Skyliners Assemble

Flashpoint

Flashpoint

Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
2,172
Since I got my DAM Skyline in yesterday, I thought I might start a thread getting the collective opinions of the Skyline.

I have to say I'm little surprised at how small it is. I was expecting something a little brawnier for some reason. This thing has a super thin edge on it though, like a little drop point straight razor. The grip is very comfortable and the G10 scales give a good grip. The flipper was a little stiff, but I think it'll break in. The thumb stud could be a bit bigger, but I doubt it'll it get used much. All in all, I like it, another fine Kershaw product and a nice little EDC. :D

Any idea of the RC rating on the DAM steel? What it might compare to as far as expected performance?
 
my Skyline is my favorite EDC knife of all of them that I own, some costing considerably more.
 
Flashpoint,

It would be difficult to get an accurate RC on our Damascus blades because of the different metals and potential voids if measured traditionally. We have talked of cutting a few blades and having the cross sections micro tested however with the variations we have seen, even within the same sheet, we would have to give such a wide tolerance I don’t believe it will be much help.
 
tommie said:
Flashpoint,

It would be difficult to get an accurate RC on our Damascus blades because of the different metals and potential voids if measured traditionally. We have talked of cutting a few blades and having the cross sections micro tested however with the variations we have seen, even within the same sheet, we would have to give such a wide tolerance I don’t believe it will be much help.
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Does that mean the Damascus steel is more of a collector's steel than a user's steel, or that it's a tougher more flexible steel?
 
Here's a review from a reliable source.

STR said:
I am going to selfishly stick this in my forum and just link to it in the others. Hope no one minds. It will be easier to find in my small sub forum for me later I think. But I also want to draw attention to my forum too so yes, its selfish I guess. :D Just not getting as much traffic down here for us knife makers as I'd like sometimes. Maybe this will help bring some attention to Dan, Robert and I and you folks that haven't seen us will realize we have our own little corner of the woods here too and need some more guys making new threads now and then besides us all the time. Hint hint!

Here are some pics I've been sitting on waiting to be able to post and let out there that I thought those of you asking about the Damascus Leek would find interesting. I could go on and on with some pseudo scientific mumbo jumbo if you like but I'd rather just say this from the mind of a simple backyard mechanic. If the question comes up regarding the Damascus Leek regarding the Alabama Damascus, hardness, can it be used effectively in a variety of mediums to please an end line user and so on the answer is yes. Regardless of all the desriptive phrasing and so on about rounded edges, apex, this kind of sharpening that kind, you can buy this knife and get it to where it will work well for you as a cutting tool.

I put a 15` edge on each side of this Leek using my Edge Pro right after getting it. I stropped it a few times and ran it down the 1200 grit ceramic rod and off I went. From then on to this day I have only used the little EZLapp XXF diamond sharpener you see in these pics to touch it up when it needed and with just a few light strops on that it was back up and running to another nice keen edge.

I like it and won't be getting rid of this one. Will it cut with the ZDP189 or S30V before needing a touch up? No it won't. But for what its worth I no longer have either of those ones. This one came to me as a liner lock. A pink one at that! But not being man enough to carry a pink knife I first bead blasted that off, then later swapped out the body of the liner lock with a Wal-Mart stainless frame lock. I like this much better as it sits here and it looks like Kershaw is going to be offering them just like this to you guys. I think you'll be pleased. Really I do.

Seen here is some cutting I did with it. Hemp rope which amounts to about 100 or so end cuts (slices) And not all those were done right there. I had a bigger board at first but it got chewed up and discarded so I moved to a new one. Then we have some carpet remnants cut into strips off a bigger piece, just enough to see how she did on that after the hemp cuts, then I sharpened it some and went to work on some pecan which is the darker piece and then into some pine leaving some shavings I'll use for packing materials to cushion knives shipped back to customers. Yes some of you lucky guys may see some of these very shavings in your packages. :D You don't have to thank me really>

Seriously this Damascus carbon steel Leek is a nice little folder and I like it a lot. I don't think 500 will be enough and that they'll go fast though so if you want one bite the bullet now and snag it.

Edit: Had to search but I found my original scan of the knife Thomas first sent me in Pink shown next to my Lahar. Figured I'd add that to the list of pics for your convenience. Then you can see it again after I blasted off the pink. It was a liner lock sitting there in those last two pics.


Thanks for looking.

STR
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It's only human nature to want to quantify things, but I think Thomas cut to the heart of that one: performance is much more important than numbers. Kershaw could probably come up with an average HRC for us, but it would neither be useful (no good to us) nor impressive (no good to them). Suffice it to say that in this age of supersteels, damascus is not the ultimate answer to any question - but it sure does look cool.

And this damascus cuts, too! :cool:
 
Thanks for the post Thomas.

I really didn't think Kershaw would make something that couldn't be a user. Being somewhat ignorant of Damascus I'm just glad to hear that it's more than just a pretty face.;)

To those of you who haven't had a chance to check out a Skyline you owe it to yourself. Before the Skyline, my CB Shallot and Centofante 4 had the thinnest edge of my collection, but not now. This is one impulse buy that I don't regret.
 
Flashpoint said:
Since I got my DAM Skyline in yesterday, I thought I might start a thread getting the collective opinions of the Skyline.

I have to say I'm little surprised at how small it is. I was expecting something a little brawnier for some reason. This thing has a super thin edge on it though, like a little drop point straight razor. The grip is very comfortable and the G10 scales give a good grip. The flipper was a little stiff, but I think it'll break in. The thumb stud could be a bit bigger, but I doubt it'll it get used much. All in all, I like it, another fine Kershaw product and a nice little EDC. :D

Any idea of the RC rating on the DAM steel? What it might compare to as far as expected performance?
Click to expand...

Congrats on the new knife. The skyline is a great knife, I have the regular version and its one of the knives in my edc rotation. IIRC the thumbstud is there as a bladestop, it wasnt designed to be opened with the thumbstud.
 
Antihero17 said:
Congrats on the new knife. The skyline is a great knife, I have the regular version and its one of the knives in my edc rotation. IIRC the thumbstud is there as a bladestop, it wasnt designed to be opened with the thumbstud.
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However, if you loosen the pivot just a little (maybe 10 degrees?) from factory, then flick the thumbstud mostly sideways and slightly upwards, it opens very nicely. Shouldn't take much effort, though the angle seems to be fairly precise (takes a minute or two to get it).

Also, from factory, all of my 3-5 Skylines (including a DAM one) have flipped open flawlessly. Put your index finger anywhere on the tip of the flipper, and PUSH (not pull) the flipper towards the handle.

I've found them to be remarkably low-maintenance, fun to play with, and awesome for general utility (cutting down boxes, wrap, plastic covers, etc, a bit of light prying, and of course, food prep). And of course, it's amazingly light, around 2.3-2.4 oz.

Edge-holding isn't anything special, I tend to sharpen mine about once every 2-3 weeks to a med-grit, toothy edge, with stropping in-between and a few passes on a fine-grit waterstone near the base of the blade.
 
I love my DAM skyline. I don't know how many flips it took, but after 3 days of carrying it and playing with it, the flipping action was smooth and consistent. After a couple of weeks, I also picked up the small torx and took it apart and put a small drop of oil on the pivot. It didn't seem to make any difference, but it may have helped during the break in period.

I also put a drop of oil on the blade every couple of weeks because someone else in the forum pointed out that DAM steel will be less rust resistant.

I like that the blade and scales are thin. Makes for a beautiful yet discreet little package here at the office.
 
I backed the pivot screw off a hair and added some oil to it. After that I walked around the house flipping it and it seemed to loosen up pretty quick.

Any other Skyline owners want to chime in?
 
The Skyline has been hanging out with for the last few days and I have to say the more I carry it the more I like it. I thought it a bit small (or smaller than I was expecting), but now it seems a great EDC size. Not too big not too little. The edge is holding up well. I've cut some cardboard up along with several other odd and end task and it still shaves. This is the first knife I've had with G10 scales, every thing else has been metal or wood, and I really like the feel of it. The blade is opening in a flash now. This knife has earned a place in permanent rotation.

I haven't seen any reference to Ken Onion on this knife. Was it designed in house or is it an adaption from another designer?
 
Flashpoint said:
I haven't seen any reference to Ken Onion on this knife. Was it designed in house or is it an adaption from another designer?
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, this was designed by Tommie who works in
R&D for Kershaw. The same Tommie that is also one of our mods.
 
J_Curd said:
It is indeed Tommie's work.
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Great job Tommie, I love the Skyline. I'm amazed at the quality and value. I've never had to touch the pivot at all and mine flips open in a flash. I have a few "outsourced" knives from other manufacturers that cost more than the Skyline, and are pretty much junk in comparison. The fact that Kershaw is producing this kind of US made quality at such an affordable price indicates a company that is running at peak efficiency, IMO. Maybe we should send the Kershaw people to Detroit to clean up the mess there.:D
 
jonnyfgroove said:
The fact that Kershaw is producing this kind of US made quality at such an affordable price indicates a company that is running at peak efficiency, IMO. Maybe we should send the Kershaw people to Detroit to clean up the mess there.:D
Click to expand...
Or Washington, D.C. :eek:
 
riffraff said:
Or Washington, D.C. :eek:
Click to expand...

No, no that would never work. The people at Kershaw have waaay too much common sense for DC!

If Thomas and the crew went to DC to fix the problems, I think the conversation would go something like this:

Kershaw People: Why are you DC people doing this?
DC People: Huh?
Kershaw People: Do it this way...it makes more sense!
DC People: What?
Kershaw People: Are all you guys nuts? You're screwing up!
DC People: Uh...
Kershaw People: We're outta here. You're all morons!
DC People: Huh?


:D
 
Yeah, tommie knocked one out of the chili bowl with this one. (the other one too)
A most excellent user. I would still like to see more variations of it for sure.
An all black (1760CKT) would be a good first step.
Followed by RED, BLUE and GREEN G-10. ;)

Now, if only he would get out of plastic ware, kitchen knives and spatulas, he could design us a few more folders. :D

mike
 
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