Ankerson
Knife and Computer Geek
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2002
- Messages
- 21,094
I ran my full standard battery of testing on this knife, rope cutting, cardboard and wood so this will be a full review of my test results and findings.
The knife is a Phil Wilson Custom Bow River in Bohler K294 Microclean, K294 is Bohlers 3rd Generation vers of A11.
K294 Specs:
Carbon - 2.45%
Chromium - 5.20%
Manganese - .50%
Molybdenum - 1.3%
Silicon - .90%
Vanadium - 9.70%
Bow River Specs:
K294 @ 64 HRC
Blade length - 4 3/4"
OAL - 9 1/8"
Blade Type - FFG Trailing Point with Distal Taper
Handle Material - Black Micarta with Red Spacer
Edge Angle - 24 degrees inclusive
Edge Finish - Semi polished sharpened on Sil Carbide and stropped with a Sil Carbide loaded strop.
Thickness behind the edge - .010"
The Bow River is a Highly optimised Design that has been proven in the field over years of real world use by hunters and guides, It's a very clean design.
Now on with the testing.
1st off was the rope cutting, I cut 5/8" Manila rope making 1800 slicing cuts checking for downforce every 20 cuts until 20 LBS of downforce was reached, it would still slice printer paper after the rope.
Cardboard Cutting, The knife was sharpened using the EP and 400 grit Congress Sil Carbide stone then the bur was removed and stropped on a Sil Carbide loaded strop. The knife was still sharp enough to slice newpaper after cutting the cardboard.
Wood Slicing, I sliced wood taking thick and thin slices, the knife wasn't shapened after the cardboard and it performed excellent whittling wood with ease, would still slice newsprint after the wood.
Conclusion:
The knife performed outstanding with no issues with the edge at all. It's very light weight and well balanced so it feels like cutting with air and handles like a dream with no hot spots noticed. K294 steel is the steel when one needs the absolute maximum in edge holding. I wouldn't want to try and sharpen K294 on just some old oil stone, it's extremely high wear resistance would justify Sil Carbide or Diamonds for sharpening. It's very fine grained and gets incredibly sharp and is extremely aggressive cutting with the edge used in the testing.
The knife is a Phil Wilson Custom Bow River in Bohler K294 Microclean, K294 is Bohlers 3rd Generation vers of A11.
K294 Specs:
Carbon - 2.45%
Chromium - 5.20%
Manganese - .50%
Molybdenum - 1.3%
Silicon - .90%
Vanadium - 9.70%
Bow River Specs:
K294 @ 64 HRC
Blade length - 4 3/4"
OAL - 9 1/8"
Blade Type - FFG Trailing Point with Distal Taper
Handle Material - Black Micarta with Red Spacer
Edge Angle - 24 degrees inclusive
Edge Finish - Semi polished sharpened on Sil Carbide and stropped with a Sil Carbide loaded strop.
Thickness behind the edge - .010"
The Bow River is a Highly optimised Design that has been proven in the field over years of real world use by hunters and guides, It's a very clean design.
Now on with the testing.
1st off was the rope cutting, I cut 5/8" Manila rope making 1800 slicing cuts checking for downforce every 20 cuts until 20 LBS of downforce was reached, it would still slice printer paper after the rope.
Cardboard Cutting, The knife was sharpened using the EP and 400 grit Congress Sil Carbide stone then the bur was removed and stropped on a Sil Carbide loaded strop. The knife was still sharp enough to slice newpaper after cutting the cardboard.
Wood Slicing, I sliced wood taking thick and thin slices, the knife wasn't shapened after the cardboard and it performed excellent whittling wood with ease, would still slice newsprint after the wood.
Conclusion:
The knife performed outstanding with no issues with the edge at all. It's very light weight and well balanced so it feels like cutting with air and handles like a dream with no hot spots noticed. K294 steel is the steel when one needs the absolute maximum in edge holding. I wouldn't want to try and sharpen K294 on just some old oil stone, it's extremely high wear resistance would justify Sil Carbide or Diamonds for sharpening. It's very fine grained and gets incredibly sharp and is extremely aggressive cutting with the edge used in the testing.
Last edited:
