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SIFU
- Thread starter leroys_45
- Start date
Check out Spark's post at: http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum32/HTML/000180.html
Shows a couple of nice pictures of the SIFU.
Got mine today (yee ha!). I'm the very proud owner of Sifu #11 and one XL Bladeforums T-shirt! I actually had a dream that it was being delivered the day after it arrived in the country (UK).
The more I handle it the more I like it. The blade is all really - then there's the very comfortable grip and knowledge that the lock is super tough. Minor downsides include gritty action, stiff lock release, slight blade play in open position and REKAT signature blade-stop rattle (get out the super glue!). I also don't really go for G10 what's the attraction for others?
All in all it's a fearsome beast, and a handsome one. Any news on sheaths/carry options?
Thanks to all who have aided in the realisation of this project
Kallisti
[This message has been edited by Kallisti (edited 27 October 1999).]
Shows a couple of nice pictures of the SIFU.
Got mine today (yee ha!). I'm the very proud owner of Sifu #11 and one XL Bladeforums T-shirt! I actually had a dream that it was being delivered the day after it arrived in the country (UK).
The more I handle it the more I like it. The blade is all really - then there's the very comfortable grip and knowledge that the lock is super tough. Minor downsides include gritty action, stiff lock release, slight blade play in open position and REKAT signature blade-stop rattle (get out the super glue!). I also don't really go for G10 what's the attraction for others?
All in all it's a fearsome beast, and a handsome one. Any news on sheaths/carry options?
Thanks to all who have aided in the realisation of this project
Kallisti
[This message has been edited by Kallisti (edited 27 October 1999).]
No-one rushing to outline the virtues of G10 then. To my mind it's better then Zytel - and that's about all I can say for it. I just think it feels less "human" than most any other handle material.
Also - any news on carry rigs?
I'm very glad there's no clip on this thing. A lanyard hole might be a nice addition though.
Cheers -
Kallisti
Also - any news on carry rigs?
I'm very glad there's no clip on this thing. A lanyard hole might be a nice addition though.
Cheers -
Kallisti
- Joined
- Jan 20, 1999
- Messages
- 738
Leroys_45
I have a picture or two of my green handled SIFU at: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=91257&a=817804
I am not directly linking the photos as despite reduction my large knife equalled a large file size and photopoint's server is rather slow.
Someone else posted a picture of theirs over a basket of apples, perhaps in the thread mentioned above.
Kallisti,
The virtual of G-10 is that it is one of the tougher handle material, provides a good grip, and is relatively impervious to chemicals. I believe this may have been discussed in reference to the BladeForums Spyderco Native (blue G-10 by the way), MadDogs proprietary version of it which is even stronger (here??) and in www.knifeforums.com, and genrally in discussions of handle materials. The only negatives, besides its possible lack of sex appeal, is that despite its greater strength, I recall Sal Glesser stating that it did not hold screws as well as Micarta. In other words, sleeves should be used to hold screws in G-10, unless they are just passing through to be held by something else, e.g. a stainless steel liner.
Many forum members seem to find Micarta a good compromise between sexier natural materials and man made materials such as G-10. There should be some threads in the one year archive. I liked the one on Micarta smell. When I mentioned that thread in another thread, I recall that someone disputed that it had or accumulated smells.
Some of the threads probably detail more exactly the chemical composition. As I recall Micarta is phenolic (such as billard balls) and a binding material such as paper, linen, or canvas. [I might speculate, but do not know that incompletely filled binding material might allow some absorbtion of chemicals or smells or perhaps phenolic is more porous than the resin(?) used in G-10.] G-10 is a resin bound with glass fiber, similar I suppose to the concept in fiberglass hulled boats. [I believe their is a G-11 which is supposed to be even tougher or perhaps this was just an offhand or inexact reference to MadDog's handle material.]
I personally have no problem with G-10, and actually like it. My only Micarta handled knife is a Busse Battle Mistress and I am NOT going to argue with her!
I believe the black handle on many Buck knives is Micarta.
Caveat: The above constitutes "Internet information
" In other words, this is off the top of my head and was not thoroughly researched. Hopefully, if I have made any eggregious errors, someone will correct me.
If the error is bad enough
, perhaps I will come back and edit out the mistake (duly noting same) to prevent the dissemination of misinformation.
P.S. I mentioned this before, but will mention this again in the event someone can explain it to me. One of the more attractive handles I have seen was a green Micarta handle on a Randall knife. It did not have that characteristic wavy or woodgrain type appearance that Micarta often has from the binding materia. It had more of a snakeskin appearance. ¿¿¿Perhaps it was sliced in a different direction than normal or perhaps it had an unusual binder???
If anyone has any idea how that was done, I would be interested.
*** Saved again by my UPS (uninteruptible power supply). I would have been very upset if this had been lost. No rude comments please!
***
I have a picture or two of my green handled SIFU at: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=91257&a=817804
I am not directly linking the photos as despite reduction my large knife equalled a large file size and photopoint's server is rather slow.
Someone else posted a picture of theirs over a basket of apples, perhaps in the thread mentioned above.
Kallisti,
The virtual of G-10 is that it is one of the tougher handle material, provides a good grip, and is relatively impervious to chemicals. I believe this may have been discussed in reference to the BladeForums Spyderco Native (blue G-10 by the way), MadDogs proprietary version of it which is even stronger (here??) and in www.knifeforums.com, and genrally in discussions of handle materials. The only negatives, besides its possible lack of sex appeal, is that despite its greater strength, I recall Sal Glesser stating that it did not hold screws as well as Micarta. In other words, sleeves should be used to hold screws in G-10, unless they are just passing through to be held by something else, e.g. a stainless steel liner.
Many forum members seem to find Micarta a good compromise between sexier natural materials and man made materials such as G-10. There should be some threads in the one year archive. I liked the one on Micarta smell. When I mentioned that thread in another thread, I recall that someone disputed that it had or accumulated smells.
Some of the threads probably detail more exactly the chemical composition. As I recall Micarta is phenolic (such as billard balls) and a binding material such as paper, linen, or canvas. [I might speculate, but do not know that incompletely filled binding material might allow some absorbtion of chemicals or smells or perhaps phenolic is more porous than the resin(?) used in G-10.] G-10 is a resin bound with glass fiber, similar I suppose to the concept in fiberglass hulled boats. [I believe their is a G-11 which is supposed to be even tougher or perhaps this was just an offhand or inexact reference to MadDog's handle material.]
I personally have no problem with G-10, and actually like it. My only Micarta handled knife is a Busse Battle Mistress and I am NOT going to argue with her!
I believe the black handle on many Buck knives is Micarta.
Caveat: The above constitutes "Internet information
P.S. I mentioned this before, but will mention this again in the event someone can explain it to me. One of the more attractive handles I have seen was a green Micarta handle on a Randall knife. It did not have that characteristic wavy or woodgrain type appearance that Micarta often has from the binding materia. It had more of a snakeskin appearance. ¿¿¿Perhaps it was sliced in a different direction than normal or perhaps it had an unusual binder???
If anyone has any idea how that was done, I would be interested.
*** Saved again by my UPS (uninteruptible power supply). I would have been very upset if this had been lost. No rude comments please!
- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 3,264
I just got my BladeForums Sifu. Nothing if not bold!!! Fit and finish are on the rough and ready side - I don't know if that is typical REKAT or not. It's definitel not a Microtech or a Chris Reeve, and some of the cosmetic "stuff" in the grind and finish on the blade would cause an uproar on the Benchmade Forum if it showed up on one of theirs. The G10 has some sharp points between the finger grooves that can use a little sanding down by the end user for comfort. But then I don't see it as an all-day working knife. A bit large for most "normal" pocket knife duty, perhaps welcome in an "abnormal" situation.
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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001
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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001
Jim March
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 7, 1998
- Messages
- 3,022
Richmond, California is an abnormal situation.
Sifu #1 is highly welcome.
James, the sanding issue is real, but minor. I knocked those "sharp tips" off with a few seconds of filing. The blade grinds are not 100% dead-on, it's true - but then again, they're hand-ground. To me, that means lower temps during the grinding and in the case of ATS34, that can mean a better eventual heat-treat no matter which "recipe" is used. Quick-grinding by robot can mean "hot spots" where your one shot at a proper heat-treat is "used up" at the grinding wheel.
A hand-ground blade is no *guarantee* of better final toughness, but it's a nice extra feeling of security. One that I'll gladly put up with miniscule unevenness for...
The Other Jim
Sifu #1 is highly welcome.
James, the sanding issue is real, but minor. I knocked those "sharp tips" off with a few seconds of filing. The blade grinds are not 100% dead-on, it's true - but then again, they're hand-ground. To me, that means lower temps during the grinding and in the case of ATS34, that can mean a better eventual heat-treat no matter which "recipe" is used. Quick-grinding by robot can mean "hot spots" where your one shot at a proper heat-treat is "used up" at the grinding wheel.
A hand-ground blade is no *guarantee* of better final toughness, but it's a nice extra feeling of security. One that I'll gladly put up with miniscule unevenness for...
The Other Jim
Donald, here's the thread with my apple basket pic. http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum32/HTML/000374.html
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Protect your Right to Keep and Bear Arms!
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Protect your Right to Keep and Bear Arms!
- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 3,264
Hand-grinding may or may not mean lower temperatures. The monster grinding machines that Benchmade uses keep the blades flooded with cooling oil during the grinding. Bob Engnath hand-ground ATS34 red hot, but he did it before and not after heat treatment.
I had forgotten that this run of Sifus had hand-ground blades. Hand-grinding rarely achieves the precision of high-end CNC grinding, and if they were done with the attention to detail that you see in a Chris Reeve or a William Henry or a good custom knife, they would presumably be priced accordingly.
------------------
- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001
I had forgotten that this run of Sifus had hand-ground blades. Hand-grinding rarely achieves the precision of high-end CNC grinding, and if they were done with the attention to detail that you see in a Chris Reeve or a William Henry or a good custom knife, they would presumably be priced accordingly.
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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001
Allen Blade
BANNED
- Joined
- Oct 29, 1999
- Messages
- 498
Hello,
Personally i think a Maker who understands the tech aspect of grinding blades and the techniques used to achive those final results can Grind a more Symetrical grind than any machine made.
They still havent came up with a way to match the EYE`s ability to guide the hands to near perfect grinds!!
in my opinion the machine may speed up
manufacture and repeatability ,but always at the loss of ARTISTIC endevor and Skill.
I have used machines and lazers and water jet cutters and Mill jigs ect.. doing
limited work for other manufactures, and I have always had to correct defects in Lazer cut edge angle`s, Edge Bevel, blade grind trueness ect. And I always had to do this By
EYE and by hand to achive the results I wanted.
This post is referring to the Post above talking about machine made product.
And in no way refer`s to REKAT its Workers, or Product.
Thanks ,
Allen Blade
[This message has been edited by Allen Blade (edited 29 October 1999).]
[This message has been edited by Allen Blade (edited 29 October 1999).]
Personally i think a Maker who understands the tech aspect of grinding blades and the techniques used to achive those final results can Grind a more Symetrical grind than any machine made.
They still havent came up with a way to match the EYE`s ability to guide the hands to near perfect grinds!!
in my opinion the machine may speed up
manufacture and repeatability ,but always at the loss of ARTISTIC endevor and Skill.
I have used machines and lazers and water jet cutters and Mill jigs ect.. doing
limited work for other manufactures, and I have always had to correct defects in Lazer cut edge angle`s, Edge Bevel, blade grind trueness ect. And I always had to do this By
EYE and by hand to achive the results I wanted.
This post is referring to the Post above talking about machine made product.
And in no way refer`s to REKAT its Workers, or Product.
Thanks ,
Allen Blade
[This message has been edited by Allen Blade (edited 29 October 1999).]
[This message has been edited by Allen Blade (edited 29 October 1999).]
- Joined
- Jan 20, 1999
- Messages
- 738
I had my SIFU in my desk drawer, now it is not, should I run and get to check fit & finish....naaagggghhhhh! 220 grit wet-dry sandpaper took care of the sharpness on the handle points while I watched Star Trek.
A little roughness to the lock if it is not depressed when opening. I presume from other threads cleaning and polishing would mostly take care of this, but it does not bother me. Extra polishing takes time and thus money (or some extra flicking
), but perhaps more attention needs to be taken in cleaning out any fragments, as mentioned in another thread. They might cause wear. Hmmm...wonder if my knife has any. In any event my knife is "good enuf" to paraphrase Ron Hood, in his tapes.
Whoever ground my blade did what I thought was a good job. There may have been some SLIGHT variation on the edge, but that would be difficult to keep even on the curves. It came sharp and a Sharpmaker 204 made it sharper....yes, during Star Trek.
Bottom line: GREAT KNIFE!!! Thanks REKAT!
A little roughness to the lock if it is not depressed when opening. I presume from other threads cleaning and polishing would mostly take care of this, but it does not bother me. Extra polishing takes time and thus money (or some extra flicking
Whoever ground my blade did what I thought was a good job. There may have been some SLIGHT variation on the edge, but that would be difficult to keep even on the curves. It came sharp and a Sharpmaker 204 made it sharper....yes, during Star Trek.
Bottom line: GREAT KNIFE!!! Thanks REKAT!