A reader wrote and asked me advice about what he might buy from the current sale going on over at Cold Steel's Special Projects site. My response, with editing, follows:
Dear Warrior,
This video may help to explain the advantages of a convex blade:
Dear Warrior,
Back when I sold knives, Cold Steel was known for the quality steel used in its blades. They now use such a wide variety of steels that I'm not familiar with -- just have not kept up -- that I would have to limit my recommendations. (It's not that there are so many different steels, it's that each company has its own proprietary name for them.)
One item that I have always liked because of its simplicity, versatility and low price was the Bushman. It can be a large camp knife by itself. With a short handle, it can be a machete-like chopping tool. With a longer handle, it can be a spear. It's not on sale, but it's cheap enough. Sometimes you can find them among the seconds items. It did not sell well for me, I think, because is purely utilitarian -- does not conjure images of commando raids, etc.
I own a Master Hunter, which I like, but mine is an older version made of Carbon V steel. I don't know about the San Mai steel.
If I were to recommend a great knife that would be a lifetime investment, it wouldn't be from Cold Steel. It would be from Blackjack Knives. They are back in business after going into receivership because of a nasty altercation with the IRS.
They make knives from A-2 tool steel, which is air quenched. If you use water to quench steel in the hardening process, you create a lot of stress micro-fractures. This makes the steel brittle. You can reheat the steel to minimize the fractures, but that takes away some of the hardness.
Some steels can be oil quenched, which cools a little more slowly than water but results in good hardness and fewer stress fractures. Cold Steel's Carbon V was/is an oil quenched steel.
Steels with the right amount of molybdenum can be air quenched. They take the steel out of the heating oven and put it in front of a fan. The final product will have high hardness and strength.
Different air quenched alloys can have different characteristics. A-2 is chosen for hardness, D-2 for resistance to wear, etc.
I have a pre-receivership Blackjack hunting knife called the Trail Guide. It's made of A-2 tool steel. My knife is similar, though not identical to the Model 5.
The other characteristic I like about Blackjack knives is that they make convex blades. Convex blades will not only take a razor-like edge, but that edge will stand up to a lot of use. One thing about convex blades, though. You must learn how to hone them properly. If you use a stone instead of a strop, you will ruin the edge.
Well, I've gone on and told you more than you wanted to know. I don't know what help this will be to you, but maybe I'll recycle this letter as a blog post.
This video may help to explain the advantages of a convex blade:
Sorry this took me so long to get to. GREAT article, great tips, thank you. :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. My barber sent me a great video on sharpening convex blades awhile back. Maybe I'll post it some time.
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