- Joined
- Jul 22, 2009
- Messages
- 11,409
So I've recently been getting into the knife "hobby" and I wanted people to have a look at my choice in knives and make some comments so that my future purchases will be better informed.
#1 - Benchmade Osbourne 943 SBK
Cost: $230 after shipping(bought directly from the Benchmade site).
Steel: S30V
This was the knife that started it all. The main attraction of this knife was the look of it. The combo edge and bladestyle in addition to the black coating made the knife look very intimidating indeed. Sadly, that was about all it's good for.
I didn't bother to check if there were cheaper prices for this same knife until AFTER I bought it. And wouldn't you know, eBay had that exact one for $140, a $90 difference.
I also didn't consider the type of edge I would be using the knife for(produce, box cutting). I used more push cuts than slicing, and so the serrated edge would keep getting caught in whenever I was trying to cut(try to cut an apple, and it would get stuck). Also, the serrations were nowhere near long enough to really do any hardcore slicing(like rope for instance).
I got overexcited with my knife, and completely rolled the edge from slicing wood and plastic, and rubbing it on steel. I then bought an EdgePro Apex to fix the edge and thin it out a bit. My inexperience with sharpening caused an accidental scuff which removed some of the black coating, and now my knife looks retarded.
#2 - Spyderco Endura 4 Plain Edge
Cost: $83(bought it off eBay)
Steel: ZDP-189
This knife took some consideration of the problems I ran into with my 943. I chose a plain edge because of my intended use and because of my choice of sharpening system(EdgePro Apex, which can't sharpen serrations). I also figured that a much harder "super" steel would present less problems as far as edge retention goes(boy was I dead wrong). The plain edge certainly made it more practical for actual use, and the steel was definitely harder, as it took me about 6 hours to lower the angle of the factory bevel on the blade(my sharpening was still iffy, as the edge on one side seems "longer" than the edge on the other side, despite them both being the same angles).
I got a little too cocky with this knife, and ended up chipping the edge a few times. The first time, I attempted to cut a mango pit in half, and put a few relatively large chips along the edge(the pit was mostly unharmed, which puzzled me as some fruit seed was stronger than "super" powder metal steel). The second time was when I accidentally scraped the blade on metal while trying to cut some cardboard that was stuck in the cardboard baler, that put some microchips on the edge. The third time was when I was cutting the stalks off of 3 cases of corn(48 corn in each) with straight push cuts.
My Endura also suffers from the serious vulnerability to rust of the ZDP. About 2-3 hours after cutting and trimming the wet corn(and cleaning and wiping my blade dry when I was done), I spotted some faint rust spots on the blade. I did coat my blade with a TufCloth(repeatedly), but cutting anything tougher than cabbage seems to rub off the coating pretty easily. Not to mention that humidity in Hawaii might've made this steel a stupid choice.
#3 - Kershaw Shallot Plain Edge
Cost - $80
Steel - CPM-S110V
I've only just recently purchased this from a knife site found on a search on Yahoo. It made me a bit suspicious because of the lack of a picture of the knife itself and because I generally don't trust sites outside of eBay and Amazon, but trying to find one of these knives that don't have a combo edge has been a nightmare(I guess everyone realized that the combo edge was useless, and so nobody ever bought them).
The assisted opening mechanism is certainly new for me, and a feature I'm looking forward to. The S110V should be an overall upgrade to S30V because of the higher alloy content, without the rusting problem of ZDP(most reviews seem to suggest that even large amounts of body sweat over long periods of time will do nothing to it, and that the handle itself is more likely to rust than the blade), and without the uselessness of a combo edge.
I'm hoping that this 3rd blade will be THE knife I'm looking for, and that I will have no practical reason to look for yet another one.
There are two "upgrades" I'm considering to get for my knives.
One is to send my Endura to Tom Krein for a Full Flat Grind on the blade, which will likely cost roughly $75 with return shipping costs.
Two would be to have Phil Wilson heat treat my Kershaw Shallot blade up to about 64 HRC. Though I have no clue how much that would cost me(nor how long it would take).
#1 - Benchmade Osbourne 943 SBK
Cost: $230 after shipping(bought directly from the Benchmade site).
Steel: S30V
This was the knife that started it all. The main attraction of this knife was the look of it. The combo edge and bladestyle in addition to the black coating made the knife look very intimidating indeed. Sadly, that was about all it's good for.
I didn't bother to check if there were cheaper prices for this same knife until AFTER I bought it. And wouldn't you know, eBay had that exact one for $140, a $90 difference.
I also didn't consider the type of edge I would be using the knife for(produce, box cutting). I used more push cuts than slicing, and so the serrated edge would keep getting caught in whenever I was trying to cut(try to cut an apple, and it would get stuck). Also, the serrations were nowhere near long enough to really do any hardcore slicing(like rope for instance).
I got overexcited with my knife, and completely rolled the edge from slicing wood and plastic, and rubbing it on steel. I then bought an EdgePro Apex to fix the edge and thin it out a bit. My inexperience with sharpening caused an accidental scuff which removed some of the black coating, and now my knife looks retarded.
#2 - Spyderco Endura 4 Plain Edge
Cost: $83(bought it off eBay)
Steel: ZDP-189
This knife took some consideration of the problems I ran into with my 943. I chose a plain edge because of my intended use and because of my choice of sharpening system(EdgePro Apex, which can't sharpen serrations). I also figured that a much harder "super" steel would present less problems as far as edge retention goes(boy was I dead wrong). The plain edge certainly made it more practical for actual use, and the steel was definitely harder, as it took me about 6 hours to lower the angle of the factory bevel on the blade(my sharpening was still iffy, as the edge on one side seems "longer" than the edge on the other side, despite them both being the same angles).
I got a little too cocky with this knife, and ended up chipping the edge a few times. The first time, I attempted to cut a mango pit in half, and put a few relatively large chips along the edge(the pit was mostly unharmed, which puzzled me as some fruit seed was stronger than "super" powder metal steel). The second time was when I accidentally scraped the blade on metal while trying to cut some cardboard that was stuck in the cardboard baler, that put some microchips on the edge. The third time was when I was cutting the stalks off of 3 cases of corn(48 corn in each) with straight push cuts.
My Endura also suffers from the serious vulnerability to rust of the ZDP. About 2-3 hours after cutting and trimming the wet corn(and cleaning and wiping my blade dry when I was done), I spotted some faint rust spots on the blade. I did coat my blade with a TufCloth(repeatedly), but cutting anything tougher than cabbage seems to rub off the coating pretty easily. Not to mention that humidity in Hawaii might've made this steel a stupid choice.
#3 - Kershaw Shallot Plain Edge
Cost - $80
Steel - CPM-S110V
I've only just recently purchased this from a knife site found on a search on Yahoo. It made me a bit suspicious because of the lack of a picture of the knife itself and because I generally don't trust sites outside of eBay and Amazon, but trying to find one of these knives that don't have a combo edge has been a nightmare(I guess everyone realized that the combo edge was useless, and so nobody ever bought them).
The assisted opening mechanism is certainly new for me, and a feature I'm looking forward to. The S110V should be an overall upgrade to S30V because of the higher alloy content, without the rusting problem of ZDP(most reviews seem to suggest that even large amounts of body sweat over long periods of time will do nothing to it, and that the handle itself is more likely to rust than the blade), and without the uselessness of a combo edge.
I'm hoping that this 3rd blade will be THE knife I'm looking for, and that I will have no practical reason to look for yet another one.
There are two "upgrades" I'm considering to get for my knives.
One is to send my Endura to Tom Krein for a Full Flat Grind on the blade, which will likely cost roughly $75 with return shipping costs.
Two would be to have Phil Wilson heat treat my Kershaw Shallot blade up to about 64 HRC. Though I have no clue how much that would cost me(nor how long it would take).