Quick reveiw of my new knife! The MercWorx Lachesis!!!

sixfeetdeep

sixfeetdeep

Joined
Feb 1, 2004
Messages
817
Hey all, it is finally here!


After trying to order this knife from many different sites without any luck (for a long, long time I might add!), I finally just called up Nigel at MercWorx & ordered it directly from him. I tried going to other places to get it cheaper, but no-one has it in stock or they are asking more than what MercWorx is charging :( . So....after placing the order, the knife arrived 3 days later with a cool large size coffee mug as a gift. That was nice! Nigel is a very friendly guy & I would rec. talking to him if you have any questions about the knives they carry.

O.K here we go......... The knife is called the MercWorx Lachesis. It has a Titanium bolsters & liner with a Green Micarta handle. The Micarta gives it a nice texture to it IMO. It has a BG-42 satin finished, plain edged, dual thumb studded blade which has a lenght of 3.5". The overall length of this knife is 8 1/4". It has a real nice fit in the hand. The blade has absolutely NO play in it, which is a plus. The blade is also perfectly centered...another plus :)
One thing that I do like is the "ribbing" on the spine of the blade near the pivot. It is aggresively textured which gives your thumb a secure place to rest.
It has a non-reversible pocket clip which makes it a tip down carry. That's your call on that one. I prefer the tip up, but since I have so many knives in both configurations, I cannot be choosy.
Overall fit & finish are really good for a knife that costs $400. Darn thing better be good! :D
If comparing this knife to the Large Sebenza, which I carry as well....if the Sebenza was a 10 on a scale of 1-10 for fit & finish, the MercWorx would be at least a 9-9.5. The handle of the MercWorx is maybe 1/8"-3/16" longer while the blade lengths are the same. I am not sure what the blade styles are called on either, but the call on which one is better is up to you for what you use it for. The handle on the MercWorx IMO, is much more comfortable. As far as opening & closing of both knives....the Sebenza gets the nod over the Lachesis. The Sebenza is smooooooth. the Lachesis, well, maybe it needs to break in some, but for now it isn't as smooth. Still VERY good, but not AS good. 10 to 9 again........The liner lock on the Lachesis is very solid, but is hard to close. It takes both hands to do it. perhaps it is because the knife is new & needs to wear in a bit....who knows, but I will see in time what it does. Hopefully it does wear in nicely & that way maybe I can close it with just one hand....I hope, I hope :D Another way of wording it, trying to slide your thumb over to dissengage the lock isn't as easy as the Sebenza's. The liner doesn't stick out as far & makes it a little more difficult to close.

Here are some other things to know about this knife. When you order it. It doesn't come in a box with paperwork or a sheath or a lanyard, though there is a spot to attach one if you wanted to.......it just comes in a zip lock like bag & that's it :eek: . Definately nothing fancy. Another thing worth noting.... the blade isn't near as sharp as my Sebenza's :( Looks like I will have to take care of that....not always a bad thing.....maybe I'm just spoiled with the Benchmades & the Spyderco that I have purchased in the past? At least I can learn more about sharpening it...........I am not sure about taking the Lachesis apart if it voids the warranty or not. But that is one thing that I really like about the Sebenza's....it's just cool :cool: The Lachesis also appears to have the bronze phosphurus washers like the Sebenzas...which I am told is good...right?? Speaking of warranties....I was told that they have a warranty pretty much like everyone else. Use it, don't abuse it & they will fix what is needed when it is needed as long as you pay for the shipping costs. They will even sharpen your blade if you need them to. I am not aware of the turn around times for any work, so I would suggest that you call before shipping it out to them.

I wish I had my camera with me so I can take a picture of both knives for comparison. But overall, I am very happy with it. I am going to try to carry this for now instead of my Sebenza to see how it does & holds up.
I have another Large Sebenza on order with Chris Reeve knives. Seems like everytime I call, the date on which it will be made is pushed back becasue of the war going on & the people there need their knives taken care of.....but if it turns out that I like the MercWorx better, then I will just cancel my order with them. Kinda like....we'll see which one does better & then sell off the loser down the road. I don't know......I kinda like the Lachesis better....but....

Only time will tell with my new knife. I hope you all liked my little reveiw on this knife....I may not be very good at it, but hey....you may know a little more now than you did before about the Merkworx Lachesis. Perhaps it will catch on in popularity? If you have a chance to handle one at one of your local knife shows, I would suggest that you do so. That's how I was started on them. Many dealers may not have the knives, but do make an attempt to find one that does, I think that you'll be happy that you did.


Hope you all have a great weekend & that's for reading this!

Adam
 
Corgrats man, I got to handle one today and I must say the fit, finish, grind lines and action are all flawless!
 
Adam,

Did you consider the Terzuola or the Lightfoot models before selecting the MercWorxs?

I've been looking at them (Terzuola andLightfoot ) and pondering the MW.

Thoughts?
 
I also got a Lachesis from Nigel a few months ago; and like yours, mine arrived with an edge much duller than I would have expected. The point is also blunter than I'd been led to believe when looking at images of the MW blades online. After a long session on the SharpMaker, it's now scary and nicely pointier. My only other complaints about the knife: the thumb ramp on mine is pretty rough-cut, almost like the hollows are threaded; and there are small gaps (.5mm?) at the butt-end where the micarta should meet the liners.

I agree that it's a very comfortable knife in the hand. I just would have liked it to have arrived as close to perfect as my Sebenzas and Obenauf did.
 
atlasfields: No, I didn't consider them. I really don't know those knives anyway.....probably cuz if I did, I would buy them too :eek:
This was just one of those things where I had a chance to try the knife out at a show & I was hooked from there. I could of & should of bought it at first site, but now I waited, trying to get a better price......never happened & now I missed out on getting the Lachesis with a Black Micarta handle which they have now discontinued :(


Anyway, I worked on polishing the blade for about an hour or so yesterday & now it really shines :cool: Still the problem remains where it is still a B*T*H
to close. I have tried to do a little work on my sharpmaker with it & I have made very little progress :grumpy: I have a friend of a friend who is supposedly wicked with shaprening knives. I am going to call him & send a few his way. The Lachesis & my new Simonich Urban Raven that came just as dull as the MercWorx :mad: :mad: :mad: For all that $$$$$, you think that you can get a SHARP knife! Maybe too much to ask....but now I have to spend more money to get them sharpened. Bunch of crap if you ask me.


If the lock on the MercWrox doesn't get any better by my working it today, i will call up Nigel & see what he can do for me, cuz it is hurting my fingers.
 
isnt it a liner lock? or frame lock? get a #2 pencil and rub it on the back of the blade were the liner engages and it'll fix it


greg
 
It's a liner lock. I will try the pencil out.....never heard of it, but I will give it a try.
THANKS!
 
O.K.....here we go again! :eek:

I just received my NEW Lachesis in the mail yesterday. My first one turned out to be a piece of crap. I had a professional knife maker look at it & he laughed! He told me to send the piece of junk back to them & demand a new knife or get my money back.

After returning my knife & calling to confirm that they did receive it & getting a B.S story as to why it made it out of the factory (yeah right! nothing but B.S!), I was told that I would be getting a new one soon. I called a week later & I was told that I would just get my money back! :eek:
I ask why & I was told that they didn't want any trouble with me & that they had a reputation to uphold! I asked why am I getting my $$ back when all I want is a knife that is sharp & that if perfect? They were mad at me because I sent a letter with the knife explaining my dissapointment with the knife for being "hand made" was crap with bad grind lines & a bad liner lock & a dull blade.

After much debate, I said to just keep my money & send me out another one at once! I get a call a day later saying that they only have 2 left & that they will be sending me the "better of the 2!" I wish I could post a picture of what the blade looked like. Small light scratches ALL over it! Sure I was able to polish them out somewhat, but that's NOT the point!

Obviously they have issues over there & for that I can no longer recommend them to anyone!

Shame....the knife is a perfect fit for my hand & I really like it, but don't sell me a $400 knife that's sh*t! Then tell me there sending me out the better of the 2?!! I would hate to have seen the other one! :grumpy:


Hey at least the 2 coffee mugs I got with the knives only cost me an arm & a leg! :D


I have a buddy who is big into the knife community & he has heard a bunch of rumors about MercWorx which I won't post because of probable legal issues, but it isn't good IMO. Still after knowing what I know....I went ahead & kept it anyway. I plan on e-mailing the guy at MercWorx, to let him know what I think of the new knife....he won't be happy!

The guy at MercWorx told me to call him once the knife arrived & give him the yay or nay. Won't he be surprised :D . Reputation my arse!

Again, if the knife didn't fit me as perfectly as it does, I would have shipped the thing back in a heartbeat!



So all who are considering a MercWorx folding knife....beware of the quality issues. Check the liner lock. Mine was all the way over to the right leaving NO room for wear. Plus the fact that after the lock was engaged, you couldn't get the damn thing un-locked without hurting your finger! I actually had to use my PryBaby to unlock it a few times! The blade was so dull that I couldn't even open a freakin' envelope! I had a hard enough time trying to puncture the envelope! Check the grind lines! My 1st one was all screwed up with uneven lines that were ground too far. This new one is much better, but the blade still wasn't all that sharp. better, but it needs work. Plus the fact that the blade had light scratches all over it! It's just a bad experience for me so far. I was going to buy one of there fixed blades, but why bother?!

Great fit & all, but NOT worth the grief :grumpy:
 
Thanks for the info, sixfeetdeep.

I was kind of afraid of that, but now you've confirmed my worries.

If I were one to nag, I would have suggesting that you get your money back and spent it on something better.

Lightfoot, Obenauf, Carson, CCO, Hinderer, Terzuola, Reeve, Strider... any number of makers who will make a 10x better product and stand 110% behind it and be right in your price range.

-jon
 
Adam,

Sorry that #2 didn't work out for you...I know you really liked that design.

I happened to see the first knife, and DULL is an understatement. It was nearly a 'safe' blade.

It's amazing that they sent you out another dog! Seems like that's the best they can do? Eeek.


Larry
 
Hey larry!

Yeah.....but whatcha gonna do :D

You know I really like the design, but if they could only do something better with the blade. Oh well....soon it will be all better & then I will post a couple of pics for all to see.

Still wan't to stop back over...just still the work issue, which is where I am at right now. :(

Talk to you soon!





biogon: No problem. I really don't want to have to say bad things about them, but other people on here have received bad knives from them as well & well.... someone has to tell the truth. Don't need other people making a $400 mistake & then have to deal with sending it back & then getting another one (the better of the 2 ;) ) & then going through all of this again.

I am still trying to get the liner lock to disengage easier like I did with the last one, but it is taking a little bit to do so. I did however polish the blade up more & it's getting batter, but still not to where I would like it to be.
 
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