Hello all and Happy Holidays. I just thought I would post a fairly quick update on two knives I rec. for Xmas. The Puuko from Ragnar and a CS Pro Lite I bought for myself for Xmas. How bout that!
First the Pro Lite. At first I had reservations about ordering a 440A blade. That is what this knife uses although I read that it is cyro quenched. Maybe twice but not pos. on this, I know it is once.
Be that as it may, I must say that this knife is absolutely outstanding for the price point. 30 bucks plus shipping. It is heavy duty as a folder needs to be and scary sharp and seems to stay that way too. Very impressed with the steel treatment in this knife. It has gone camping, cut stuff in the kitchen, hacked at wood and done fuzz sticks for the fire. I have taken it apart to see how it is built and put it back to together with 0 problems. All the screws are set into steel female receptacles for lack of a better term. These in turn are flattened on one side to aid in tightening. It also has highly polished liners that are very thick. Fit and finish is way above a 30 dollar knife. It is easy to resharpen when it needs it and the lock up of the liner is excellant. No blade play at all. If you can get passed all the Lynn Thompson hype this is an outstanding knife and has been my edc for a couple of weeks for the most part. Still carry my 550 too, but this knife is like a little cleaver.
Puuko: Had my wife buy me this in a 4" blade along with a matching Leuku. My wife has used the Puuko alot more than me in the kitchen. SLices and dices with the best of them. Also whittled fuzz sticks for the heck of it, cut open packages and cut strapping tape. Maybe has seen a bit more use around the house than the CS. Succceeded in dulling it a good bit. Now here is where it got kind of interesting. Tried sharpening it the traditional way that is recommended on Ragnar's site. Couldn't do it. It seemed that the flats were just a bit to uneven. Not only that but I was bumming putting all those scratches on the bevel. So out came the Lansky diamond hone and had at it with the extra coarse, med. and then touched up with the fine. WHat a difference! Did the process at 20 deg. and it has a nice narrow edge with what seems alot of muscle behind it due to the somewhat convex grind. Man this thing got beyond sharp but the edge didn't look thinned out unnoticeably. For edge bite it is hard to beat carbon steel. I also polished it with oil and a scotch brite pad for about 45 minutes a side to get rid of the scratches I put in it. Did it length wise with the grain of the steel and came out really nice. Also took off alot of the black on the upper half of the blade from the rough forging process. Still looks good though. I am going to make this a neck knife for hunting and fishing. Seems like the way to go with it anyways.
Well both are keepers and haven't really used the Leuku to any extent but have split some wood with it though. Works like it should. Keep'em sharp
First the Pro Lite. At first I had reservations about ordering a 440A blade. That is what this knife uses although I read that it is cyro quenched. Maybe twice but not pos. on this, I know it is once.
Be that as it may, I must say that this knife is absolutely outstanding for the price point. 30 bucks plus shipping. It is heavy duty as a folder needs to be and scary sharp and seems to stay that way too. Very impressed with the steel treatment in this knife. It has gone camping, cut stuff in the kitchen, hacked at wood and done fuzz sticks for the fire. I have taken it apart to see how it is built and put it back to together with 0 problems. All the screws are set into steel female receptacles for lack of a better term. These in turn are flattened on one side to aid in tightening. It also has highly polished liners that are very thick. Fit and finish is way above a 30 dollar knife. It is easy to resharpen when it needs it and the lock up of the liner is excellant. No blade play at all. If you can get passed all the Lynn Thompson hype this is an outstanding knife and has been my edc for a couple of weeks for the most part. Still carry my 550 too, but this knife is like a little cleaver.
Puuko: Had my wife buy me this in a 4" blade along with a matching Leuku. My wife has used the Puuko alot more than me in the kitchen. SLices and dices with the best of them. Also whittled fuzz sticks for the heck of it, cut open packages and cut strapping tape. Maybe has seen a bit more use around the house than the CS. Succceeded in dulling it a good bit. Now here is where it got kind of interesting. Tried sharpening it the traditional way that is recommended on Ragnar's site. Couldn't do it. It seemed that the flats were just a bit to uneven. Not only that but I was bumming putting all those scratches on the bevel. So out came the Lansky diamond hone and had at it with the extra coarse, med. and then touched up with the fine. WHat a difference! Did the process at 20 deg. and it has a nice narrow edge with what seems alot of muscle behind it due to the somewhat convex grind. Man this thing got beyond sharp but the edge didn't look thinned out unnoticeably. For edge bite it is hard to beat carbon steel. I also polished it with oil and a scotch brite pad for about 45 minutes a side to get rid of the scratches I put in it. Did it length wise with the grain of the steel and came out really nice. Also took off alot of the black on the upper half of the blade from the rough forging process. Still looks good though. I am going to make this a neck knife for hunting and fishing. Seems like the way to go with it anyways.
Well both are keepers and haven't really used the Leuku to any extent but have split some wood with it though. Works like it should. Keep'em sharp