The Bears' Den--Shirogorov Showcase

I quickly touched up the 111 this morning on the SharpMaker, adding that 20° micro bevel that I mentioned yesterday using just the stock brown and white rods. Here's what that laid-back 17ish° edge looks like on that knife--definitely broader than the stock bevel, but not bad to my eye and a way better cutter than when new. (I suck at this sort of pic.).

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The micro bevel evened things out nicely and I'd much rather lightly touch up an edge on the SharpMaker than strop as I get more consistent results. Here's the 111 alongside the Python on the two-sided leather pouch they share. They both got some attention this AM as the F3's Micarta badly needed a bath.

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Ilikesharpstuff said:
Old pic just because. I originally posted this and asked which people would choose and why. I think I know the consensus here but feel free to chime in!

https://imgur.com/a/aM2pcS9
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My immediate reaction is I'd take the F95NL 'cos I've never cared for tanto blades--I just don't get the point. 😏

Option 2--I'd take both 'cos they're each great knives and very different iterations of the modern Ti framelock. Plus a true Knife Knut has to have both, no?

Option 3--I'd take neither as I already have 9 large CRKs including multiple inlays and multiple 21's and presently have 8 Shiros including 2 95's, a Hati, and an F3, so I've got that blade style/length covered. I've just got too many damn knives to start with.

Option 4--OK, I'll take the F95NL after all as I've always wanted one, don't currently have an inlayed Shiro, and, after all, what's just one more knife anyway? :D
 
Ilikesharpstuff said:
Old pic just because. I originally posted this and asked which people would choose and why. I think I know the consensus here but feel free to chime in!

https://imgur.com/a/aM2pcS9
Click to expand...

ChazzyP said:
My immediate reaction is I'd take the F95NL 'cos I've never cared for tanto blades--I just don't get the point. 😏

Option 2--I'd take both 'cos they're each great knives and very different iterations of the modern Ti framelock. Plus a true Knife Knut has to have both, no?

Option 3--I'd take neither as I already have 9 large CRKs including multiple inlays and multiple 21's and presently have 8 Shiros including 2 95's, a Hati, and an F3, so I've got that blade style/length covered. I've just got too many damn knives to start with.

Option 4--OK, I'll take the F95NL after all as I've always wanted one, don't currently have an inlayed Shiro, and, after all, what's just one more knife anyway? :D
Click to expand...

I traded my F95NL with blue crazy micarta to Screebo Screebo for his rare Reate Jack 2 integral handle and green fat carbon scales with Damasteel blade and a hair comb blade; because I have the F95R18 plus my three Hati Gen 3 with Technocarbo scales (which are almost like an F95 without the Ti on the show side). I still have a Neon Zero without inlay and a Neon NL with Burgundy Inlay, plus a HatiOn Zero as the small versions of the above.

So right now, I haven't been looking at more F95 of any sort.
 
My cousin has noticed some kind of notching on the F95 Zero blade chamfers between the choil and the flipper. Observable with a naked eye, but hard to catch on mobile camera without magnification.

I wonder if it is a common feature for 2024 production blades (NL, Zero) or a rare deviation?


P.S. According to a local collector this feature has been silently introduced a couple of years ago and appears on some recent blades -- mostly CD or limited batches made for the Blade Show, etc.

Hence, "it's a feature, not a bug" 🙃 and rather uncommon one for production knives so far.

F95-Z-2024-blade.jpg



F95-Z-2024.jpg
 
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Bacchus said:
My cousin has noticed some kind of notching on the F95 Zero blade chamfers between the choil and the flipper. Observable with a naked eye, but hard to catch on mobile camera without magnification.

I wonder if it is a common feature for 2024 production blades (NL, Zero) or a rare deviation?


P.S. According to a local collector this feature has been silently introduced a couple of years ago and appears on some recent blades -- mostly CD or limited batches made for the Blade Show, etc.

Hence, "it's a feature, not a bug" 🙃 and rather uncommon one for production knives so far.

F95-Z-2024-blade.jpg



F95-Z-2024.jpg
Click to expand...
Very nice F95 Zero you have there, my friend, despite my "Nudist" misnomer in the EDC thread. That fine, fluted milling on the blade choil chamfers is interesting, though somewhat curious. I can't think of any practical reason for its inclusion, such as traction, as one can't get a finger in there to choke up on the handle as the Zero's choil looks quite the same size as those on my F95R and TurtIe. I don't know that it provides anything much aesthetically either, though it does somewhat echo the fine milling on the handle slabs. Sweet knife and a nice pick-up regardless....

Here's a couple tight shots of the F95R's choil area which I got out just for comparison's sake and ended up carrying yesterday.

aSDVYqj.jpg


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ChazzyP said:
I carried the big boy today and had a bunch of extra pics, so I'll stick a few here.
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What are the odds? 🙃 I have just received a big orange fella directly from the Shirogorov shop and I believe it's of the same "long gone" generation 4 (not 5 or 5.1) as yours.

It is destined to become a workhorse: G10 + high grind without groove + thin blade stock (listed as 3mm, but I need to check it with a caliper the actual measurement is 3.2mm).

Might be my first MRBS knife with a drop-shut action out of the box. Perhaps they forgot to put the dense grease into the bearings, which usually slows down the action quite a bit according to my experience, but prevents the balls from jumping out :) during disassembly — the only pro (at least the only one I know about) of using this ugly stuff instead of proper lubricant.

111-Gen4-Orange.jpg
 
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That big'un is a real eye-catcher, B Bacchus --the orange G10 really jumps off the page. Sweet knife!

I'm not up on the various Gens since they've been assigned. I'm a bit out of touch Shiro-wise since the re-boot of USN and the loss of the excellent Shiro pages there. I'm not much of a social media guy either. My M390 111 was new in 2016 and there were G10/S35VN variants around at that time, but any idea of what Gen it might be would be a guess on my part.

I struggled a bit with my reaction to your post, too, ending up with a Love, though your comment on the "dense grease" sure brought a laugh. I've noted a fair number of European and Russian makers packing their pivots with some sort of black goo or another that only retards the action. I get all the fluoro grease out of my CRKs too and they flick right open afterwards just like a modern folder should.

And just because I still have a lot of pics left over from yesterday....

ngrowdc.jpg


cBhq5dp.jpg
 
ChazzyP said:
That big'un is a real eye-catcher, B Bacchus --the orange G10 really jumps off the page. Sweet knife!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the kind comment! I could not resist posting a hasty photo immediately upon arrival of the orange one. More appropriate photo's of The Three Musketeers coming soon.

By the way, within the last 2 weeks there was a rather unexpected sequence of 111 small drops, mostly orange and a few were black, all of them old-time alloys — ATS-34, Cronidur 30, S35VN and even 440C. I imagine a sort of revision took place in the storage facility, followed by a discovery of some steel leftovers 🙃. As far as I know the "low-tier" steel paired with G10 handle for Gen 4 was mostly (if not exclusively) Elmax.

ChazzyP said:
I struggled a bit with my reaction to your post, too, ending up with a Love, though your comment on the "dense grease" sure brought a laugh. I've noted a fair number of European and Russian makers packing their pivots with some sort of black goo or another that only retards the action. I get all the fluoro grease out of my CRKs too and they flick right open afterwards just like a modern folder should.

And just because I still have a lot of pics left over from yesterday....
Click to expand...

Regarding the "dense grease" — I was inclined to write "black sh*t" at first, but got over my rage 🙃.

Really nice pictures you've made, wood & carbon — always a winner :cool:.

And a handsome big boy (definitely Gen 4) with a proper leash. By the way, do you actually manage to carry 111 in your side pocket or did you have to arrange some kind of pouch / holster for it?
 
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Bacchus said:
Thank you for the kind comment! I could not resist posting a hasty photo immediately upon arrival of the orange one.

By the way, within the last 2 weeks there was a rather unexpected sequence of 111 small drops, mostly orange and a few were black, all of them old-time alloys — ATS-34, Cronidur 30, S35VN and even 440C. I imagine a sort of revision took place in the storage facility, followed by a discovery of some steel leftovers 🙃. As far as I know the "low-tier" steel paired with G10 handle for Gen 4 was mostly (if not exclusively) Elmax.

Regarding the "dense grease" — I was inclined to write "black sh*t" at first, but got over my rage 🙃.

Really nice pictures you've made, wood & carbon — always a winner :cool:.

And a handsome big boy (definitely Gen 4) with a proper leash. By the way, do you actually manage to carry 111 in your side pocket or did you have to arrange some kind of pouch / holster for it?
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Yeah, "black sh*t" is the first thing than comes to mind for me too. It's more than incongruous to me that a knife maker can produce such a finely designed and executed piece and then slather that crap inside of it. 😧

Thanks right back at you for your kind comment on my pics--I do like the juxtaposition between the sharp severity and precision of the manmade product and the warm, natural, and rough character of wood--the more worn and weathered the better.

The 111 carries just fine clipped in pocket for me. It is a bit bulky, but I only ever carry my business card case with a few flat-joined keys in it along with a knife in my right front, though a knife this large works better in a slant pocket than in the typical western jeans style, leaving a bit more space to reach past it.
 
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