Kind of forgot that I had this knife as I gave it to my son last year. He has been "using" it ever since. Well picked him from the University for Thanksgiving and he mentioned it kind of needed a tune up. He wasn't kidding either.
He is in a technical theatre program so he puts the knives I let him use to a good test. Everything from cutting ropes to wire. The knives I let him use do everything but screw things down and pry things open. I forbid him to do that with any of the knives I have let him take back to school. Although in some instances he may have used them for that too! He handed me the knife which as stated is the X-O lite large. It has the black chrome finish, black handles and single liner.
First thing I noticed right off the bat is that the liner lock was all the way over to the right side when engaged. Didn't effect the integrity of the lock up in any way and didn't make it all that difficult to unlock. Simply adjusted the pivot screw and voila hitting just forward of center on the knife once again. I then looked at the pocket clip and it too was pretty loose. This concerned me more than anything as I am wondering why he didn't loose it it was that loose. Just a matter of tigthtening down the two locking screws. Solid once again. Next I checked the actiion of the knife and the centering of the blade between the scales. Another tweek on the pivot adjustment and I am talking miniscule here it was once again centered. Onto the actual sharpness of the blade itself. well back on the recurve portion it still cut paper very well but just passed the recurve out towards the point it was definetly dull. Here is where it gets rather interesting. I broke out the Lansky diamond hone kit I have and then clamped the blade in there and went at it graciously with the coarse hone.
The problem here is that the blade keeps popping out of the clamp. I believe this is due to the black chrome coating on the blade. I have both the large and small models so it is kind of a macthced set. Well the clamps didn't work so I spent the next 3 hours or so using a small rectangular brown stone to sharpen the blade. I have the callouses on my thumg and middle finger to prove it too. What a bitch to use this stone this way. Point here is that it did work and may large bench stone was just to large for the recurve protion hence the small stone. I finally have the knife to where it will pop hair and didn't screw up the cantle in the least. The next thing I did which is kind of a boneheaded move on my part is to take the knife all apart. Hey what else have you got to do on a Sat. evening when it is snowing like hell out. It din't take some kind of genius to take it appart or put it back together again just about 20 pairs of hands! After another hour or so of fiddling with it I finally got it back together and working even smoother if that is possible. This knife is on a par with my S2k when it comes to smoothness of operation. As a matter of fact this thing is so well made it even rivals my S2K for fit and finish.
Now all this being said I think I have discovered the knife I am going to be carrying a while. It sits extremely well in the pocket with all the curves to the handle being in the correct places. Evven though it has outsized handle. The handle is without a doubt big enough even for my hands. The oblong lightening cut outs make for a sure grip even with the smoothness of the handles. There isn't a gap anyplace along the liner or handle slabs. The knife uses allen wreches to take it apart which is nice and simple. Getting it back together is another matter entirely. The blade has good gentle recurve to it and bites like no tomorrow and the upper portion of the blade won't drag alot on the cut I think because of the black chrome coating adds some lubricity to it. Well thats it. A very excellant knife design with very good steel(ATS34) super comfortable grip, large thumg studs you can use with gloved hands and the knife seems as if it will excell at all manner of cutting chores. Keep'em sharp
He is in a technical theatre program so he puts the knives I let him use to a good test. Everything from cutting ropes to wire. The knives I let him use do everything but screw things down and pry things open. I forbid him to do that with any of the knives I have let him take back to school. Although in some instances he may have used them for that too! He handed me the knife which as stated is the X-O lite large. It has the black chrome finish, black handles and single liner.
First thing I noticed right off the bat is that the liner lock was all the way over to the right side when engaged. Didn't effect the integrity of the lock up in any way and didn't make it all that difficult to unlock. Simply adjusted the pivot screw and voila hitting just forward of center on the knife once again. I then looked at the pocket clip and it too was pretty loose. This concerned me more than anything as I am wondering why he didn't loose it it was that loose. Just a matter of tigthtening down the two locking screws. Solid once again. Next I checked the actiion of the knife and the centering of the blade between the scales. Another tweek on the pivot adjustment and I am talking miniscule here it was once again centered. Onto the actual sharpness of the blade itself. well back on the recurve portion it still cut paper very well but just passed the recurve out towards the point it was definetly dull. Here is where it gets rather interesting. I broke out the Lansky diamond hone kit I have and then clamped the blade in there and went at it graciously with the coarse hone.
The problem here is that the blade keeps popping out of the clamp. I believe this is due to the black chrome coating on the blade. I have both the large and small models so it is kind of a macthced set. Well the clamps didn't work so I spent the next 3 hours or so using a small rectangular brown stone to sharpen the blade. I have the callouses on my thumg and middle finger to prove it too. What a bitch to use this stone this way. Point here is that it did work and may large bench stone was just to large for the recurve protion hence the small stone. I finally have the knife to where it will pop hair and didn't screw up the cantle in the least. The next thing I did which is kind of a boneheaded move on my part is to take the knife all apart. Hey what else have you got to do on a Sat. evening when it is snowing like hell out. It din't take some kind of genius to take it appart or put it back together again just about 20 pairs of hands! After another hour or so of fiddling with it I finally got it back together and working even smoother if that is possible. This knife is on a par with my S2k when it comes to smoothness of operation. As a matter of fact this thing is so well made it even rivals my S2K for fit and finish.
Now all this being said I think I have discovered the knife I am going to be carrying a while. It sits extremely well in the pocket with all the curves to the handle being in the correct places. Evven though it has outsized handle. The handle is without a doubt big enough even for my hands. The oblong lightening cut outs make for a sure grip even with the smoothness of the handles. There isn't a gap anyplace along the liner or handle slabs. The knife uses allen wreches to take it apart which is nice and simple. Getting it back together is another matter entirely. The blade has good gentle recurve to it and bites like no tomorrow and the upper portion of the blade won't drag alot on the cut I think because of the black chrome coating adds some lubricity to it. Well thats it. A very excellant knife design with very good steel(ATS34) super comfortable grip, large thumg studs you can use with gloved hands and the knife seems as if it will excell at all manner of cutting chores. Keep'em sharp
