Ranger RD Series...experiences.....

J33psru1e said:
I assume that you edned up sending the knife back to Justin and have him sharpen it for you and take a look at the epoxy? Did he resolve the issue?
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J33psru1e,
No, I did not contact Justin or send the knife back to be fixed. The cost of the knife was not so much that I wanted to hassle with the back and forth shipping and besided I fixed the lack of sharpness myself and don't really care about the flacky coating. I will just use this knife as a "beater" because I have a slew of other brands that will fill the space of the RD-6 just fine. I am not mad at Ranger Knives or at Justin....just a little disappointed at the shape it was in when I got it. Sometimes you just get a bad one but I'll just move along with other knives.

Ciao 4now
Ron
:eek: :rolleyes:
 
thanks everyone,

I E-mailed justin bout' 2 knives. 1) A Rd-4 w/ a slight recurve and tan micarta
2) just picture this...... the blade shape of an Rd series condensed to 2 inches of 1/8 inch mirror polished Ats-34 with a handle of the Little Bird plus a 1/4 inch. What should this one be called?
Another note: I checked out the Ranger Forums for a few hours and all i can say is WOW the amount of tasks the knives can preform seems endless. I'm assuming the Wererabbbit is opening up the vacume cleaner..... funny:D .
mmmotorcycle
 
*Zips off to the Ranger forum to see Wererabbit opening vacuum sealer*

(How did I miss that?) Just thought I'd post another picture or two. Thanks to a lot of info gleaned from these very forums, I applied a nice vinegar patina to my RD7, and tested it's durability this weekend. I had to prepare some kindling for a hot dog/marshmallow fire anyway. So here they are...

MVC-129F.jpg

Batoning it through a small piece of wood just for fun.

MVC-132F.jpg

Laying on the small pile of kindling it dismembered.

Leatherface, great post over there, glad you got the little miscreant.
 
muzzleup said:
I ordered an RD-6 and when it arrived it would not even cut a piece of paper and several spots on the edge were "flat" and shiney. I tried to re-configure the cutting edge and in the process the black coating startind just flaking off.
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Similar experience with an RD-7, but I did not try to sharpen or reconfigure the edge. I also did not ship it for repairs. To be honest, I am not in a habit of buying brand-new items just to ship them to the manufacturer for immediate work to bring them up to a decent condition. I returned it instead and bought a different knife.
 
Just received my new RD6 a few days ago, overall I am satisfied with the knife, however I notice that all three holes on one slab are countersunk way too deep in comparison to the other micarta slab which is countersunk perfectly just below the grip surface. I did email Justin about this and await his reply. I do not expect a custom blade for the price paid, these are working knives, but it looks like crap. The knife was sharp, not quite sharp enough for me. No problem, a few minutes on the Edgepro changed all that. No reprofiling, just fine tune the factory edge. Anyone else with this appearance issue?
 
IUKE12, I had that problem with mine when I took the handle slabs off and put them back on, try loosening the screws on the side that is too deep, then tightening the side that's okay. Because of the way the slabs are attached, (a brass fitting is fit into the holes in the tang, threaded all the way through, and the screws on each side meet, or nearly meet, at the tips, inside the fitting) they can sometimes be balanced out this way. Did that make any sense?

Edited to add: Great picture, by the way.

Josh
 
I emailed Justin quite a while back... twice in fact, in the span of 3 weeks.. and still no reply yet. Anyone knows if he is up and running already?
 
hwyhobo said:
To be honest, I am not in a habit of buying brand-new items just to ship them to the manufacturer for immediate work to bring them up to a decent condition. I returned it instead and bought a different knife.
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Sharpening a knife is something you have to do if you expect to use it. While I would agree that knives should come sharp returning a knife because you have to sharpen it is akin to returning a car because it didn't come with a full tank of gas. Now if the edge has major grind issues which you have to fix then this would be an issue. But I would suggest simply contacting the maker, noting the problem and asking for shop credit.

There are a lot of knives on the market which can be wonderful tools if the edge is given a lot of work. You really don't want to restrict yourself to as-given edges. Quite frankly it also isn't possible for any knife (unless by wild fluke) to be at the exact angle which is optimal for you anyway so you should pretty much always seek to change the edge bevel and grit to suit what you do with the knife.

-Cliff
 
Kyp Degal said:
IUKE12, I had that problem with mine when I took the handle slabs off and put them back on, try loosening the screws on the side that is too deep, then tightening the side that's okay. Because of the way the slabs are attached, (a brass fitting is fit into the holes in the tang, threaded all the way through, and the screws on each side meet, or nearly meet, at the tips, inside the fitting) they can sometimes be balanced out this way. Did that make any sense?

Edited to add: Great picture, by the way.

Josh
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I understand your explaination regarding the brass bushing but it is not a matter of the screws being evenly seated in the bushing, if you remove a slab and drop the screw into the hole, it drops deeply into the countersunk hole. The screw needs to be fully seated in order to hold the grip in place. Looks like someone is manually drilling the holes rather than using a drill press with a depth stop.:confused:
 
I've contacted Justin and he will make a Recurve RD-4 3/16 thick with green micarta handles for me. It will be done by Christmas...... I'm happy.....
Note:Tetsusaiga I've had that trouble also.... go to his site and find his phone number cuz' he answered me at his new shop.... best of luck....

mmmotorcycle
 
Hi Guys,
Just this week I had the opportunity to handle and upgrade 4 of these knives for a fellow forum member. In the mix there was an RD 6, RD 7 Recurve, RD 3.75 and RAK. As a knifemaker I can honestly say, for the money these knives are a great value. I probably could not make you a knife like these for the money they charge. If you want to spend a few more bucks, I (or probably any number of knifemakers) can spruce them up a little for you. Here's what I did to to our friends:

The upgrade includes:
Coating removed, knife polished, and bead blasted finish applied
A general going over- grind lines straightened, holes redrilled round, sharp edges removed, etc.
Finger choil beveled and opened up
Grips sculpted (makes a HUGE difference in retention, control, and comfort)
Lanyard of 550 paracord (black, tan or OD green avail.)
Knife sharpened to shaving sharp (40 deg included angle)
All this for around $25.00 plus shipping.

If you want a protective coating, but your knife's is shot, for $10.00 more, I can also apply a black oxide coating to your HC steel knife. Its a treatment commonly used on machine tools. Do a quick Google search if you're interested in this service.

Please drop me a line if you're interested in this upgrade. My email is magua1@midmaine.com.


Attached is a pic of a RAT 7 I gave the same treatment to (didn't get any pics of the Rangers). The good DR. promised he'd post some pics of his Rangers when he receives them.

Thumbs UP to Justin and his knives!

Thank You,
Scott
 
mmmotorcycle said:
I've contacted Justin and he will make a Recurve RD-4 3/16 thick with green micarta handles for me. It will be done by Christmas...... I'm happy.....
Note:Tetsusaiga I've had that trouble also.... go to his site and find his phone number cuz' he answered me at his new shop.... best of luck....

mmmotorcycle
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Oh dear, there might be a problem with that, I'm from Singapore.... and really, email is the most convenient way to get to him... anyone knows what his new email might be??
 
Tetsusaiga,

To my knowledge Justin moved in to his new shop on the 20th. I don't know if that means his E-mail is up again but if you keep trying I'm sure he will reply...eventually....
Note: Scott I may have to take you up on that offer in the future so look out.... I'll have two new Rangers by next year and will want some upgrades on all three then too.... thanks for the resource....

mmmotorcycle
 
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