The "Ask Nathan a question" thread

h7per said:
Hey Nathan great to see prototypes like this. good luck with them.

Some time ago I had to sell my EDC2. now I'm thinking to buy it again, but also now DEK model is intriguing me. don't have budget as big to go for both right now.
so wanted to ask you which one would you recommend to get? + I have normal-large hands, FK2 feels amazing in my hand, tho have heard it's pretty bulky for some people with smaller hands.

Can you please tell me pros and cons in EDC2 vs DEK?
Want to choose one for everyday use (well, yeah lol EDC name tell by itself that I'm created for everyday use, but DEK intrigued me).
size difference isn't big deal for me 4.5" vs 3.3" = 1.2 inch isn't too much. also talking for AR-Trvlr's thread RC on DEK is 60-61 and RC on EDC is 61-62, so EDC is bit hard and bit less tough or no? wanna hear your opinion about this.
Click to expand...
#neverwillbeNathan
I like the handle of the DEK1 a lot, especially if wearing gloves. I think Nathan says somewhere that only extra large hands will have a problem with the DEK1(but I see that you haven't mentioned any ergonomic issues with the EDC when you had it, so you should be fine with the DEK1).
Of course, if you even vaguely forsee a defensive purpose for the knife, DEK1 wins.
Keep in mind, that I am a casual user and I am sure that Nathan/Lorien/other serious users will tell you if there is anything in which the EDC fares better over the DEK1 .
My vote is for the DEK1
 
schmittie schmittie
Here is a picture of an s grind kitchen knife
Robindalman-sgrind-choilshot.jpg

Basically, it's a flat grind, but the transition from flat to primary and from primary to secondary have been convexed, and in the middle there is a slight hollow section.
Thought behind it is that with S grind there is less chance for the knife to get stuck in material, because of that hollow section in the middle.
CPK S grinds are not that pronounced, but they are there.
 
Our shallow S grind was developed by Dan Keffeler and was used on his competition chopper that has won more world championships than any other knife. we developed a manufacturing process to duplicate this subtle geometry and use it on our competition choppers and it also gets applied to a few other knives such as our regular choppers.

You can do a thought experiment, think about a shallow convex grind that gets narrower and narrower, at a certain point the center of the grind is actually concave. You have the reduced binding of the smoothed shoulders at the top and bottom of the grind and clearance in the middle of the grind. It's a geometry that cuts deep without binding.

Ours is very subtle. We started out too aggressive and, while they bit very deep, they didn't pop chips and could get sunk all the way to the spine and become stuck. It took us some development to get there.





Jo is routinely cutting her boards in competition in just a few hits. The other women in these cuts typically need 10-30 hits. To date she is the only female competitor to two hit her board in competition. Obviously she is a very good cutter and would be competitive with about any decent knife, but I believe we produce the best comp chopper made and I feel this gives her and Ben a competitive advantage. Ben was undefeated in his last season before the pandemic. The S grind is a part of the equation.
 
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SharpPancake said:
schmittie schmittie
Here is a picture of an s grind kitchen knife
Robindalman-sgrind-choilshot.jpg

Basically, it's a flat grind, but the transition from flat to primary and from primary to secondary have been convexed, and in the middle there is a slight hollow section.
Thought behind it is that with S grind there is less chance for the knife to get stuck in material, because of that hollow section in the middle.
CPK S grinds are not that pronounced, but they are there.
Click to expand...

Nathan the Machinist said:
Our shallow S grind was developed by Dan Keffeler and was used on his competition chopper that has won more world championships than any other knife. we developed a manufacturing process to duplicate this subtle geometry and use it on our competition choppers and it also gets applied to a few other knives such as our regular choppers.

You can do a thought experiment, think about a shallow convex grind that gets narrower and narrower, at a certain point the center of the grind is actually concave. You have the reduced binding of the smoothed shoulders at the top and bottom of the grind and clearance in the middle of the grind. It's a geometry that cuts deep without binding.

Ours is very subtle. We started out too aggressive and, while they bit very deep, they didn't pop chips and could get sunk all the way to the spine and become stuck. It took us some development to get there.





Jo is routinely cutting her boards in competition in just a few hits. The other women in these cuts typically need 10-30 hits. To date she is the only female competitor to two hit her board in competition. Obviously she is a very good cutter and would be competitive with about any decent knife, but I believe we produce the best comp chopper made and I feel this gives her and Ben a competitive advantage. Ben was undefeated in his last season before the pandemic. The S grind is a part of the equation.
Click to expand...

Thanks to you both for the info and help. I’d have never figured this out on my own.

And Jo the Machinist Jo the Machinist is too stinkin cool!
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Our shallow S grind was developed by Dan Keffeler and was used on his competition chopper that has won more world championships than any other knife. we developed a manufacturing process to duplicate this subtle geometry and use it on our competition choppers and it also gets applied to a few other knives such as our regular choppers.

You can do a thought experiment, think about a shallow convex grind that gets narrower and narrower, at a certain point the center of the grind is actually concave. You have the reduced binding of the smoothed shoulders at the top and bottom of the grind and clearance in the middle of the grind. It's a geometry that cuts deep without binding.

Ours is very subtle. We started out too aggressive and, while they bit very deep, they didn't pop chips and could get sunk all the way to the spine and become stuck. It took us some development to get there.





Jo is routinely cutting her boards in competition in just a few hits. The other women in these cuts typically need 10-30 hits. To date she is the only female competitor to two hit her board in competition. Obviously she is a very good cutter and would be competitive with about any decent knife, but I believe we produce the best comp chopper made and I feel this gives her and Ben a competitive advantage. Ben was undefeated in his last season before the pandemic. The S grind is a part of the equation.
Click to expand...
that gal has poise!
 
Drpl said:
Hi Nathan, do you think you will finish evaluating Magnacut by the time of UF2 preorder? And do you plan on offer Magnacut as a option for this project
Click to expand...

That's a good question. No. given the users and the application I'm not using a material I don't have a lot of experience with. These are going to be Delta 3V and AEBL.

Magna cut looks like it might turn out to be a very cool steel and I expect it will have a lot of interest amongst knife nuts, but many military users the durability and ease of sharpening of AEBL is going to serve them well.
 
Hi Nathan! Thanks for all the hard work!
Are the wooden scales on the DEK1's epoxied onto the blades? I was thinking that I might remove my wooden scales on mine since I plan to EDC it to keep them looking like new and just mount them for special occasions when I want to show them off. Is that a bad idea even though I am very capable of removing them? I use my Hot-Air Rework station to heat the Loctite and protect the scales with Kapton tape.
Maybe I should just collect it and buy another DEK1 next month to EDC...
 
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