The Knife Life (Minor Topics and Random Stuff Thread)

KaBAKZ said:
How exactly does stropping help the edge? Every time I do it it seems to not do anyrhing.
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Look it up. There's lots of videos and stuff on how to use a strop effectively, not to mention loads of info on this forum. I can't help much because I don't know what you're doing wrong, but here's some basic stuff:

Strops basically realign the microscopic damaged material on the edge, and if you use a compound with the strop you're also polishing the edge with a very fine abrasive at the same time. It will only work well if you already have a very sharp edge. You cant go to a strop unless you've already worked your way up to a higher grit stone, or else you won't see much of a difference in the edge. It'll still help, but you won't see the best possible results.
TIPS:
Either use light pressure and match the angle perfectly, or use slightly heavier pressure but go a little lower with the angle. OR.... Some strops require light pressure AND a lower angle
Some strops are stiffer that others, so you'll have to play around with how much pressure to use and at what angle
Its tricky stuff..... I would say the best thing to do is find someone more knowledgable about this stuff than me. Which isn't too hard to do:)
 
KNIFE NERDS, UNITE!!! :p

Alright, so this is a terrible picture, but I think I've figured out how to organize my collection... YES, I KNOW I HAVE TOO MUCH FREE TIME ON MY HANDS! :D

At the top are my three favorite Edc's (yes, I'm including the mini grip. I can already tell it's gonna fill this role nicely:)) As you can tell, I've picked my favorite EDC KNIVES (not necessarily what I think are the "best" knives that the companies make) out of all three of the big manufacturers:

spydies, benchies, and ZTies.............wait what? Hmmmm:D

Outside of the Edc role, I've put the rest of my collection into categories I would refer to as "special" or "specific use" categories

The 6K takes the tactical cake, 0801BLK fills the role of "big and badass", the dragonfly salt owns the sheeple friendly/water related/athletic department, and the chaparral serves as my classier knife, as well as another one that can be used for more sensitive situations (as a cooler alternative to the Dragonfly:cool:)
The last three at the bottom make up the "variety" category. Knives that I like and don't want to sell, but don't get the most use. They stay for the sake of variety and to provide further options:thumbup:

Seeing as the edc's are at the top, the "special use" knives are in the middle, and the "variety" to the "special use" are at the bottom level, this picture also diagrams the the amount of use each knife gets (from top to bottom), although I will say that I still find myself using the 0770cf quite a bit....

imagejpg1_zps749a9733.jpg
 
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Bought a 125th anniversary swiss army heritage I really like it,however I still like the vintage ones a little more, they seem more robust a little more customesque ,it appears to me that the vintage pieces were put together and given a final grind so that everything kind of was flush and nicely uniform,the new ones look as though each piece is finished individually then assembled,didn't know if anyone has the same observation?
anyhow thanks Victorinox/Wenger for putting the 125th anniversary edition together,they are beautiful pieces.
 
Right, so I've been notified that this thread has overstepped its boundaries a little. No more newb introductions. Put that stuff in the community forums. I've edited my OP a a few other thread-explanation posts to reflect the change.

Other than that, keep it up guys!
 
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Haha. Knife wielding rule breakers... More dangerous than men with sticks on ice skates.
 
Well, the Contego should ship out today. Can't wait to see this monster in person!

The only issues it has are some scratches to the coating, and a couple of screws have been replaced with Philips heads (not sure why, but whatever...)

The seller supposedly bought the knife second hand, and says it was the previous owner who did this to it. I'm not super happy about the scratches, but for 70 bucks, it was a great deal. I figure I can always send it in to Benchmade for a rebladeing and the total cost will still come out to FAR less than a new one.

But I still feel pretty confident about the knife, seeing as the seller is a BF member with great feedback, so I think before I send It in to BM, ill keep it for a while and beat on it

Oh and apparently the seller also put a 25* inclusive edge on it.... Not sure how I feel about that. Is m4 really tough enough to handle an angle that low?

V0c21P9.jpg
 
Yes, the steel is plenty tough enough to handle a thin edge. No worries!

And instead of sending it to Benchmade to turn it into another piece of jewelry, I say go the opposite direction! Use that sucker hard and contribute your own scratches to the mix.... Just think about it - you got a fantastic knife that you don't have to baby. Just put it into use and don't worry - it's a beautiful thing.
 
AntDog said:
Yes, the steel is plenty tough enough to handle a thin edge. No worries!

And instead of sending it to Benchmade to turn it into another piece of jewelry, I say go the opposite direction! Use that sucker hard and contribute your own scratches to the mix.... Just think about it - you got a fantastic knife that you don't have to baby. Just put it into use and don't worry - it's a beautiful thing.
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I understand antdog. I was just saying that I always have the option to send it in (in case I get it and half of the blades been sharpened out and the scratches make it more likely to corrode.)
I'll probably keep it as is and thump on it, but I love that Benchmade gives the option to basically make it brand new !
 
Eh, I know you take good care of your knives. Don't worry about it rusting away! Just use it, clean it, wipe it with the corrosion inhibitor of your choice. No problemo.

I understand the things coming into play. I've been through every phase myself... There for a while I only bought new, because I wanted to see my knives wear. I wanted to make sure every mark made on them came from me alone. There for a while I'd baby my new knives for as long as I could. I'd put off cutting things with them in favor of using a beater.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that if I continued on the path I was on, I'd wind up with nothing but a non-functional pile of man jewelry. Just something nice to carry around that made me happy, but that I never used. That just ain't me. Now, I whip a brand new knife out if the box and use it. That's why I bought it!

I understand your viewpoint that it's nice to have the option to send it back to Benchmade for a new blade, but understand my "man jewelry" viewpoint as well. Don't confuse the two. Eventually you might come to the same conclusion I did, and when you get a used knife count it as a blessing that you can just drop it in your pocket and use it!
 
AntDog said:
Eh, I know you take good care of your knives. Don't worry about it rusting away! Just use it, clean it, wipe it with the corrosion inhibitor of your choice. No problemo.

I understand the things coming into play. I've been through every phase myself... There for a while I only bought new, because I wanted to see my knives wear. I wanted to make sure every mark made on them came from me alone. There for a while I'd baby my new knives for as long as I could. I'd put off cutting things with them in favor of using a beater.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that if I continued on the path I was on, I'd wind up with nothing but a non-functional pile of man jewelry. Just something nice to carry around that made me happy, but that I never used. That just ain't me. Now, I whip a brand new knife out if the box and use it. That's why I bought it!

I understand your viewpoint that it's nice to have the option to send it back to Benchmade for a new blade, but understand my "man jewelry" viewpoint as well. Don't confuse the two. Eventually you might come to the same conclusion I did, and when you get a used knife count it as a blessing that you can just drop it in your pocket and use it!
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No need to explain. I understand your point. I FULLY intend to beat the crap out of this knife. All I'm saying is that it's cool that Benchmade will replace the blade should I screw it up while using it hard, which is even more reason to use it! Trust me, this won't be man jewelry. Come to think of it, I can't really see how it could! The Contego isn't exactly what I would call beautiful....:D

But another positive to benchmades blade replacement that's worth mentioning is the ability to resell the knife if it's not what you like. Whenever I buy used benchmades, I always keep in mind the cost of rebladeing and what I could sell it for should I not like it. Theoretically, if I didn't like the Contego when I got it, instead of selling it at the same price I got it for, I could get it rebladed and spa treated by Benchmade and sell it for a lot more. I got this Contego for 70 bucks, but if I rebladed it, I could sell it for around 130-140, and, taking into account the fees for rebladeing, would result in a net profit to me of around 30-40 bucks:thumbup:

That's my reasoning behind buying used benchmades, anyway. If I don't like them, I can always resell them for more once I've rebladed them and given them the Benchmade spa treatment
 
Great! Sounds like we're on the same page brother. Post some pics when it gets there. I've had a Contego and they're pretty badass. Tough, nice knife.
 
Will do!
Can't wait. The seller shipped it today, and he's in Cali too, so it shouldn't take too long to get here:thumbup:
 
...so I bought a KME sharpener over a month ago and haven't used it yet. Dang super steels :rolleyes:
 
I got a used small sebenza and put some nice dings into it. I quickly learned that I needed a larger knife (ordered and Umnum), and sold the small sebbie. The interesting thing was that I only took a $15 loss on the knife after using it pretty hard. So I guess there is also something to be said about resale value and condition for certain knives. It really reassured me to keep using my knives, the only knives I don't actually use are one that are illegal autos. :)

Let us know about the contego, I have always wondered about them. They are essentially a larger 940 in essence right?
 
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