JayRatt said:
The piece is well made but it feels like a 2x4 in the hand. It is very heavy and clunky.
You need blade heavy balance to give the necessary heft for chopping, different people have difference preferences on how much weight is functional. If you use large khukuris Justin's blade will seem light and float in the hand in comparison.
It wouldn't cut paper, rope, wood, or skin. I was able to run it over my arm applying significant force no problem.
This is a problem, regardless of the edge angle, the knife should be extremely sharp.
I spent several hours thinning it out on a Norton Tri-hone, but it needs a belt grinder.
Use an x-coarse hone, those norton oil stones are not that aggressive, I guarantee I could put a 15/20 degree angle on the edge in less than 15 minutes with handstones, that is a conservative estimate, it would likely be a lot shorter.
The tip is so thick that it has trouble piercing thin cardboard without a swinging stab.
This sounds like it might be a sharpness issue, especially considering the nature of the edge. Even very thick points should be able to do that if sharp.
... this piece has no business being called a knife.
Well if it was properly sharpened, not actually change the angles, just sharpened, much of the problems would be solved. Many knives come with less than optimal edges, though what you described is on the low end of NIB sharpness I have seen
Edge geometry is always a balance between cutting ability and durability, everyone has different preferences, ask Justin to modify your to suit your needs, this is one of the benefits of working with a custom maker. He can make it as much of a "knife" as you want.
I simply can't imagine what knife like this would be used for that a $15 hardware store hatchet couldn't do.
Batoning to split woods is easier with a long knife, and assuming it is sharpened, the knife would be easier doing a lot of food prep, cutting light grasses and light woody vegetation, and much utility work due to a longer section of straight edge, it also makes a better prying tool in many cases due to ease of inserting the tip and better leverage.
yuchang said:
1. handling OCCASIONAL heavy work easily, including all those tasks you mentioned. The knife won't be used to chop bricks or nails for hundreds times.
2. being razor-sharp. RD seems too thick. I'm not good at sharpening and all that I have is a Spyderco Sharpmaker.
Get the flat ground RD, and either order it from Justin and specify a wood working edge, say 0.035"-0.045" thick, and with an edge bevel of less than 20 degrees per side so it touches up on the Sharpmaker easily.
If you buy one on the secondary market, have it modified to the above spec's by Justin or someone close to you who can do it. If the edge is a lot thicker then you compensate by adjusting the height of the primary edge grind.
-Cliff
