Re-Profiling my RC-5

M

Merost

Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
160
I have really come to realize the profile on my RC-5 sucks. I like the overall size, length, look, and the Eagle sheath is awesome. I have sharpened the crap out the knife, but it doesn't slice as well as I'd like. I don't even mind the .25 inch thick blade, but I think it should be tapered off a lot more.

Anyone know of a knife guy that can do a real good job of reprofiling the blade?
 
I'd contact Fiddleback, AKA Andy Roy-he puts alot of slick scandi grinds on thicker blades. I bet he could do a good job for you. I want to see how this turns out, I may do it myself...
 
Merost said:
Yeah, a scandi gring was exactly what I was thinking.
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you cant scandi grind a knife that is allready saber ground.......... your best bet is to send it to bark river and have them do it i had my rc-4 done for about 32$
 
Maybe think about getting a knife more suitable for the tasks you have in mind....remember, the 5 was designed with "downed pilots" in mind, not slicing tomatoes.
 
rayban said:
Maybe think about getting a knife more suitable for the tasks you have in mind....remember, the 5 was designed with "downed pilots" in mind, not slicing tomatoes.
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I seriously L O L

Thanks for that rayban! :thumbup:

:D
 
I think The rc6 may be more what your looking for. The five is just not meant to slice
 
I think an ESEE 6 would slove the problem your trying to fix. It's flat gring and thinner profile makes it more suitable for what you would like it to do. You could put a convex edge on it and that might help a little, but still not give you what your searching for.
 
Yeah putting a scandi grind on it is a little unrealistic. Plus a scandi on a knife that thick is going to slice worse than what you already got. A full flat grind or a full convex would improve it but .25 inch thick blades just aren't slicers. I personally am shying away from anything over 1/8 inch for just this reason.
 
Also if you really like the Eagle type of sheath, if you were to get an ESEE 6 Spec-ops makes a couple sheaths that are pretty similar and work great.
 
Besides the large handle, I think my main motiviation in keeping the RC-5 is because of how much I like the sheath. I guess it maybe a better alternative to just trade it for something else (maybe a fallkniven). I have a Bravo 1 on the way. I'll see if that will be a better alternative to the RC-5. I have an RC-3, but mistakinly got the serrated blade which I don't like and the plastic sheath sucks. Eventually I'll try to get an RC-4 with plain edge and get the sharpshooter sheath.
 
Shotgun said:
Yeah putting a scandi grind on it is a little unrealistic. Plus a scandi on a knife that thick is going to slice worse than what you already got. A full flat grind or a full convex would improve it but .25 inch thick blades just aren't slicers. I personally am shying away from anything over 1/8 inch for just this reason.
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my bravo 1 slices just as well as my ESEE3
 
Shotgun said:
Depends on the material being cut. For most things there probably isn't much difference but try using a 1/4 inch knife to cut an onion and then try it with a 3/32 in knife.
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I don't think it is necessarily the fact that the blade is 1/4" wide. The woodlore knife, some of the bigger Fallknivens, et al are close to 1/4" or nearly that wide, but that is at the spine of the blade. How much you taper it from there is what counts. The Bravo 1 appears to be wide, but they start tapering near the spine so it is a lot narrower at the egde. Not much taper on the RC-5. I think if it had a high flat grind or a scandi grind, it would probably slice well enough. As is, it makes a great wedge to split wood, that's about it.
 
theamazingdrew said:
my bravo 1 slices just as well as my ESEE3
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This will be my first full convex grind so I'm going to have to learn to sharpen it with a leather strop, etc. Is it as easy as they say? How many strokes does it normally take to keep it really sharp?
 
Like I said it depends on the media being cut. If the knife has to pass all the way through the material the thickness at the spine does come into play.
 
richardj or Tom Krein will take care of any reprofiling issues you have.They go by the same name on the forums.
 
theamazingdrew said:
you cant scandi grind a knife that is allready saber ground.......... your best bet is to send it to bark river and have them do it i had my rc-4 done for about 32$
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I am a little confused. Why can you not scandi grind something that is saber ground. Basically it is just taking the primary down and getting rid of the secondary. Doesn't seem like that big of a deal.... Also for the question of keeping a convex knife in good shape it is very easy. Just get a full set of 220,400,1000 and 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper from your local auto parts place and a mousepad. For most uses all you will need is the 2000 to touch it up and run it on the strop and it is good to go. For some reason the other day just to get a quick edge back on my mini-canadian i ran it over my sharpmaker about 10 passes on the brown corner and 10 on the white. Got it back to being a very good edge and was out the door quickly. I would not recommend doing this every time but it put a great edge on when i had not alot of time.
 
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