!!!!!!!!!
Right out of the package.
I simply cannot explain or find the words to make you understand how this things cuts now. It slices like my spyderco Military but better, and without fear of breakage.
I could not wait any longer to put her to work. We are getting ready for students to arrive on Monday, so we are all scrambling to get our work areas cleaned up and ready for the craziness, and I had a lot of stuff to get rid of that needed to be cut up.
First up was some very thick cardboard that was used to ship a Pneumatic/Hydraulic tubing bender, a 2 wheel industrial Grinder/sander, and a tubing notcher. This isnt your run of the mill cardboard that you get with a USPS package. This is some thick nasty stuff with Packaging tape literally all over it.
Here are a few pictures.
After I cut up the cardboard and the blade was literally covered in Crap, I decided to try and cut up this old Mudflap for a Tri-axle that I had. Not sure if any of you have ever held, seen, or cut one of these before, but they are very thick with fibers in them. They are tough as all get out so they can take getting beat with large rocks, mud, and whatever else the tires kick up.
Not the greatest pic, but trying to show the thickness of this stuff. This piece weighs a few lbs and its only half of a mudflap.
It sliced through with ease. It took a lot of pressure simply because the blade is still very thick and stout. I was starting to get some arm pump after a few minutes of holding the rubber while cutting with the other.
I decided, for the sake of time and getting distracted trying to think of what else to cut, that I would leave the other half of the flap till Monday and find out what else I could find.
A Polar water jug?? why not.
This is some thick hard plastic. I knew they were tough, but holy crap!!! No Problem for the RHK.
An old Safety Cone..... No Problem
Its not PB paper but notebook paper. Made these cuts without touching the edge.
Stropped it on the back of a Legal pad. Just a few swipes and it was able to do this.
If anyone has any reservations about the Ergo's on this blade, dont.....its simply amazing to use.
If anyone has any reservations about how much a re-grind can benefit your blade, dont...............I cannot even begin to tell you how it turned this knife into an amazing slicer.
I just want to give a HUGE Thanks Alex and Josh for making this happen. I never thought I would be at this point in my knife collecting adventure, but certainly glad I made it here.
I will be continuing to make updates along the way as I cut and test more things.
After watching my good buddy (JR88FAN) pick up an XM-18 in 20CV, and then have some custom work done by Josh at REK. I knew I had to jump on the band wagon and give it a try.
Much like JR88FAN, I gawked at the thought of letting anyone near my blades with a grinder. There was no way that I could justify getting a perfect blade reground to be better.... Well after seeing the results in this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...rer-XM-18-Wharncliff-20CV-Regrind-by-Josh-REK , I was completely blown away and just had to havve one.
A few years ago, I would have also told you that a Wharncliff style balde was for the birds. I just could simply not get past the look of the blade. After having owned a custom with a wharncliff blade, and using it quite a bit at work and around the house, I realized how great the design actually is.
I am an Automotive Technology Instructor and I am constantly cutting a wide variety of materials and just non typical things every day. I have been struggling to find a balance between a knife that not only has superior cutting ability, but can also retain that edge all day without a touch up, all the while being comfortable enough to carry all day long.
In comes the XM-18. I have never given any RHK a second glance. Primarily due to the fact that they were very far out of my price range. So as the years went by, and even though they would occasionally pop up on the exchange, I just kept avoiding them.
Well My Buddy Alex insisted that they are just as comfortable if not more so than my Strider SNG. After seeing his experience with the XM-18 and especially the Re-grind, I wanted to give it a try.
I impatiently waited for one to show up on the exchange with the exact configuration that I wanted, sold a few other knives and voila...... I was a New RHK owner.
I did some initial testing to give me a baseline for the results, post re-grind.
Quite frankly......it did not cut very well in the stock form. It would cut but not slice with precision. I tested it on things like Printer paper, Some light wood crafting of sticks for my boys, and a few pieces of paracord. Dont get me wrong, it did all of these things but not very well. From my experience, it cut about the same as a stock ZT0551 or ZT300 that I owned in the past. Actually the ZT's might have cut better than the RHK .
The knife went straight to Josh at REK Literally the very next day after it showed up. The wait was painful but very well worth it!!!!!!!!!!
Right out of the package.
I simply cannot explain or find the words to make you understand how this things cuts now. It slices like my spyderco Military but better, and without fear of breakage.
I could not wait any longer to put her to work. We are getting ready for students to arrive on Monday, so we are all scrambling to get our work areas cleaned up and ready for the craziness, and I had a lot of stuff to get rid of that needed to be cut up.
First up was some very thick cardboard that was used to ship a Pneumatic/Hydraulic tubing bender, a 2 wheel industrial Grinder/sander, and a tubing notcher. This isnt your run of the mill cardboard that you get with a USPS package. This is some thick nasty stuff with Packaging tape literally all over it.
Here are a few pictures.
After I cut up the cardboard and the blade was literally covered in Crap, I decided to try and cut up this old Mudflap for a Tri-axle that I had. Not sure if any of you have ever held, seen, or cut one of these before, but they are very thick with fibers in them. They are tough as all get out so they can take getting beat with large rocks, mud, and whatever else the tires kick up.
Not the greatest pic, but trying to show the thickness of this stuff. This piece weighs a few lbs and its only half of a mudflap.
It sliced through with ease. It took a lot of pressure simply because the blade is still very thick and stout. I was starting to get some arm pump after a few minutes of holding the rubber while cutting with the other.
I decided, for the sake of time and getting distracted trying to think of what else to cut, that I would leave the other half of the flap till Monday and find out what else I could find.
A Polar water jug?? why not.
This is some thick hard plastic. I knew they were tough, but holy crap!!! No Problem for the RHK.
An old Safety Cone..... No Problem
Its not PB paper but notebook paper. Made these cuts without touching the edge.
Stropped it on the back of a Legal pad. Just a few swipes and it was able to do this.
If anyone has any reservations about the Ergo's on this blade, dont.....its simply amazing to use.
If anyone has any reservations about how much a re-grind can benefit your blade, dont...............I cannot even begin to tell you how it turned this knife into an amazing slicer.
I just want to give a HUGE Thanks Alex and Josh for making this happen. I never thought I would be at this point in my knife collecting adventure, but certainly glad I made it here.
I will be continuing to make updates along the way as I cut and test more things.
