I was asked to sharpen this knife couple weeks ago. Haven't seen it for a while and shizzzzz, it was messed up. Counted 38 chips and nicks on the blade. Gave it a really polished, 0.25mic edge. Sharpening was real easy compared to all the ultra hard steels I have in my kitchen knives. Easy to sharpen, easier to dull most of the time, but there's a balance somewhere ;)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 19:13:36
This is an old article that I never got around to finish until now. To give you an idea, in 2005, I have picked two knives and used them for 7 weeks continuously and exclusively. one was Benchmade 710 HSSR folder, M2 steel, for every day carry, and the other was Rinaldi TTKK custom knife, S30V steel, for kitchen use. I've photographed edge damage duringthis period and the article is summary and discussion on the results.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 15:38:35
Finally got over with 710 restoration project :) That is, one of the Benchmade 710 HSSR blades that were rehardened, was given a satin finish, or kindda like satin finish. Overall it took 8 hours of sanding using sanding blocks and various sandpaper. Can't say it was fun, but in the end I got the folder with 64.5HRC blade. Sharpened at ~15 degree angle per side, probably less. Cuts like crazy and edge holding so far is superb!
Monday, April 20, 2009 19:15:27
More hires images of knife edges and sharpening abrasives posted in the macro gallery. I guess I should call them micrographs. Anyway, during all this I have still managed to sharpen my old trusty EDC - see Benchmade 710 review. I'll update blog tomorrow. Donno when I will update the review itself though. 64.5HRC steel is considerably harder to sharpen than 59HRC it used to be.
Sunday, April 19, 2009 20:14:32
Omano microscope received. 4.5x magnification on the body and 10x and 20x eyepieces. Plus I had to get the adapter ring for my camera and a few other things as well. More magnification and little bit less hassle than with the copystand and canon mp-65E lens. Still painful to take good pix. Have to combine images, focusing at high magnification is not an easy job either. However, final results are much better too. First gallery is linked in the title of this entry. Polished edge study under microscope. What looks pristine mirror polish isn't quite that polished. Except for Dave Martell's work. Can't find any scratches on that one.
Friday, April 17, 2009 13:42:38
Finished STALKER Priboi Story mod
Can't say I liked it. IMHO AMK mod is far better done, more immersive and less buggy. For one I dont' get it what's all the fascination with Soviet era music and tele/radio show audios in the mod. In game it's 2011, nobody listens or plays that stuff on radio anymore. It gets very annoying, especially in the bar and Prypiat. More importantly the concept or story of the mod. I hated it. Still, had to finish and I guessed how it'd end half-way through the game. Anyway, respectable effort on the mod from the makers.
Thursday, April 16, 2009 10:15:55
The complete story and discussion about knife blade hardness. That is the details and history of two Benchmade 710 folders, that I've used for years without knowing the actual hardness of each, assuming they were identical As it turned out one was 1HRC less than the other. What's more interesting is that during this blind testing I ended up with thicker edge on the softer blade. So, in the end, yes hardness matters, even 1 point of it. Hardness isn't the only thing that determines knife edge performance, but sure it is very important.
Friday, April 10, 2009 21:34:09
Just got Gude cheese knife. 6" serrated blade. Nice design, fit and finish is very good too, but I was really susprised by it. When I got my first 320mm Gude Bread knife it was a real monster, compared to Gude Global G-9 bread knife I had, looked like a toy. Now it's exactly the opposite. Compared to Global GS-10 cheese knife this one is like a toy. Mainly the handle, feels more like a pencil in my hands than a knife handle. Very strange. I'll test it soon, but somehow I have my doubts about its performance. The edge is thick and not that sharp.
Thursday, April 9, 2009 21:37:29
If you ever wondered what does freshly heat treated blades look like, well there is the picture. I'll write more detailed article about this whole ordeal later, but short story is that Phil Wilson heat treated factory folding knife blades for me. Results in my opinion are magnificent. Kershaw Shallot CPM S110V blade went from 59HRC to 64HRC, first Benchmade 710 blade went from 60HRC to 64HRC and second 710 blade went from 58.8HRC to 64.5HRC! Two of them are going to Tom Krein for regrind and the third one I will polish and clean up myself. It will be quite time consuming working on 64.5HRC M2 steel knife blade, but whatever, it was my EDC for years.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 21:38:10
First draft of the review is up. At this point I don't have enough use experience to fill in the usage section, but the rest is there :) Very nice, little, but Busse nuclear tough fixed blade.
Monday, April 6, 2009 20:59:02