Saw some more Mick Strider San Mai knives at TNK

RL

RL

Joined
Aug 24, 1999
Messages
2,294
Feeling a little disappointed that I could not get UFC 83 tickets (at least I did not want to pay $700), I thought about driving 550KM to my hometown Montreal to at least watch the event at a local sportsbar (to see the local reaction to hometown fighter GSP)…well news from Neil that he got some incredible Strider customs in San Mai sealed the deal for a roadtrip!

I am never disappointed by Mick’s work! I loved the look and feel of this one

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Super thick…you would not want to be on the receiving end of this one!

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closeup of the mark

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for size reference

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a second piece in San Mai steel

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The two San Mai knives

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Another cool Mick Strider custom

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and all three Striders

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While at TNK, I also checked out some Mikkel Willumsen knives…I had never handled his work before…and they were fantastic! I especially liked the Dark Angel, a TNK exclusive folder with a 4+” blade out of RWL34 steel...as you may know, this powdered steel has similar properties to BG42 …it is about as hard but not as brittle thanks to its powdered nature. The flipper action was lightning fast…slight pressure on the flipper and the blade FLIES out...no doubt thanks to the IKBS bearing.

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the thin profile is great for carry

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and it feels fantastic in the hand

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feels great in reverse grip too (my preferred)

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This fixed blade was also very cool…great balance and much lighter than you would think

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Thanks again Neil!

RL
 
I do not usually care that much for Stryder stuff but I like these laminated blades. Thanks for posting and I like your shirt
 
It looks like the big one is sandwiched damascus and homogenous steel? The texture on these looks good but the little one looks like it has a divot in one pic but not the other? :confused: I agree, cool shirt... :thumbup:
 
mick covered the technical specs of his san mai on another forum...yes, i do like custom t-shirts ;)

RL
 
RL said:
mick covered the technical specs of his san mai on another forum...yes, i do like custom t-shirts ;)

RL
Click to expand...

Fair enough, I noticed you wrote "san mai" and not "san mei" though. If it's sandwiched that should qualify as "san mai".

ST, I missed the fight but I was rooting for GSP, he's an amazing fighter...
 
Jose Reyes said:
Fair enough, I noticed you wrote "san mai" and not "san mei" though. If it's sandwiched that should qualify as "san mai".

ST, I missed the fight but I was rooting for GSP, he's an amazing fighter...
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He is a really good fighter, good to know the first serra fight was a total fluke.

It would be good to have Micks damascus info here since many dont visit the other forums.
 
The Dark Angel folder looks great. Out of the strider knives only the short one really appeals to me, but I couldn't own it for very long without giving in to the temptation to sharpen the false edge.
 
I agree with severedthumbs, RL. can you post the info from another forum here for folks? actually, I quite like many of these new knives. not sure I would like the price but then lot of knives have prices I don't like. These piece appeal to me much more than the traditional Stryder knives which we have discussed in the past. Glad you had a good time in Montreal. Good to see a Canuck win a championship also.
 
Those striders are pretty sweet! Are the handles micarta? I think the mid-sized one would have looked great with traditional slab and japanese wrapping and a small guard.

Though I haven't used a strider enough to know its advantages, i've never understood the dual grinds on some.
 
I'd like to know "the technical aspects of his san mai" as well.

It turned into some big deal in that other thread, but to me it's perfectly understandable to question it. Calling something by a name that it is NOT, simply doesn't make sense.

It would be akin to the notion that I'm going to start calling my carbon steel knives "stainless cladware." Or some such thing and then get mad and dodge the question when it's asked.... and then have T-shirts made up for it.

Personally I like Mick's willingness to go outside the box of what people expect from him.
 
It was suggested to me that I was "talking $hit" about Mick with my post here.

I have re-read it about 10 times, and just don't see why this person felt that way, but I would like to make sure no one thinks that was my intention.


THAT WAS NOT MY INTENTION.


San Mai traditionally refers to a blade with a hard and brittle core (for the cutting edge) that has a softer and more forgiving steel clad to it either with two outside pieces forge welded on or one piece wrapped and forge welded onto the core.

This looks like pattern welded steel, so I am just curious how it is made that makes it san mai, or why it's called that if it's not.

It's a pretty simple question, and I still don't think I was taking cheap shots at Mick by asking.

I think Mick is a cool guy and his new work is pretty cool. I've said as much around here too.
 
Nick,

There is a vigilante mentality among some supporters of this maker. They keep tabs on anyone who has ever said enything which they perceive to be negative and make a point of letting you - and others of their ilk - know about it.

This by no means characterizes all or even most of the fans of this maker - just a very vocal and visible group.

There was nothing improper in your question.

My experience from the last "San Mei" fiasco taught me that if one wants an answer as to blade steel composition, it is best to ask Mick. I did, and got a straight BS-free answer that demonstrates that the maker - if not all of his fans - very much appreciates the difference between good old nickel damascus and a laminated San Mai blade. He does both.

It is regrettable that some of his supporters - while in one breath complaining about the controversy that often surrounds posts of this maker's work - do so much to stir up that controversy.

I agree with your comment above regarding Mick going outside of the box and exploring new and unexpected areas. That is a good thing.

Now watch how long it takes for me to get accused of slagging the maker. Tick.... tick... tick.....

Roger
 
David Schott said:
Those striders are pretty sweet! Are the handles micarta? I think the mid-sized one would have looked great with traditional slab and japanese wrapping and a small guard.
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the handles on the damascus knives are carbon fiber....i think they looked great as is but Japanese wrap would have been great too (that's actually my favourite handle treatment)...

RL
 
On another forum,in the Strider sub forum,I asked the San Mei question and got this response from Josh,it was from an email from Mick.
I know this doesn't answer the laminated blade question but it may get those interested a step closer to some kind of an answer.

So far, most of the Damascus I have made has been a mix of 1095 and Nickel. I guess I just like the way it comes out. I love to play around with other materials, but the 1095 and Nickel always comes out really nice.

Bars average between 150 and 300 layers depending on what im making. There is significantly more 1095 in the bar than Nickel. The Nickel is really only there for decoration, kind of like grain in wood. You can see it and it looks cool, but it doesn’t have much effect on anything. Okay…it does sometimes on wood…but you see what im saying.

The most common patterns I have done so far are called Five by Five and 10-4.

Five by Five is named such because of two reasons.
First, it’s the actual pattern. There are five layers of 1095 between five layers of Nickel. There is really more 1095 than there sounds like, because there is 1095 between each layer of Nickel as well…but who cares.

Its also called Five by Five because the pattern is Loud and Clear. (Which is what 5 X 5 means).

10-4, once again is thus named because of the pattern of 1095 and Nickel.
There are 10 layers of 1095 between 4 layers of Nickel. Yes of course there is more 1095 because of the in betweens and all that….but who’s counting.

Sorry….no extra bonus to 10-4, like there is on Five by Five.…other than its another cool radio named Damascus.

So far most of what ive done has been random pattern. Only because I have not had the time to make any dies. Plus im having so much fun playing with what I can get out of the random that I just haven’t really cared yet.


__________________
RL,
I am not slagging Strider products either,you couldn't even begin to imagine how little I care.

Doug
 
RL, as always, nice job bringing us unique and rare piece along with informative commentary. I have been a fan of Willumsen's after seeing his work in Tactical Knife Magazine. They reviewed three of his knives, the Blondie, Tuco and Angle eyes, and gave them very high marks. Thank you for the good pictures and please hunt down more of Willumsen's work. I believe he will be a heavy hitter in our world in the very near future. Willumsen's site http://www.willumsen-cph.com/
 
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