Nexus Caio : Initial Impressions

C

Cliff Stamp

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Some reference pictures (not mine) :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=481402

I have been busy as of late (and without camera) so only had the chance to do the following :

-fell a few small trees (2-3"), limb
-carve a few implements
-cut some vegetables
-cut up a shark (small, 2')

The trees were of an unfamiliar variety, based on a simple bite test they were of similar density to white pine. The knife bit into them well, the effort was low, going quite from memory I would put it at about 75% of the Bruks Hatchet. The knife is handle heavy, I would prefer a tapered tang, but some people like a lot of weight in the grip.

There was no problem carving the wood, but again it was very soft. This knife is of the class where you chop waste wood many times more effective than carving anyway. The tip was however problematic in point work. I carved a spoon shape easily, but little to no ability to dig or bore out the hollow.

After about an hour of chopping and carving there was no effect on the edge, it still readily sliced up a few vegetables, trimmed the fins off a small shark and cut it up into steaks.

The handle was in general comfortable, on large problems but this was only light work. more to come.

-Cliff
 
Great job, Cliff. I hope to read more Pretty soon :D

I'll make some test on Caio, too, for my web site ;)
 
The blade is steel called K360. What is the K360 steel like?
What would be the nearest more known steel to compare to?
 
Excuse me , but the k360 is the steel of Nexus 7.
The new model, Nexus Caio, use a different kind of steel ( an A8 modified). You can compare this steel to the INFI for toughness ( 160J to test Charpy).
 
Sorry for confusing things. And thanks for that information. Does the modified A8 compare with INFI in other respects too?

I'm actually interested specifically in K360 so if anyone has anything on it I'd be very interested.
 
For k360, I have a Nexus 7 and I can tell you that it's a great steel. Good toughness, great wear-resistance and good corrosion resistance. It's one of the most amazing steel I never tried :D
 
The Nexus 7 were produced in only 74 pieces and it's over. You can try to find a used one on some forum.

The Nexus Caio, produced in 80 pieces, is available from is designer ( Molletta, member of this forum) or on ebay ( not right now, but probably a new auction will be published pretty soon) ;)
 
Thanks for the review Cliff I emailed Molletta on this particular knife, I particularly like the red handles. :D
 
The handle looks rather angular. How did your hand feel after and hour of work? It looks like it might tend to give you blisters.
 
I had the same concern and in fact noted it in an earlier thread. No issues, but I have used a lot of funky handles over the years and almost nothing bothers me any more. I would rate it a lot behind the grips of Kirk and company, but well ahead of TOPs and such. I will do heavier work with it this weekend, digging and such and do a more direct ergonomic/security analysis.

-CLiff
 
Update, since the origional post the knife has been used in the kitchen, preparing onions, tomatoes, peppers and a lot of ofther vegetables as well as cutting up fishes and chicken. It was not oiled or even dried. The flats had multiple large spots of orange rust, up to 1-2 mm in radius. About 5% of the blade was covered, about a cm of edge had also been effected.

The knife was then used for about 15 minutes of chopping, limbing as well as bucking to length some small woods. The handle was noted to be a little abrasive as the metal should be flush to the micarta slabs but it projects a little out. The top of the handle is also a little pointy. Both of these were just enough to be noticed in the 15 minutes, no reddening or other skin irritation.

After this and even with the harsh kitchen treatment, the knife was still sharp enough to cut individual grasses easily on a slice. It was then used to dig in some sand to grind off the edge completely so it had no cutting ability. It was then brought back to shaving in less than two minutes on a 600/1200 grit DMT diafold.

It was also used to smash up a bunch of bricks of various types with no visible effect on the spine either directly on or in the edges.

-Cliff
 
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