Along with the order of my Spyderco Military from a Canadian web retailer, they threw in a 1 4/5 inch blade, 3 inch handle, 1.5mm stock folder marked Jaguar and China. As they weren't too embarrased to include them in the same package to the same buyer (com'on, it's a Spyderco Military I bought, not some UC collectable), I'm not going to complain about free stuff. So I put it to some work to see what this thing can do. Imagine this as something you find in the rubble of a ransacked 7/11 store in a post-apcocalyptic world. Then it might be considered a Sebenza over all the austentic stainless knives the other survivors ground from kitchen sinks.
A picture of the Jag along with a SAK Cadet and Classic:
The piece can be considered unsharpened. The bevel was obtuse and didn't meet. I spent 5 minutes on a coarse stone and ended up with a 20 degree bevel on one side and a 15 degree bevel on the other. The edge still did not meet at the last 1/2 inch or so of the blade near the handle, as it was difficult to sharpen for a variety of reasons. A 20 degree edge each side was put on with a Sharpmaker. With a burr, it shaved readily. But removing the burr was very difficult, requiring ever increasing sharpening angle. After I was satisfied with having removed the burr, it could no longer shave at all. Keep in mind this only has about 1 1/4 inch of sharpened edge.
Post sharpening 20 degree side:
Task for today: making a budget pasta dinner.
Opening the can of pasta sauce was accomplished by first driving the point through the top with the palm. Subsequent cutting was done by angling the knife 45 degrees, and pushing down on the spine directly on top of where it contacts the lid. Cuts the other way were done by driving the point with the palm into the lid near the rim, then wedging the point agains the side of the can and pushing down on the far end of the handle. No damage was substained from this activity.
The blade was rinsed and a cut attempted on some rolled up newspaper (cut under its own rigidity). It was able to slice/saw through it with some time. The second shot was with the Spyderco Military. Being sharper and having more blade length, it required less sawing and made a cleaner edge, but it was not magnitudes easier.
A picture of the Jag along with a SAK Cadet and Classic:
The piece can be considered unsharpened. The bevel was obtuse and didn't meet. I spent 5 minutes on a coarse stone and ended up with a 20 degree bevel on one side and a 15 degree bevel on the other. The edge still did not meet at the last 1/2 inch or so of the blade near the handle, as it was difficult to sharpen for a variety of reasons. A 20 degree edge each side was put on with a Sharpmaker. With a burr, it shaved readily. But removing the burr was very difficult, requiring ever increasing sharpening angle. After I was satisfied with having removed the burr, it could no longer shave at all. Keep in mind this only has about 1 1/4 inch of sharpened edge.
Post sharpening 20 degree side:
Task for today: making a budget pasta dinner.
Opening the can of pasta sauce was accomplished by first driving the point through the top with the palm. Subsequent cutting was done by angling the knife 45 degrees, and pushing down on the spine directly on top of where it contacts the lid. Cuts the other way were done by driving the point with the palm into the lid near the rim, then wedging the point agains the side of the can and pushing down on the far end of the handle. No damage was substained from this activity.
The blade was rinsed and a cut attempted on some rolled up newspaper (cut under its own rigidity). It was able to slice/saw through it with some time. The second shot was with the Spyderco Military. Being sharper and having more blade length, it required less sawing and made a cleaner edge, but it was not magnitudes easier.