Ontario Rat-7 initial impressions

[trout #2]

Ok, I had this fairly long post all typed out, hit submit, had an error and lost it all...... :grumpy:

To summarize what I was trying to say:

I just got my Rat-7, this is my first review, and first "real" fixed blade.

Knife looks nice at first, handle feels great but has some problems. The edge grinds are nowhere near even and it is barely what could be called sharp. The sheath, US-made by Spec-Ops, looks very nice, but I've already scratched the blade finish quite a bit just taking it in and out of the sheath. I know this is a big user blade, but I'm a little annoyed with it looking like I've already chopped down a few oak trees before I've even taken it outside.

So, being new to big blades like this, how sharp should I expect it to be? I know it won't have as acute of an angle as my Ritter Grip or slice/push-cut as well, but it should cut stuff, right? Should I sit down with my Sharpmaker and work a 40-degree edge into it or keep a wider angle?

I hate to sound so down on this knife, because I REALLY want to like it. Luckily I got it fairly cheap on ebay, because the quality on it is just not acceptable for the kind of price that it is supposedly "worth." I'll try to fix the edge, have some fun cutting stuff up, and then post a follow-up review.

 

[jedi_pimp]

fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

 

[Kaos]

So, being new to big blades like this, how sharp should I expect it to be?

The edge should be shaving fricken sharp. This may just be factory screw up. I think these knives are sharpened by hand so this piece might have been overlooked. Then again, it seems like somewhat common thing for Ontario.

 

[Ming65]

I can't remember how sharp my RAT 7 was NIB. But it's easy to get shaving sharp.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

So, being new to big blades like this, how sharp should I expect it to be?

Beyond shaving with a quality job, far less than that from Ontario normally usually as their QC is fairly low. 1095 is easily to work though as soft as Ontario leaves it, so sharpening it should not be a problem.

Should I sit down with my Sharpmaker and work a 40-degree edge into it or keep a wider angle?

If you are just cutting regular woods you should easily be able to drop down to 15, 20 would only be required for very hard woods, or medium woods which are frozen.

-Cliff

 

[panella]

I've been very happy with both my RAT-7's (D2 and 1095). Neither was particularly sharp out of the box. My EdgePro solved the problem in both cases.