- Joined
- Mar 19, 2007
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- 7,443
I ordered, last Thursday, from www.workingknives.com a Koster's Bushcraft in CPM 3V. It had Cocobolo Scales, and came with a JRE pouch sheath Dangler.
I received the knife packed very well in less than a week. I had a few questions for the owner (Jim) and he e-mailed me right back and was very friendly and helpful. The site was easy to use and the fact that I saw Jim's post on Kosters subforum on this site set me at ease to order from him.
The knife came just as pictured above - with grind lines from Dan. There was a slight microbevel put on the knife, from what I can tell, and between the grind lines and the micro bevel - I had some sharpening and polishing in front of me before it was to my standards. It was sharp out of the box and popped some hair and cut paper - but it could be so much more with some time.
I broke out my DMT Dia Sharp stones and gave my arms a workout. About 4 hours of sharpening and polishing all of the grind lines were gone as was the micro bevel - and there was a very nice polished zero grind left on the blade. The DMT extra fine stone leaves sharpening lines in it - but you can still see your reflection in the bevel.
The knife was simply a pleasure to sharpen. I didn't mind the labor at all - and I knew that this kind of time would only have to take place once.
Dan certainly could polish every blade to a more mirror finish but I am sure it would reflect in an increase in price. I would rather keep the price down and put the edge on myself. It is what I would likely do anyway.
Dan's lines have improved since the first generation and the grind was down to a finer grit.
After getting a very sharp edge on the blade, I stopped it on plain leather and then jean material. The edge was ungodly. It simply wiped away hair and would push cut catalog paper. I simply had not had a knife this sharp - not even my 1st generation.
The scandi grind made the knife easy to sharpen and sharpening it with my own edge from scratch was nice.
I already owned a first generation Koster's which I loved - but I wanted a bigger guard and thicker scales. Dan responded to many requests on his sub-forum, listening to his critics, and gave his customers what they wanted.
The new scales are .150 thicker at their wider point and the steel is 61 HRc as opposed to 60 HRc.
The Cocobolo handle was very well shaped, and buffed. It has no sanding lines but it not slippery. It needs no oil or protection as it is a stabilized wood to begin with. Dan explained to me that you could put something like Tung oil on the handle - but the wood would simply sweat it out in a few days!
I took out the knife, today, to put it through a few simple bushcraft tests. I built a split stick deadfall, a few fuzz sticks, and started a fire with my LMF Firesteel.
Here is the progression of the trap from beginning to end:
After using my SAK Farmer to cut a foot long or so piece of wood (not sure what kind - it was standing dead - but I would classify it as lower end hard wood) I battoned it in half. The knife REALLY excelled at battoning. A few taps and I could control the blade as it went through the wood. The knife really made short work of this piece.
Because this trap is much easier to make when you have two flat sides I battonned the piece. I have found this to be trouble in the past. Some knives want to twist in the wood, or work their way out of the wood with this thin of a batton - but the Kosters was straight and true.
I then flattened both sides of the wood and planed the sides to make them square. This helps with the trigger stick of the trap - making it able to hold accurately and slide off the sticks easily. As you can see from the collected shaving - the knife simply curled the wood off and allowed a lot of control throughout.
The wide and thick blade allows for the knife to be held comfortably on the blade for very fine controlled work. You can choke way up on the handle - rest your fingers along the blade (away from the grind) and use the knife very easily.
The knife feels better balanced than the first generation and because of this feels lighter in the hand - even though it is one ounce heavier.
The handle was much more comfortable than I am used to and I never once got a hot spot. The longer guard is a welcome addition as well. I never had a problem with slipping on to the blade - but the longer guard is added insurance against slippage. I then used my SAK saw and cut the wood in half.
I took one piece and made a cut about two inches down and 1/4 inch in that allowed me a shelf for the 2nd piece of the trap to hold on to. I battoned this piece as well to test the control of the knife and was very happy. I put the cut flat and right where I wanted. It did not tear at the wood - but simply cut through.
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