? on kershaw boa

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9engine

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Nov 15, 2000
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I just purchased a plain edge black blade/black handle Boa. It has 09 00 on the blade at the pivot point.Is this on all of the boa's? I would assume this is the date of manufacture. Any answers would be appreciated.
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Your right ,It is the date of manufacture. Kershaw just got a new laser engraver and can date them affordibly now. How do you like your Boa ?

Aloha!!! Ken Onion
 
That is interesting!!

I bought a Boa black/black serrated blade about a month ago, and it did not have the date on it. I wanted the multi-colored model, but could not get one at the time, so got the black one to play with until I could get a multi-colored one.
It was really a neat knife, and was very impressed with it. Worked smooth, and very sharp.
I finally got a multi-colored/partially serrated one this last weekend from the same dealer, and had a friend that wanted the black one, so sold it to him to pay for the colored one.
This one had no date on it either, and the dealer said he just got it in after ordering it for me. Same quality, and sharpness as the black one.It is partially serrated, and really like the way they are done.
At the same time I also got one of the new mini-Tasks to go with my family of Random Task, and Whirlwind.
One question Ken, do you know why they went from ATS-34 to 440-C on the mini-Task??
I called Kershaw two days ago, and Customer Service said they did NOT know why they changed steels. Possibility was they were having trouble getting ATS-34, but she was not positive about it. I prefer the ATS-34, but I am going to keep it anyway even though it is 440-C.
One thing she said was it told me I had just got one of the latest runs though.
Any info on the change of steels would be appreciated Ken, but like I said I'm going to keep it anyway, and see how the edge retention holds up.

Just my .02 cents rounded off to a buck.

Larry
 
They changed Mini-Task from ATS-34 to 440C?!? Why not to CPM-440V as the Random-Task? Not that I have anything against 440C (I actually like it quite a bit), but if mini-task would have been CPM-440V then I'd be getting one for sure!

Hugo.
 
Thanks for the answer Ken. I thought I had got a special one since other people said theirs didn't have a date on them. I love my Boa!It is fast and the index opener is great! Keep those awesome ideas coming! I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
 
i orderd a boa a few weeks ago i guess there backorderd forever
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so i am sad but i am sooooo happy i am going to get one at some point um right ken? i am also siked about the new laser engraver hope mine has some cool stuff on it... ken is the wisper worth the big bucks ??? i really want a high end knife and since i can make payments with my snap on dealer i mostely buy what he can get witch is kershaw


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I bleed when i am careless
 
redratsnake,
Welcome to the forums. I am very excited for the Whisper to come out. It will be THE premium production folder. This knife is going to be cool!

~Mitch

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My Hobby Page
 
is the boa as good in fit and finnish as say a microtech lcc or a benchmade 710 this will be my most expencive knife and i am curious i love the look and kershaw and ken have made some real good stuff i hope to have my black out this week so i can play with that untill the prize comes

Tim

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I bleed when i am careless
 
Gosh!! Where do I begin , I guess at the date on the blades thing . Kershaw wanted to have a way to isolate and identify the approx date of a knifes birth in the event of a problem Kershaw can then Identify the date of first problem and it's cause and can therefor take necessary action to isolate the problem and the group of knifes that were effected .

As far as the mini-task switching from ats-34 to 440-C well I'm responsable for that move as I think 440-C is a superior steel.I don't mean to step on any toes but I used to be an Ats-34 guy and switched after extensive personal testing . Edge retention between Ats -34 and 440-c are so similar that they are almost impossable to tell apart however 440-C has better corrosion resistance ,better toughness ,better impact resistance and is a much cleaner steel overall.There I said it ! and will probably catch hell for it but these are my findings after accurate and fair tests.

Why not 440-V ? Can't tell you for sure although I believe it is because of an expense issue.
FYI kershaw will be discontinuing the RANDOM TASK,MINI-TASK ,RICOCHET in 2001 to make room for our new knives.So if you were ever planning on purchasing one of the above ,you don't have much time cause once theyre gone that's it !

Is the Kershaw Boa as precision as the Microtech knives ? Microtech builds great knives and I'm a fan .Tony Marfione and I are good friends. I don't think anybody in the production arena can touch Microtechs fit and finnish.

Hope I answered all your questions . Thanks for the interest and all the positive feedback!!
It's guys like you that make me want to make knives till I can no longer make them Thanks for the compliments,they are appreciated .
Aloha!!! Ken Onion
 
Hi Ken!

Thanks for answering my question that customer service could not answer on the Mini-Task. You won't catch any hell from me about going to 440C as Barry Dawson has been making me custom knives out of that steel for about 12 years, and that is all he uses, and he says almost the very same thing of the properties of 440-C that you just said.Although I think ATS-34 has better edge retention than 440-c, that is just my opinion. Barry likes it because of the high corrosion resistance, and the purity of the steel.He has the heat treat down to a knats butt, and knows what he is talking about, as I know you do also.Thanks for the input, and answering my question.Glad I got it now to go with my collection(Random Task, Whirlwind,and Boa) before they quit making them, as those models are some of my favorite production knives.Your designs keep getting better & better!!!!!!Really love my BOA!!!!!!Especially in the multi-color scale.

Redratsnake-you will really like the Boa. It is smooth and SHARP with that 440V.I have quite a few MT's, but I can say I like the speed-safe Ken Onion models as much as the MT's.One day I will have a custom of Ken's to drool over as well.

Just my .02 cents rounded off to a buck.

Larry
 
Hi


Thanks for the replys i am sure i will love the Boa thay say 90 days back order i am bummed i thought my blackout would come today my Snap On dealer didn't have it
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i wanted to have it to show tomorrow at the inlaws o well hey ken please keep us to date on anything else you do
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great stuff
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have a good turkey day all !!!


Tim




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I bleed when i am careless
 
Ken, 440C is ok... actually I like it very much even though I only have one knife with it. It looks very good and get's scary sharp. Anyways, I don't have the 440V at al yet, and I was thinking about getting the Random, but I like the Mini a bit more...
about discontinuing the Random... thanks for telling us. I wasn't going to get it just yet, but seems that I don't have much choice. It's a great knife, sad so hear it being discontinued.
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Hugo.
 
Ken, I bought you Boa with the spattered grips right after they first came out. My wife, who's not a knut, took a liking to it right away. While she usually walks past a tactical knife to get a kitchen knife when opening a box, she eagerly used your Boa. I admit, getting a really nice edge on the CPM-440V took a bit, even with the Edge-Pro, it stays very sharp through all of her abuse. When my LCC came, she enquired about the fate of the Boa--a direct hint that she wanted it. I gave it to her, and it promptly replaced the gripless burnt out husk of a decade's old SAK floating in her purse. Thanks, Ken, you created another knut!--OKG
 
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