I have a buddy that runs a ranch here close to where I live. One of the tasks each spring is to castrate hundreds of bull calves. We were talking about knives and steel and what he uses out on the ranch. He has always used a 3 blade stockman, usually Case or Buck, and always carbon steel. He feels stainless doesn't take an edge as easily, and doesn't hold it as well. When he is cutting the calves, he is usually able to do 70-80 before having to touch up the edge. That blade he uses on his stockman is super thin. Well, I have an M390 Mini Grip and I was curious how it would hold up. I love collecting and reading about the latest knife designs and super steels, but day to day I don't have many opportunities to see what they are capable of. He said he'd be willing to give it a shot, even though it was stainless.
I sharpened it on the EdgePro to a tree topping edge, matching the factory bevel which was about 50 degrees inclusive and loaned him the knife. The results were dissapointing to say the least. He made it through about 30 before switching back to his Case. He said the first few cut beautifully, but that tree topping edge left quick and it got to where he was really having to force it.
Well, I thought maybe it was due at least partly to having such an obtuse edge angle. I asked if he'd be willing to give it another shot if I reprofiled it. He said, "Sure, bring it on!" I threw it back on the EdgePro and took it down to a 30 degree inclusive and again made it tree topping sharp.
A couple of days later I get a call and he says, "I don't know what you did to this knife, but it is amazing!" He cut 154 that day, and said he could still easily shave arm hair. It didn't have that tree topping edge anymore, but he said it was still working great. I told him to keep it and see how far it would go. A few days later he called and told me he was able to get through another 50 before he was having to force it too hard. 204! Compared to his usual 70-80 on the Case, I think that's a pretty good result in a real world test. I got the knife back today and it still can shave arm hair, but you can feel the edge is very toothy and I can see a spot or two that needs to be worked on. Here's a couple of pics of a knife that's cut 204 bull calves:
Here it is after a little soap and water:
I sharpened it on the EdgePro to a tree topping edge, matching the factory bevel which was about 50 degrees inclusive and loaned him the knife. The results were dissapointing to say the least. He made it through about 30 before switching back to his Case. He said the first few cut beautifully, but that tree topping edge left quick and it got to where he was really having to force it.
Well, I thought maybe it was due at least partly to having such an obtuse edge angle. I asked if he'd be willing to give it another shot if I reprofiled it. He said, "Sure, bring it on!" I threw it back on the EdgePro and took it down to a 30 degree inclusive and again made it tree topping sharp.
A couple of days later I get a call and he says, "I don't know what you did to this knife, but it is amazing!" He cut 154 that day, and said he could still easily shave arm hair. It didn't have that tree topping edge anymore, but he said it was still working great. I told him to keep it and see how far it would go. A few days later he called and told me he was able to get through another 50 before he was having to force it too hard. 204! Compared to his usual 70-80 on the Case, I think that's a pretty good result in a real world test. I got the knife back today and it still can shave arm hair, but you can feel the edge is very toothy and I can see a spot or two that needs to be worked on. Here's a couple of pics of a knife that's cut 204 bull calves:
Here it is after a little soap and water:
