Tell me about this blade

B

bgold

Joined
Nov 5, 2013
Messages
11
I've had this blade for a long time and cannot for the life of me remember who made it.

I purchased it from a sportsmans show, it has no craftsman mark so I have no idea what it is.

I'd like to know the make so I can determine whether or not I can trust the steel.

I dont want to be out with a blade that's made from crap steel.

anyone know anything about it?

-full tang
-3/16 thick
-seems to be some sort of powder coat




EDIT: adding image to first pose as well.
Egilzp8.jpg
 
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Welcome.

If there are no identifying marks on a blade, that may be because no one wanted to take credit for it.

That may not be the case with your knife. A quickie rule of thumb for judging the quality of the steel in a knife is how much you paid for it.

What, about did you pay? Under 50 US?

Also, another way yo judge...are those marks on the blade: the blade rubbing sheath stuff off onto it, or the sheath rubbing the coating off the blade? The latter would probably be a poor sign. I got a 420J2 CRKT that looks like that. Not a great knife.
 
Im not entirely sure how much it cost. It was a LONG time ago... probably 15 years or so.

The handle appears to be made of Micarta as well.

THe coating appears to be rubbing off. However, I'm more interested in the steel the blade is made of.

So its looking to be a low quality blade so far eh?
 
See how sharp you can get it.

If it will shave hair, that is a good sign.

Then, see how much use it takes to dull the edge.

Depending on what you are using it for, you may never need a shaving-sharp blade.

If it is going camping with you, you may be able to use a 500 grit diamond hone on it, and come up with a prefectly serviceable edge.

Edge geometry has it's role to play: if this knife has a very wide edge bevel (30 degrees or more) it may not be able to shave hair. But it will chop wood.
 
Using the knife is the best way to determine the quality of the steel/heat treatment/edge geometry.


I always test my knives in a controlled environment, like my back yard or the woods around my property, before I will trust them in the field,

...and that goes for all the knives I use, irrespective of maker or steel type.




Big Mike
 
Does anybody else think the handle pin pattern might be a maker's mark?

I know there was a conversation about this, but searching this forum is a long slog...
 
I was doing some thinking on it and I remembered that the guy who I bought it from at the show also said that he made the kydex sheath for it.

The sheath has what looks like a makers mark.

Anyone recognize this mark?

Egilzp8.jpg
 
Just an update here... I went out recently and botoned that crap out of this blade including the last 1 or so of the spine and the blade is still sharp and there is no deforming or breakage that I can see.

Seems to be a decent blade at least. Just wish I knew what it was made of!!!
 
Maybe made of the same mystery steel that Gerber used for a long time :D Looks like a nice knife, and if it performs well and stays sharp, why would it matter what it is made of? Just curious.
 
I just want to know so I can know with relative certainly that I can rely on this blade in an emergency situation ya know?

It certainly has all the making of a good blade though...

Full tang, 3/16 to 1/4 thick ( haven't measured), great sturdy handle, 1 3/4 wide blade.... etc...

Just wish I knew what it was made of haha
 
bgold said:
I just want to know so I can know with relative certainly that I can rely on this blade in an emergency situation ya know?

It certainly has all the making of a good blade though...

Full tang, 3/16 to 1/4 thick ( haven't measured), great sturdy handle, 1 3/4 wide blade.... etc...

Just wish I knew what it was made of haha
Click to expand...
Test it? Just knowing what the steel is, won't tell you how reliable it is. Even if you are familiar with the steel used.
 
RemyKaze said:
Test it? Just knowing what the steel is, won't tell you how reliable it is. Even if you are familiar with the steel used.
Click to expand...

agreed. That thing could be made of any number of super steels and it wouldnt matter if the heat treat wasnt up to par. You would rather have a knife made with 420HC and have it treated properly than S30V with a bad heat treat. Using it will be the only tell.
 
Just curious. Was the knife new when you bought it? If not it looks to me like the handle may not be original. Are the scales screwed on? Maybe there's some ID underneath.
 
Its screwed together using what look like torx head screws. What about that handle makes you think its not original. I honestly couldn't tell you if it was previously owned or not. It didnt come in any packaging or anything other than a box.

May be a stupid question BUT.... what does carbon steel smell like?
 
bgold said:
Its screwed together using what look like torx head screws. What about that handle makes you think its not original. I honestly couldn't tell you if it was previously owned or not. It didnt come in any packaging or anything other than a box.

May be a stupid question BUT.... what does carbon steel smell like?
Click to expand...

It's that if it were a custom the maker would certainly have a mark somewhere on the blade. The coating on the blade leads me to believe that it's a production knife and someone made new scales covering all ID then fitted the sheath.
I'm probably wrong but if it were mine the curiosity would compel me to remove the scales and check. This thread was enough to pique my interest and it's not even my knife. ;)
 
bgold said:
Its screwed together using what look like torx head screws. What about that handle makes you think its not original. I honestly couldn't tell you if it was previously owned or not. It didnt come in any packaging or anything other than a box.

May be a stupid question BUT.... what does carbon steel smell like?
Click to expand...

Cut something acidic like a green apple. Carbon steel will both leave a slight residue on the apple, and have an acrid, biting smell that is very apparent when you sniff it. Almost a coppery, penny/"blood in your nose" smell. If you don't really smell anything at all, it's stainless.
 
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