My knife came in today and I'm happy to say it's pretty nice. Not equal to the fit & finish of the one it's modeled after but still very good and better than most knives in the "up to $100" price point.
The sheath is not to my standards and I won't use it. I'll have to make my own but this is somethng I enjoy doing so not issues. I'm wondering if the sheath from a Short Kabar might fit?
I tried cutting some dry cedar and it's pretty good but I quickly realized that I'd prefer if the the top portion of the guard wasn't there...so out came the dremel and belt sander and it quickly disapeared. It turned out perfect but the finish needs to be touched up. Otherwise, it's just right!
Next I took out my chainsaw file and filed a groove were the edge meets the choil. This is a detail I like and when a knife doesn't come this way it allows me to feel the hardness of the steel. This knive filed fairly easily leading me to guess at the hardness...my guess is 55 RC. The specs I read said 56-57 RC. I would have liked to feel a harder edge. Oh well!
After the modifications I touched-up the edge on an soft arkansas stone. Now it's hair shaving sharp and cuts wood equal to my Cold Steel SRK.
This blade could easily be compared to the SRK. They both have similar blade shape, same edge thickness, spine thickess and same length of cutting edge. The major difference is the SRK has twice as much choil. My experience is that less choil is better for a wood carving knife.
Obviously the handles are very different and the SRK uses AUS 8 and this one is 1070 carbon steel. The sheath from the SRK can be used but the handles being so different makes it fit a bit loose.
Overall I'm pleased with my new knife. I posted a topic on CR sub-forum and they don't have an issue with Schrade making a knife in a similar style. It's clearly marked Schrade and note a fake being marketed as a CR knife.
So for you guys who always wanted one of CR's one-piece knives but couldn't afford them now you can buy a similar knife at a nice low price.
I can take photos in a couple days but I will need someone's help posting them.
Thanks,
Collecter