Olamic Wayfarer 247 closing smoothness

Lord_Balkan

Lord_Balkan

Joined
Aug 25, 2016
Messages
600
Hey guys,

I have been seriously looking at the Olamic Wayfarer 247. I have been looking at every thread and every review I could find..

[video]https://fat.gfycat.com/ScientificDarlingHanumanmonkey.mp4[/video]

The one thing I would like to confirm is how is it as a slicer? And how smooth is it on close?

I originally saw this and it didn't make sense to me. The look and design didn't call out to me, but I haven't been able to stop thinking of it. Everywhere I look I see and read nothing but great things. I guess I'm trying to get all the nit picky stuff out of the way to appropriately temper my hype.

Thanks everyone.
 
I don't have mine in hand yet (on it's way!), but from what I understand the blade doesn't fall closed, but is smooth.
 
Lord_Balkan said:
When I'm paying almost half a grand on a knife, I start getting very picky.
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I'm not making fun of you, I'm being serious. Moreover, I myself like it when my knives have that action that is so smooth that their blades fall closed under their own weight, despite having a lock bar pressing against them.

I just think it's the sort of thing that a non-knife person wouldn't remotely get. It has nothing to do with how well the knife works (falling closed vs needing a couple of shakes has literally zero impact on the knife's beauty as jewelry or function as a knife) but we worry about it.
 
They have a ramp for the detent ball to smoothly "climb" up on the blade tang (never seen that on any other knife :cool:). The point at which the detent bearing is "on top" is later in the blade arc than some (much like a Hinderer XM, except without that "hard step" to overcome), approximately the position I just snapped below. After that, it is a pretty easy drop (maybe a little waggle to encourage - the lockbar has some definite spring to it).



It slices very nicely, but is no HAP40 Delica if you want to shred phonebook paper. It is a very usable blade grind for real world duties IMHO.
 
Officer's Match said:
They have a ramp for the detent ball to smoothly "climb" up on the blade tang (never seen that on any other knife :cool:). The point at which the detent bearing is "on top" is later in the blade arc than some (much like a Hinderer XM, except without that "hard step" to overcome), approximately the position I just snapped below. After that, it is a pretty easy drop (maybe a little waggle to encourage - the lockbar has some definite spring to it).



It slices very nicely, but is no HAP40 Delica if you want to shred phonebook paper. It is a very usable blade grind for real world duties IMHO.
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FWIW, it may well be your fault when I inevitably end up buying this knife.
 
evilgreg said:
I'm not making fun of you, I'm being serious. Moreover, I myself like it when my knives have that action that is so smooth that their blades fall closed under their own weight, despite having a lock bar pressing against them.

I just think it's the sort of thing that a non-knife person wouldn't remotely get. It has nothing to do with how well the knife works (falling closed vs needing a couple of shakes has literally zero impact on the knife's beauty as jewelry or function as a knife) but we worry about it.
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Absolutely. I didn't mean to get defensive. I just think anytime you start really researching a product (which the internet really allows us to do well) we begin becoming snobs about the thing we are buying. I went through buying a monitor for my computer couple of years ago and I ended up spending months on finding one with an extremely high refresh rate (144hz), size, picture quality, latency, and what not. Because I make video games for a living I notice these things but most people do not care and would not even notice. I think this is true for every niche product... The classic example I always think of is cable elevators for the audio snobs.
 
The flip side is my Sebenza won't fall shut yet closes smoothly and my display is freesync yet not a super high refresh rate.
 
Although we do not explicitly have a "must freely fall closed" requirement as part of QC, it is possible to tune a 247 to do so, and many, especially after break-in, will fall shut, but not all. When adjusting the lock bar pressure we will err on the side of safety/lock stability/flip action and therefore lean towards a stronger lock which does inhibit the blade-falling-shut somewhat. Anyway, if you get one, and aren't happy with it, we'll work to make it feel the way you want.
 
Mine is not a free-falling, butter smooth, slickster. It's a solid, strong flipping, wonder of F&F. I love it.
 
OlamicCutlery said:
Although we do not explicitly have a "must freely fall closed" requirement as part of QC, it is possible to tune a 247 to do so, and many, especially after break-in, will fall shut, but not all. When adjusting the lock bar pressure we will err on the side of safety/lock stability/flip action and therefore lean towards a stronger lock which does inhibit the blade-falling-shut somewhat. Anyway, if you get one, and aren't happy with it, we'll work to make it feel the way you want.
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:thumbup:

What's not to love there??

:cool:
 
Zt 804cf has a ramp on the tang as well.
Officer's Match said:
They have a ramp for the detent ball to smoothly "climb" up on the blade tang (never seen that on any other knife :cool:). The point at which the detent bearing is "on top" is later in the blade arc than some (much like a Hinderer XM, except without that "hard step" to overcome), approximately the position I just snapped below. After that, it is a pretty easy drop (maybe a little waggle to encourage - the lockbar has some definite spring to it).



It slices very nicely, but is no HAP40 Delica if you want to shred phonebook paper. It is a very usable blade grind for real world duties IMHO.
Click to expand...
 
Armadew said:
I don't have mine in hand yet (on it's way!), but from what I understand the blade doesn't fall closed, but is smooth.
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Let us know what you think of it. Sounds like a very interesting folder for sure. No matter how extreme the quality and tolerances are in any given folder, I've found there's always a slight break in period imho.
 
skyhorse said:
Let us know what you think of it. Sounds like a very interesting folder for sure. No matter how extreme the quality and tolerances are in any given folder, I've found there's always a slight break in period imho.
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Particularly with high quality ones, with the one notable exception for me being the Rockstead Shin I used to have.
 
You can't beat an Olamic, I recommend them highly. I would say, candidly however, that they aren't SUUUUUUPER slicey. The blade is a tad thick for that. However, they'll cut anything you need cut just fine. But if you want to be able to slice tomato slices so thin you can see through them, you'll want to use another knife.

Get one, you won't regret it.

P.S. Eugene, good to see you!
 
movienight_zpsfoa61rlu.jpg


The 247 is a great knife with excellent grinds and amazing fit and finish.

Worrying about it dropping closed on it's own is so you can make facebook videos.
 
Sunyata said:
Worrying about it dropping closed on it's own is so you can make facebook videos.
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I like the way it feels, personally--but only if there is still a strong enough detent for good flipping action if the knife is a flipper.

Too often I've found that knives that fall closed from gravity are also only so-so flippers, because the lockbar pressure is too light for the detent ball to have much resistance breaking free of the hole.

If I have to have one or the other (great flipping or falls closed by gravity alone) give me great flipping every time. My Reate/Begg mini-bodega is as smooth and tight a knife as I've seen, but the feisty detent that makes it superb flipper also means it needs a couple of wiggles to fall closed, and I'm fine with that. There is a fine line where some knives give you both (e.g. my new to me CKF Ratata flips very well, but also still falls closed under gravity) but I'm too lazy to obsess about it.
 
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