soliciting opinions on the Starmate

L

longbow

Joined
Jan 9, 1999
Messages
4,350
What do the owners think of there Starmates? Just got one and would like to hear from some people who have had them awhile. Keep'em sharp
 
I think the construction makes it one of the best production folders availiable but.....the handle it too straight so I find it extremely uncomfortable. so it is gone.
 
I have had 4 of em'. Loved them all but you know how it goes when the trade monster calls you in your sleep. I only used 1 of them and it was a bear of a knife. Great handle, and even better blade. I would have kept the latest one in my collection, but I needed it to conclude a trade for a custom. Starmate gets my vote as one of the best production knives out there.
 
Very angular design, very eye-catching design, suits my tastes. I don't find the handle to be uncomfortable myself, but others do report discomfort. My hands are pretty much medium sized if that helps.

Great lockup. Radiused tang is a great folder innovation... somewhat self adjusting for wear, works well as Spyderco delivers it.

Really probably my favorite blade profile, the "saber ground w/ swedge", or what many call a spear point. I'd rather the main bevel were flat ground, or hollow ground w/ a big 12" or 14" wheel, but that's a tweak. Heck, I'd rather it were in S30V at Rc61 or 420V at Rc59-60, but again, that's a wish.

Handle is very thin, strong, and light for it's size, since it does not have full liners and only an inlayed/recessed liner lock on one side. This is probably it's most truly unique characteristic in the ocean of production folders. Many have requested this with full liners, and I can understand that, and I'd probably buy one, but only if it had tougher steel also (S30V).

CPM 440V on both of mine take a truly excellent edge... I can get fairly clean shaving sharp, yet still with an aggressive toothy edge, done up with fine to medium diamond stones, and that is my favorite combo. (Lansky). A fine grain structure due to CPM process and vanadium content may contribute to sharpenability.

CPM440V from Spyderco is Rc55-57, so I don't find this hard to sharpen at all w/ diamond stones (this is on soft side, I really prefer Rc60 but not with 440V which gets brittle apparently). Edge holding is good enough for me, can't say I've got objective comparison data from side-by-side testing. I oughta do that I guess.

I'd rate this knife an excellent slicer type cutting instrument. It's not a truly heavy-duty, super-hard-use folder (like a Strider say or, ack, a Farid). But it is well built for what it is.

It's a fairly good self defense folder, lacking only in the depth of the index finger "guard" area, and I'd prefer to see the liner lock recessed more than it is, in either defense or utility mode (been meaning to recess mine w/ a Dremel but just haven't yet).

Overall, I like this knife very much, and put it at the top of my production folder list for this utility and defense niche with these:

BM 710 (my fav, all around, best balanced utility/defense folder around IMHO)
AFCK 800 (good utility, good secure index finger cutout makes it good for self defense also)
Spyderco Wegner (more utility oriented)
MT LCC (stout, decent utility blade, looks cool)
 
Everything that Rob said :-)

I have 5 production folders that I rotate; large plain Sebenza, BM 710HS, large Spyderco Wegner, MT LCC and the Starmate. The Starmate can handle about anything I ask it to do, if I need something more stout I will grab a fixed blade. If you are seriously considering one you might want to move quick, I think that they have been discontinued :(
 
they have been discontinued - i had a starmate w/a combo edge, was a good knife, fit my hand ok, liked the blade shape, wish it had ti liners though, no probs, but would make it look better imho, i traded mine for a MT LCC, and wanna get a custom terzuola starfighter/ATCK or whatever the heck it is - they run about $400 i think - but the spydie is a good knife for sure, if ya want one get it they are getting hard to find, at a good price anyway- and i also liked it much better than the wegner too, i looked at both at a BMbefore buying, i dont know, just didnt like the weg that much


sifu
 
Thanks for all the input on the StarMate. The one I just purchased is from a fellow formite from Philly. It is the plain edge model and appears to be one of the first batch built. It has a #661 on it. Don't know if it is any significance or not but it is there. Lock up is dead solid perfect and I really beat on the thing to make it fail to no avail. Don't even feel any flex on the lock even when I was hitting out towards the tip. I just happened to be purusing an old Combat Handguns Mag and Steven Dick did a rev.of it to my surprise. Said the Rc of the blade is between 59-61. I just know I have touched it up on a med. stone and this thing is beyond sharp. Feels different than any other blade I have sharpened too. A hell of a bite to it and the hairs just ping off my arm. Grabs real good too. Feels kind of like my S 2K as for sharpness but just different. Hard to really explain. I will say this though. In the past 6wks Ihave purchased new or used some good high quality prod folders. This and my BM 550 are without a doubt the sharpest and I would have to say the nicest of the bunch. This includes 3 new EKI's too. May catch flack for that one but what the hey. The 550 is no slouch in the sharpness dept either. I think with the blade shape and Axis lock without a doubt the BEST bargain to be had and carries extremely well. The SM is big, much bigger I think than what pictures typically show it to be. The blade to handle is just about right I think. Haven't put it to any real tests yet but it did pass my free standing paper bag test.
Cut into it with ease with very little movement of the bag. Again very unscientific and maybe is more technique sensitive to do than what the blade geometery shows but for me it is a good all around test for ease of cutting efficiency. Oh yea cut up a good portion of some all clothes line that is cotton woven I guess on the outside with a nylon type of core on the inside. Maybe 12' all told. Well I guess I am sold on the design of this particular knife and between my 550 and this I have a good rotation for daily carry. May put my Emersons on the market. Who knows. Keep'em sharp
 
one other 'oddity' about my starmate was ya could see machineing lines running along the blade - like it missed the final plolishing,. but not that bad - was gonna exchange, but called the seller who had 3 others and they were all like that - so i just kept it, i think the later models were finished rough, if mine was a example anyway.....


sifu
 
I handled the Starmate, and as much of a Spyderco fan as I am, I have to give it a rating of about 78%.
Good fit and finish, tight lock, nice G10, 440V blade.
Now the bad news - I don't like the blade shape, the hole is in an inconvenient spot for me, and I agree that it's a bit too "straight", also it had a rough and slow feeling action, this may have been the dealer's fault, but it wasn't nearly as smooth as the Spydie Lockbacks i'm used to in terms of opening and closing.
 
I did a little modification on my starmate. I took my dremel-tool and sanded a piece of the clip-side scale plus the liner, so I can better hold the knife with my index-finger. I put a C-36 military-cilp on it (this is the slightly bent one)so I can grab the knife even better.
With these modifications it is also easily opened with the left hand and the whole knife doesn't look that straight anymore.
If you compare it to an ATCF ( I know they are all a little different)you can see that the ATCF also has the little cutout on the clipside and that the ATCF is also a sraight folder.

I like my starmate and it is my daily carry.
Now that it is wintertime I switched to the part. serrated one (wicked sharp).

The fact, that the starmate has been discontinued tell's me that it is a very special knife for a few very special people. (no offense here)

Greetings
red
 
Once again fella's thanks for the input. Does anyone know the significance of the number on the left side of the blade near the thumb hole? This thing is finished very well blade wise. A nice even hollow grind that is about 3/4 high on the blade with nice evenly matched bevel grinds. Has a nice even satin grind with the logo's on the blade very crisp and clear. A nicely done thumb ramps that is not to coarse feeling but lends a bit of purchase to your thumb in the saber grip. I tightened up the pivot just a touch just cause I like to feel a bit of resistance when opening the blade up. Lets you know you are doing it. It glides though, not unlike my old 800. No grittiness but like a well oiled pivot. The blade centers perfectly between the scales and it is very lite weight. For being made the way it is I don't get how the blade has such a tight lock up when opened. I was going to disassemble it and see exactly what makes it tick, but I am going to leave well enough alone. So far of the knives I have purchased lately this and the 550 are without adoubt my favorites. Keep'em sharp
 
The serial number says that it was one of the first 1000 StarMates made. I do not remember just how this works, but Spyderco reserves the first few hundred of any poduction run for their collectors club and then release the remainder of the first 1000 into the market with serial numbers on them. My StarMate has a number in the 700s.

The StarMate is my all-time favorite folder. I love its shape, its feel, its looks, its CPM440V blade, everything about it. I have found that CPM440V will keep an edge better than any other steel that I have used, but that you really need to use somthing better than the run-of-the-mill sharpeners to keep it sharp. It tends to wear away most stones and to chew up steel hones. I broke down and bought a SharpMaker, and that does the job wonderfully well.
 
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