- Joined
- Mar 21, 2005
- Messages
- 3,355
Got my T-Mag in the mail yesterday. I like this knife a lot. Im glad Spyderco made it because while it will probably just be more of a collectors item because of the novelty of the magnets, it reinforces that the company is not afraid to do unconventional things and that spirit should, in the end, always benefit both them and the customers by providing better products through experimentation and innovation.
The action on the knife itself is, as other have already stated, very smooth. Really, its almost effortless. This knife can be flipped open with a minimum push of the thumb at any angle. Likewise, a push with the index finger on the back of the Spyderhole hump will send it back to the closed position just as easily. I have not attempted to tighten the pivot at all, but I suspect some more resistance could be dialed in.
Now, the main feature of the knife is the magnet. It is not very big, but quite strong for its size. Passing the spine side of the pivot area close by metal surfaces will, more often that not, result in the knife quickly sticking itself right on. The knife hung solidly on the side of my refrigerator and didnt slip at all. I suppose that in a pinch this may provide a way to temporarily put the knife somewhere to free up your hand for something else.
It seems to me that the effectiveness of the magnet is based not only on its strength but how it and the blade are shaped to create contact surface areas.
Top of the blade, main contact area when open
Bottom of the blade, main contact area when closed
With the cut of the magnet and the blade, all the surfaces are square. I have another knife that operates with magnets made by Kelly Carlson.
He utilizes a round magnet.
The blade is cut round as well to fit.
The Carlson knife is opened by small tab that extends of the back end of the blade, you just flip it with your thumb.
While the T-Mags magnet is stronger than the Carlsons, the break required to open or close the blade on both knives is pretty much equal to me. I wonder how many ways there are skin a cat as far as blade and magnet shape/positioning. Is there a balancing point past which the strength of the magnet is too much for a certain amount of contact surface area? Would several smaller magnets instead of one larger magnet still provide sufficient force for holding the blade? Does a round or angled cut give as much grip with less magnetic force than a square cut, or vice versa? Im not qualified to answer such questions, but I find the concepts very interesting and am intrigued to see what other ideas and elements may be employed in the future by custom makers or production companies to refine the idea.
An important area where I do prefer the Carlson design the to T-Mag is that the extended tab gives me two ways to hold the knife. I can use a conventional grip and place my thumb on the tab to help hold the blade open, or I can use something of a pinch grip with my thumb and middle finger on either side of the pivot and my index finger on the tab. With the T-Mag using the choil area to provide support you really only have one way to hold the knife. With your index finger just resting there it only gives you the tactile feeling that the knife is moving towards the closed position. One must consciously exert upward/forward pressure with the index finger to actually have any sort of resistance to the blade moving towards the closed position. If you have a different mindset/awareness of using a slipjoint than a locking blade, then you need another one when using this knife because it can break from the open position with less force than you realize or at an angle you might not think it would. While there are dual full sized steel liner and carbon fiber scales, this is a light use knife that requires more attention paid to it than a conventional locking knife.
All of that said, the quality of the knife is excellent as Id expect from Spyderco. I hope that this knife doesnt get sold short as just a novelty item because I think its production can expose people to different ways of thinking about knives if they take the time to examine it. Again, I feel that expanded thinking and understanding is always a positive thing for makers and collectors alike.
The action on the knife itself is, as other have already stated, very smooth. Really, its almost effortless. This knife can be flipped open with a minimum push of the thumb at any angle. Likewise, a push with the index finger on the back of the Spyderhole hump will send it back to the closed position just as easily. I have not attempted to tighten the pivot at all, but I suspect some more resistance could be dialed in.
Now, the main feature of the knife is the magnet. It is not very big, but quite strong for its size. Passing the spine side of the pivot area close by metal surfaces will, more often that not, result in the knife quickly sticking itself right on. The knife hung solidly on the side of my refrigerator and didnt slip at all. I suppose that in a pinch this may provide a way to temporarily put the knife somewhere to free up your hand for something else.
It seems to me that the effectiveness of the magnet is based not only on its strength but how it and the blade are shaped to create contact surface areas.
Top of the blade, main contact area when open
Bottom of the blade, main contact area when closed
With the cut of the magnet and the blade, all the surfaces are square. I have another knife that operates with magnets made by Kelly Carlson.
He utilizes a round magnet.
The blade is cut round as well to fit.
The Carlson knife is opened by small tab that extends of the back end of the blade, you just flip it with your thumb.
While the T-Mags magnet is stronger than the Carlsons, the break required to open or close the blade on both knives is pretty much equal to me. I wonder how many ways there are skin a cat as far as blade and magnet shape/positioning. Is there a balancing point past which the strength of the magnet is too much for a certain amount of contact surface area? Would several smaller magnets instead of one larger magnet still provide sufficient force for holding the blade? Does a round or angled cut give as much grip with less magnetic force than a square cut, or vice versa? Im not qualified to answer such questions, but I find the concepts very interesting and am intrigued to see what other ideas and elements may be employed in the future by custom makers or production companies to refine the idea.
An important area where I do prefer the Carlson design the to T-Mag is that the extended tab gives me two ways to hold the knife. I can use a conventional grip and place my thumb on the tab to help hold the blade open, or I can use something of a pinch grip with my thumb and middle finger on either side of the pivot and my index finger on the tab. With the T-Mag using the choil area to provide support you really only have one way to hold the knife. With your index finger just resting there it only gives you the tactile feeling that the knife is moving towards the closed position. One must consciously exert upward/forward pressure with the index finger to actually have any sort of resistance to the blade moving towards the closed position. If you have a different mindset/awareness of using a slipjoint than a locking blade, then you need another one when using this knife because it can break from the open position with less force than you realize or at an angle you might not think it would. While there are dual full sized steel liner and carbon fiber scales, this is a light use knife that requires more attention paid to it than a conventional locking knife.
All of that said, the quality of the knife is excellent as Id expect from Spyderco. I hope that this knife doesnt get sold short as just a novelty item because I think its production can expose people to different ways of thinking about knives if they take the time to examine it. Again, I feel that expanded thinking and understanding is always a positive thing for makers and collectors alike.
