Some S110V Shallot impressions

[thombrogan]

Got a Kershaw brand Shallot folding pocket knife a long time ago and finally decided to check it out today for knife fun that didn't depend on 1/2 micron edges and low-carbide alloys. Got the idea yesterday.

Wifey was slicing up sod with a Spyderco brand Superhawk while were doing yardwork. I was thinking "I want to slice up sod, too" and then thought "I bet a knife with one of those honking huge carbide alloys would work even better." Today, got to plant nine trees, so I brought out the Shallot and gave it a whirl.

First thing I noticed was that the edge bevel never stopped shining from clump of sod one to clump of sod ten (mis-shovelled on one tree, so it had two sod clumps ).

Second thing I noticed was that the edge took its time going from aggressive cutting to smooth cutting. As the edge was killed at clump one, it was very impressive that its cold, dead edge was cutting like it was fresh off the diamonds for about have the job.

What I never noticed was the handle. As it's a steel handle with a steel clip, not noticing the handle was a very positive thing.

So the trees were planted and lots of abrasive cutting were done. Yay! Next, to resharpen.

Used the coarse side of DMT brand Duofold folding pocket sharpening set. Went from visibly dull, full flattened edge to an aggressive edge in about 20 minutes of scraping. Two things on this part:
1. I'm too stupid to sharpen S110V to a sharp edge by hand or with an EdgePro and it keeps raining whenever I think I'm going to drag the sander outdoors.
2. The Superhawk used yesterday to cut five sodclumps; with the same 325 grit side of the Duofold; took two hours to regrind its edge and it has a finer-grained alloy and a thinner blade. Now VG-10 is something my frail skills will make very pleasingly sharp, but that was the reward for schlepping for two hours.

So the S110V Shallot is a great working knife that won't win any Darksider accolades, but it just doesn't need them. If a plain-edged recurve blade with a steel handle and framelock will keep working and working after its edge has been sodded and its all-steel handle is so comfortable that it is unnoticeable in hand during use and its uses are cutting stuff that needs cutting and not feats of cutting skill and sharpening prowess (which I need to develop on S110V), well, then it's awesome.

Going to add another post with pics.

 

[thombrogan]

Bead-blasted steel that's not afraid of its carbides. You know it's sexy.

Open the door; get on the floor; everybody walk the dinosaur!

How were they able to make a pointy, recurved blade without making it an attention hound?

Blade was unruly, so it got thrown in lockup. Should probably clean it a little better...

Dull, flat, and shameful and corrected in about 20 minutes.

As someone who generally hates S30V, I still have to admit this S110V blade is impressive. Gotta be how the alloy carries its bead blast. By the way, the edge-bevel never lost its shine and the blade wasn't really scratched after cutting through rocky soil.

 

[sodak]

Interesting review Thom, thanks! I might have to pick one of those up, sounds interesting and exotic!

 

[thombrogan]

Hope you have better luck sharpening it than me. Though that Superhawk took two hours to get ready for its final edge, its final edge is better and the blade is back in my pocket. I just have a newfound appreciation for a steel I wouldn't normally use.

 

[thombrogan]

Thinned out the edge with a belt-sander yesterday. Needs for thinning and better sharpening and then I'll post pics. No longer looks sexy. Also, S110V will eat belts.

For other people sharing my problems with sharpening S110V, DO NOT sharpen one in tandem with a blade made of 13C26 or H1. Thinned out and sharpened an H1 Spyderhawk alongside the Shallot and the difference was between shooting a bullet and throwing one. Having one blade be able to float through thermal paper while the other has great difficulty scrape-shaving was just a painful reminder that I don't have the skills to sharpen a steel with big-boy carbides. Hopefully, no one else shares my ineptitude.

 

[samhain73]

Was one of the problems sharpening due to it being a recurve, and the duofold not fitting?
The large carbide knives seem to due very well for me if I use the grampa circular motion style of sharpening with a stone, but that might just be because I convex and polish all larger carbide steel blades.

 

[thombrogan]

I don't think so it was that. I'm able to sharpen other recurves and hawkbills with that paddle, so my conclusion is a lack of skill on my part. 13C26, 12C27M, 52100, and H1 made everything too easy.

 

[knarfeng]

That's a great review from somebody who normally avoids carbide alloys!

 

[knarfeng]

I gotta. I just gotta.

Thom, Come to the dark side. We have carbides!

 

[db]

Come on Thom we all know you have the skill to sharpen anything to a killer edge. I don't know anything about this steel though. However, I'm not a fan of steels that take a long time to sharpen that is why I rarely use a s90V blade I have.

 

[nevermind35]

Thanks for the review Thom. I have one of these however I haven't given it a whole lot of use yet. I always thought it would be about the perfect hard work knife though. Thanks for the motivation to get out and use it.

 

[thombrogan]

Come on Thom we all know you have the skill to sharpen anything to a killer edge. I don't know anything about this steel though. However, I'm not a fan of steels that take a long time to sharpen that is why I rarely use a s90V blade I have.

No skill in sharpening this knife to a killer edge. I've gotten better at recurves and hawkbills, too, so it's just my sucky skills.

Here are some pics of the blade thinned out with a belt-sander (au revoir, tip. ) and sharpened with the 40° setting on a Sharpmaker:

The edge bevels (below the sanding marks) are cute, but it ain't sexy anymore. And still can't shave hair. If anyone has a time machine, please let me go back to when I only did rough grinding on this knife with just a DMT coarse paddle.

I gotta. I just gotta.

Thom, Come to the dark side. We have carbides!

Nice! Darksiders usually can't a blade that's thin enough or hard enough or carbides that are fine enough.

Thanks for the review Thom. I have one of these however I haven't given it a whole lot of use yet. I always thought it would be about the perfect hard work knife though. Thanks for the motivation to get out and use it.

Thanks for the kind words, nm35. It's definitely a great knife for getting work done. I'd probably enjoy the 14C28N version a lot more, but the 110V version is definitely a workhorse that doesn't need stops for touchups.

 

[DennisStrickland]

usually when working with these super steels m4 , zdp189, i simply touch them up frequently so i'm not stuck with a real task. however i do have an earlier lansky electric machine that i can jump on if it's too much work.

 

[Gator97]

Good review Brogan
58-59HRC stock hardness doesn't do CPM 110V justice. Especially in the folder.
And for the record, it(CPM 110V) has no problems with acute edges at 64HRC. As for edge holding and wear resistance at that hardness, it is nothing but exceptional.
Although, grinding initial bevels on that knife is definitely more than 20min on puny duofolds.
But once that is done touchups are very easy, especially on with thin edges.

 

[thombrogan]

I don't know the hardness of my folder, but do know the inability to sharpen it is my own. Will break out the Sharpmaker again and put a 15/20 on it. You should hear the steel when it's on the ceramic hones versus the diamond ones - there's a tiny nails on chaulkboard sort of sound.

Even with the edge just short of armhair-shaving, it's a good cutter in its current configuration.

 

[thombrogan]

Razor-edge schmazor-edge. Close enough! Will use more when I can unseat my Spyderhawk and see what else it can do.

 

[knarfeng]

I don't know the hardness of my folder, but do know the inability to sharpen it is my own. Will break out the Sharpmaker again and put a 15/20 on it. You should hear the steel when it's on the ceramic hones versus the diamond ones - there's a tiny nails on chaulkboard sort of sound.

Even with the edge just short of armhair-shaving, it's a good cutter in its current configuration.

Frickin' carbides are harder than the aluminum oxide.

They're calling to you Thom

 

[FriskyDingo]

Still want some grip on the handles...

 

[thombrogan]

Frickin' carbides are harder than the aluminum oxide.

They're calling to you Thom

They are.

I've been doing yardwork with a Spyderco Tasman Salt and Cold Steel's Vaquero Granda and American Lawman and the Lawman gets the nod over the other two only because it's so much easier to resharpen, but all of them take much longer to bring back than the 110V Shallot.

I've been duly influenced by Phil Wilson and Alvin Johnston to appreciate very thin, very hard steels, but generally went with Johnston and the troublemakers (I are one) in preferring steels with low carbide volumes. They work very well for food prep and indoors cutting tasks, but apparently confirm every knifenut's assertion that certain steels (and grinds and and and) work better for certain tasks and occasions.

So, if I don't think I'll be cutting in the dirt, I'll take an AUS-8A blade (or, better yet, 13C26 or 14C28N), but if I know that'll happen, S110V will do rough work much, much longer and be easier to restore.

 

[fishface5]

I can get mine shaving sharp but it doesn't seem to stay that way very long. However it DOES remain work-sharp just about forever.

If you think yours isn't sexy anymore you should see mine - beat it like a red-headed stepchild, used a grinder to change the handle profile, dremelled in some thumb-ridges, and then covered in stair-tape. MAN that's an ugly knife. But boy does it work all day . . . .