Mystery GAW/Challenge

CelloDan said:
I had the best pick me up this Monday morning when I went to check my mail :)
It really lifted my spirits :thumbsup:

TY Mike, it was a lot of fun to participate in your GAW.
I will treasure this special knife !!!

We had a little dusting of snow this morning.
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Extra slip handmade by Mike :thumbsup:

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"Bluenose" and Barkie getting acquainted :)
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It's a bit chilly this morning so the extra slip came in just perfect for "Bluenose" :)

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Thanks again Mike :thumbsup::)
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Most excellent... Congrats Dan, and well-done Mike.
 
I have a hard time not playing with new knives, and this Queen needed some loving on the sharpening stones. The D2 was very responsive to the stones—as much as, if not more so than my 1095 GEC. I’m not sure what the hardness is on either of these steels, but they feel similar on the sharpening.

I started with the pen and coping blades:
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The grind was pretty much spot on for the spear and only a hair off on the coping. The results were a pretty even edge. I thought about thinning the primary bevel, but decided to hold off and let the original finish stay for now.

Then I tackled the main blade:
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Show side looks good! But there was some major problems with the pile side grind. Beware, this gets a little bit gruesome:
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Before you start asking, let me say that I did not imbibe any alcohol during the progress of sharpening! I kept a steady angle and got this strange result. I was expecting something odd, though because I took a peek down the blade before sharpening and saw that it had some major bending and a pretty noticeable wobble in the grind. Check this out:
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The blade is pretty much dead center when closed, so I’m guessing the bending has to happen after they assembled it in order to make it sit between the two secondaries. That bending seems natural and acceptable for a factory knife, but the grind is a bit surprising. Not that I’m complaining. I care far more about how the blade cuts than how it looks and despite its homelier appearance this knife now whispers gently through the pages of telephone book paper.

I doubt you will have as much fun and satisfaction reading my narrative as I had living it or even retelling it, but it does testify to the fact that you can get almost any blade sharp enough to cut with precision, and that’s a very satisfying thing to me.
 
That's weird with that bend in the main blade. I guess I never noticed it - as you said, it lies nice when closed. Good work getting it sharp, though! I was loving the edge photos until you got to the last one. Glad you got it sorted though. :)
 
Crazy Canuck said:
That's weird with that bend in the main blade. I guess I never noticed it - as you said, it lies nice when closed. Good work getting it sharp, though! I was loving the edge photos until you got to the last one. Glad you got it sorted though. :)
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It’s a really cool knife. I’ve never had a split back before and I love looking at how it is fitted together. There’s a lot of geometry happening that you don’t notice without scrutinizing—and I’m not the kind of guy who thinks mathematically anyway. I think the bending is probably not too abnormal since even a Swiss Army knife has that I order to seat the blade with other tools. The oddity was the dishing in the grind on the blade. But it makes no difference in performance. If I get the itch I may take it to my belt sander for a regrind, but I am hesitant to lose the etch and it really isn’t bad unless you have scruples about the looks of the edge, which I don’t.

I’m still a bit elated to have won, and have received such a cool knife.
 
This Pioneer X showed up in the mail over the weekend (might’ve been Friday?). I would’ve posted earlier, but I’ve been so busy with all this staying at home and doing nothing… :rolleyes: :D

Seriously, sorry for the delay, and thank you again, Mike. This is a really cool knife! I have a Pioneer that I bought a few years back (2015 limited edition dark blue, my only Alox knife until now), but I’d been curious about the Pioneer X for a while — those scissors really come in handy!

Mike also included a nicely made leather pocket slip. :thumbsup:

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btb01 said:
This Pioneer X showed up in the mail over the weekend (might’ve been Friday?). I would’ve posted earlier, but I’ve been so busy with all this staying at home and doing nothing… :rolleyes: :D

Seriously, sorry for the delay, and thank you again, Mike. This is a really cool knife! I have a Pioneer that I bought a few years back (2015 limited edition dark blue, my only Alox knife until now), but I’d been curious about the Pioneer X for a while — those scissors really come in handy!

Mike also included a nicely made leather pocket slip. :thumbsup:

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Very nice Prize, Barrett.
Well done, Mike. :cool::thumbsup:
 
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