The Bears' Den--Shirogorov Showcase

[Mr.sig239]

Happy Easter fellow Shiro buds! A nice early morning coffee by the fire for me.

 

[CPP]

Happy Easter fellow Shiro buds! A nice early morning coffee by the fire for me.

Happy Easter, MASS members!... and everyone else, too. I have the same wood-pellet stove and, until recently, had a CF RDD too. I barely use it because it works too well–the stove, that is.

 

[ChazzyP]

I think this is what really makes Sergey and the whole of the Shirogorov Workshop distinct from the term manufacturers and brand as opposed to knife maker. If you stop and think, how many makers are out there that are also in charge a production-level outfit for their knives as well? You'll never see Sergey collaborating with another production company for his designs that's for sure. It's that mindset of keeping everything in-house down to even the production level that you see this inverse flow happening. Sergey's true passion still rests in seeing what cool things he can do with the customs and everything else borrows elements from that.

Aside from just liking the damn knives, miko, your description of Sergey's approach to his craft as well as the scale and output of the Workshop are big parts of what attracts me to Shirogorov. As someone who has spent 50 years as a self-employed, small shop builder/carpenter/sheetmetal fabricator I have great admiration for anyone that is directly involved in the day-to-day operations of his/her business including the nuts and bolts of hands-on production. That the Workshop's output remains at a level that will maintain its standard of design and quality is admirable given the temptations of expansion and greater profits.

I thought a bit about other knife-makers, like Rick Hinderer and Chris Reeve, who are or were the primary designers, makers themselves, and involved directly in the direction and output of their companies, but Hinderer also designs for production outfits while Reeve is no longer at CRK. I don't know that either continued to personally build knives as their companies grew. I do like that when pick up an RHK, CRK, or a Cheburkov, for example, you get something of Rick, Chris, or Alex with your knife. You sure do get a lot of Sergey with your Shirogorov, be it completely, as with a custom, or in its overall design and execution as with a serial production model. Even with the collabs, the knife you get is 100% a Shiro incorporating elements and input from another designer.

 

[ChazzyP]

Happy Easter fellow Shiro buds! A nice early morning coffee by the fire for me.

Happy Easter, MASS members!... and everyone else, too. I have the same wood-pellet stove and, until recently, had a CF RDD too. I barely use it because it works too well–the stove, that is.

Yes, Happy Easter indeed to my M.A.S.S. fellows and to all our Denizens here.

My sister had that stove in her former home and it could drive you out of the house despite being on the enclosed porch.

 

[MRI]

I finally took the plunge and received this beauty on Good Friday, and now thinking about what my next Shirogorov I will add to my collection. Seems like there must be something in Massachusetts water to have their own club.
Cheers and Happy Easter!

 

[ChazzyP]

Easter Sunday carry.

 

[mikomonday]

I thought a bit about other knife-makers, like Rick Hinderer and Chris Reeve, who are or were the primary designers, makers themselves, and involved directly in the direction and output of their companies, but Hinderer also designs for production outfits while Reeve is no longer at CRK.

Ah, those are actually some great examples, I would even go so far as to say Strider as well (even though I'm not really a fan). Funny enough how those makers/companies made up the "Big 3", perhaps that should put some context into how serious Sergey is about knife making

Also say hello to the newest Custom Division F3NS:

You couldn't say it wasn't coming right? With the release of the production F3NS there was clearly a missing gap in the lineup. The F3 as we all know is a liner lock and this one is a all-ti'd out version similar to the Custom Division 111Ti. The handle is dual anodized bronze and blue and has gorgeous machining with an aesthetic that reminds me a bit of the Russian Hokkaido paired with some of the large diagonal knurling seen on the production F3NS. I'm a big fan of the logo placed in the rear pommel area that we've really only seen on the NeOns and I think it's quite a novel place to have the logo while leaving the rest of the handle available for creative freedom.

Here we can see those screws, as with the Quantum and F3NS the pivot screw has been increased in size and consequently a thinner titanium collar around it. This larger pivot screwn also incorporates a tapering of the slot towards the open end. This will prevent the Shirogorov tool bits from slipping and potentially marring the knife. The rear screw has also been reduced in diameter as well (starting since the CD F95 Antique) this will prevent the screw from contacting the clip when disassembling. Common for Custom Division, the blind screwed clip has been given more detail compared to the production with more machining passes and finishing over the clip resulting in smoother surface especially on the curved portion.

Despite being an F3 liner lock knife, The scales are quite slim. Blade stock is the standard 4mm affair.

Here we have a nice design accent on the flipper tab, a feature we would see Sergey play around with on Customs that is becoming increasingly common on newer Custom Division knives.

The backspacer as on the production F3NS has taken some design cues from the Custom F7, only with a standard width as opposed to the F7 which has an extra wide backspacer that covers the liners. This results in a spacious lanyard loop.

Extra generous milling as always, helpful with a full titanium knife

Ah yes, lastly one with a keen eye might have noticed this already but something funky is definitely going on with the blade. While the blade profile is exactly the same as the production variant with those usual CD satin flats we also have an extremely fine laser engraved pattern on the S90V blade.

 

[Mr.sig239]

That’s one nice looking knife! Dam,need to start selling body parts soon.

 

[dburpasaurus]

mikomonday That is beautiful, definitely my favorite CD they have done. Are they going to be bringing these stateside?

 

[mikomonday]

mikomonday That is beautiful, definitely my favorite CD they have done. Are they going to be bringing these stateside?

of course, these should be through lotto and with Blade being pushed back until august it's unsure if Sergey and the workshop will still go

if I find anything out I'll be sure to update but that was really the chance that we have to enter CD lottos here in the states now that Sergey is not going to USN Gathering anymore. At least we still have CCKS in october but that's still a while off...

 

[Markb33tem]

A little Neon added swedge , DLC and bronze ano

 

[Mr.sig239]

Out on our daily walk.

 

[Mr.sig239]

Updated collection picture for now.

 

[marchone]

 

[Mr.sig239]

Out for another walk with the wife yesterday.

 

[ALtheSciencePal]

Love this thread!
Emmie G says to go Quantum today..

 

[g2h0]

Agreed this thread is really great and as a new member I'm still trying to read through it entirely. Here is my current collection to which my next addition will probably be an f95 of some sort.

 

[dburpasaurus]

Still lusting over that F3NS CD but I was able to pick up a production quantum today, thought I would give my quick initial thoughts. Unsurprisingly the knife is beautiful and extremely well made as we have all come to expect. Action is splendid. The detent is nice and crisp, much snappier than my other shiros I have owned or handled. I absolutely love this detent, it is perfect in my eyes and I'm glad Shiro seems to be moving towards a sharper more crisp detent. I would compare it to a gen 4 Koenig Arius is anyone is familier. Lots of interesting milling and details on this knife, carries well, slightly more slender in the rear compared to a 95. Pocket clip is really interesting design and works well. A touch hard to get over thicker pants but fine once on. Acoustics are incredible. Overall it is a dream for me. I have been wanting Shiro to offer a different design in the F95 / F3 size and I have to say this one elevates the game even by their standards. Oh! And it also has a dust protector over the bearings. (What I thought was a dust protector was simply the exposed bearing races that are flush with the blade.) Very cool.

 

[SlideRacker]

Still lusting over that F3NS CD but I was able to pick up a production quantum today, thought I would give my quick initial thoughts. Unsurprisingly the knife is beautiful and extremely well made as we have all come to expect. Action is splendid. The detent is nice and crisp, much snappier than my other shiros I have owned or handled. I absolutely love this detent, it is perfect in my eyes and I'm glad Shiro seems to be moving towards a sharper more crisp detent. I would compare it to a gen 4 Koenig Arius is anyone is familier. Lots of interesting milling and details on this knife, carries well, slightly more slender in the rear compared to a 95. Pocket clip is really interesting design and works well. A touch hard to get over thicker pants but fine once on. Acoustics are incredible. Overall it is a dream for me. I have been wanting Shiro to offer a different design in the F95 / F3 size and I have to say this one elevates the game even by their standards. Oh! And it also has a dust protector over the bearings. Very cool.

Nice! Mine arrives Friday. When I ordered I heard them say in the background “We need to ship another Quantum”.

 

[CPP]

Still lusting over that F3NS CD but I was able to pick up a production quantum today, thought I would give my quick initial thoughts. Unsurprisingly the knife is beautiful and extremely well made as we have all come to expect. Action is splendid. The detent is nice and crisp, much snappier than my other shiros I have owned or handled. I absolutely love this detent, it is perfect in my eyes and I'm glad Shiro seems to be moving towards a sharper more crisp detent. I would compare it to a gen 4 Koenig Arius is anyone is familier. Lots of interesting milling and details on this knife, carries well, slightly more slender in the rear compared to a 95. Pocket clip is really interesting design and works well. A touch hard to get over thicker pants but fine once on. Acoustics are incredible. Overall it is a dream for me. I have been wanting Shiro to offer a different design in the F95 / F3 size and I have to say this one elevates the game even by their standards. Oh! And it also has a dust protector over the bearings. Very cool.

Thanks for a great write up about a great knife. I'm curious about the dust protectors you mentioned over the bearings. I found a picture of the Quantum broken down on Shiro's site but don't see anything of this nature.

Perhaps you are referring to the translation of Shiro's description of the blade's tang?

A design feature of the base of the blade allows, if necessary, to easily eliminate contamination of the node without disassembling the knife or any special means.​

Looking at the picture of that part of the knife while closed it seems that the placement of the bearing/pivot assembly so close to the rounded segment of the tang allows for easy access in cleaning and lubricating.