Thread 64218043

The Sharpest General on /k/ - James Black Edition
This thread is about the appreciation of knives and their design, their history, and the engineering and materials that are required to make a functioning blade.

"I want a knife recommendation."
Answer the following:
>Fixed or folding (or both (or neither))?
>Intended use/misuse?
>Blade length/girth?
>Local laws to ignore?
>You can afford this knife! Think of how much money you spend on food and water. Do you really need it? What about air conditioning? You can just turn it off and spend all that money on a knife! Do you really NEED air conditioning? Stop being a big baby, you can afford this knife!

Resources
>Freehand sharpening guide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWU_qTp3DLM
>Primer on knife steels
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/knife-steels-rated-by-a-metallurgist-toughness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/

Previous Thread: >>64161167

Trump rapes kids

Anyone have a Terava Tiny Knife? I always thought it was dumb. Now I’m dumb enough to want one.

What is the difference between a spear point knife and a dagger?

>>64218189
Both sides actually ground and sharpened vs one sharpened.

>>64218043 (OP)
Gen 3 LUDT arriving tomorrow. What am I in for /k/nife aficionados?

carrying my guardian tactical scout for a few days now, i think this is a microtech killer. It's so good. I might sell some microtechs to buy more GT's.

>>64218189
Functionally there isn't one, in marketing and legal speak the first guy is correct.

Anyone have experience with these weird green (agate?beryl?) stones? I have a number of expensive arkansas stones but I wonder if this stuff is in the same ball park. Can find them for like five bucks in chinesium online shops

>>64219440
I've never used those recent enough to give any meaningful feedback on them. There was one in the junk drawer at one of my old jobs. I don't know for certain if it came from China but it looked just like your pic and the cheapos that Amazon keeps trying to push on me. I tried to sharpen chisels on it, it didn't work very well, it felt like it cut well in some spots but was glazed or overly hard in other-basically it was inconsistent. However since this was a free-use bitch that nobody was particularly careful with, I now wonder if it was just in need of maintenance and I wouldn't want to pass judgement without the opportunity to clean up the stone with a diamond plate or rubbing block, etc, and give it another go. I had a lot less experience under my belt when I tried it.

I am a bit curious about them but I don't really need one either. They seem to be quite fine and I'm already pretty well set in that department. The only sharpening supplies I'm even thinking about buying are a larger diamond lapping plate with grooves in it and a very coarse stone, like around 200 grit, that I can use for reshaping used woodworking tools I've been buying lately. I probably won't buy the lapping plate as they're expensive and I can get by with my existing DMT extra coarse plate, it's just annoying to use it for flattening because it doesn't have any grooves.

>>64220448
They claim 10000 grit but im thinking this may be as effective as sharpening on a block of marble. It could possibly be decent as a finisher stone right before stropping but if you need to flatten the stone often might not be worth the five bucks

>>64220626
That's really why I never thought to try one again even though they are cheap. It's not too difficult to find a stone that's super fine, but finding one that is super fine, lacking any large particles which might damage the edge, all while being friable enough to cut reasonably fast while not being so soft soft that it dishes badly is a tall order.

My finest stone is a Suehiro W-8DN, 8k. I only use it for plane & spokeshave irons and one particular chisel; for everything else I stop at 5k for knives & chisels or hard translucent arkansas for carving tools. I doubt the mystery stone would be an improvement on my Suehiro in any way so I just left it at that.

Is this the most tactical full length combat knife there is?

>>64222183
I'm happy with the sk5 and then got a 3v version too. It cuts pretty good on most items to include wood, cheap, comfy grip, good sheath.
If you have giga chad sized hands then maybe the full size srk version would work better

>>64222710
It's not for cutting wood tho, it's for killing enemies quietly during stealth ops, it's used by the fucking united states special forces for a reason

>>64222838
I mentioned its cheap mang

>>64222183
>SRK compact
>full length

>>64222183
Considering it's the c and c means compact no it's not full length

I got a Spyderco Shaman and the tip is hella wide and uneven, off center. Am I overreacting or should I return it?

>>64223374
>>64223354

that's fucked lmao

>>64223354
Woah, where did you get it from?
My recent Spyderco has a perfect edge.

>>64223634
KnifeCenter. Its the S90V exclusive with the micarta.

>>64223354
for most knives i wouldnt care but spyderco is essentially the equivalent of mens jewelry for the price. i have a bunch of fugazi ones I purchased from online chinesium and the bevel was always off. bad grind = bad qc, not something spyderco is known for

>>64223837
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_sV32K_wBc
>Look up knife on youtube
>same exact problems
weird

>>64223865
Im seeing like 4 different comments saying theirs had the same uneven bevel. No wonder they were on sale for only $238 compared to the retail price of $270 for the S30V version. KnifeCenter should've labeled these as blem models.

>>64223894
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_V5hSze6KW8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlSA-pHCwuE
Every video, they look like that, it seems like a problematic model. If I returned it, I might do it for store credit and get something different. Or deal with it, it's probably functional and can be gradually corrected when sharpening.

>>64223907
According to this comment, the big man Sal said i'm a little bitch and I should just deal with it.
Spyderco really relies on its fanboys to keep it going, meanwhile I can get a $90 chinese knife in S90V that comes with a perfect bevel.

>>64223914
Yeah, it looks like since those grind issues are so prevalent, they are shipping them out like that and consider it to pass QC, so a warranty claim might not be successful.

>>64223894
Even $238 seems outrageous for this knife. It's more than all the other Spydercos that do the exact same thing. I think when the Shaman was released it was $150 so clearly they are just jewing.

>>64224113
It was sold for $238 pre-inflation, but they pulled it for having a bad action. It's being re-sold at that same price after they "fixed" it. The S30V and G10 model is $270. I paid $270 last year for an auto Benchmade 9400. IDK why the Shaman is so pricey.

>>64223837
>>64223914
>made in the USA
There's the problem. Spyderco's USA factory is unironically their worst one despite them being right next door.

>>64223914
I'd like to ask Sal if he thinks the uneven grind is the result of:
a) the operator of the grinding machine being incompetent
b) the operator knowing damn well what was going on, but was being pressured into volume>quality due to management
c) & d) same questions but for the QC department
e) all of the above

At least spydie heat treats are still good

>>64218429
Nice. It's got a kick if you're not used to it as it's a hefty M390 blade but lightweight aluminum scales. We used a mix of RemOil liquid and RemOil Spray for the mainspring but plain RemOil liquid will be fine. You can also lube the button cutouts for less grittiness.

>>64225207
For Microtech, it's usually B, a tiny dash of A (everyone got trained well at MT), but for the rest it's volume > quality for the blade blanks coming off the cutters and millers.

>>64223354
My $10 China knives all have perfect edges so yes, return it.
I can accept an uneven edge on an entry level handmade knife, but not on an overpriced machine made knife from the West.

>>64225364
They still overcharge for what you're getting.

I lost my Elementum a few months ago (amusingly the last time I saw it was opening a longsword's shipping box) so I decided to get another one. It was my first knife and I really liked it. But I remembered it was a little small for my huge hands, so I went with the Primitrox instead.

What am I in for other than another disposable Chinese knife?

So I been seeing this CRKT knife all the time at the local PX and decided to say "fuck it" and buy it simply because it's a big cool looking folding knife.

But is it worth any good as a EDC knife?

>>64228517
the thumbstuds on my similar model came loose regularly, I had to put some blue loctite in there. (they aren't really thumb studs, more like stop pins to lock the blade in place, it's better to use the flipper) The pivot loosens freely, but you can just adjust it with your nail or finger, no big deal, just something to be aware of.

Just bought my first Microtech. Trying out the MSI.

>>64228517
I kept the version with solid aluminum handle for a few years in my work truck. It was a good knife, especially for the money. It stood up to a lot of abuse, I wouldn't fear that it would let you down for EDC. That said, it's pretty big and bulky for pocket carry, especially with the flippers sticking out, and you'd raise some eyebrows if you whipped that out in an office to open a package. If you you need a bigger knife for EDC and you were willing to put up with its bulk then yeah, great EDC knife: durable but not too expensive either.

>>64229357
Hell yeah! It's gonna feel weird at first, being such a large unit on a crossbar lock, but I enjoy carrying mine a lot.

>>64223923
I bought a Cold Steel Tai-Pan off Amazon heavily discounted. I knew something was off, but I went for it anyway. It was the uneven grind, which is even more typical to daggers. Still an amazing knife though for the price.

If you were ever considering a Terava vs. Peltonen knife, the Teravas grinds are pretty loose, and the 6 Peltonens I have are perfect.

Still on the fence about mini bedlam. Anyone got experience?

Went to the Klingenmuseum Solingen (Blademuseum) few days ago and took some pics with my shitty phone, will dump them here.


This is the first floor Wall decoration, was hard to snap a pic without people in it. A lotta knives in there that i wanna have in my collection.

executioners sword

>>64230501
Peak EDC when you're high on 10 Victorinox

>>64230529

Too lazy to flip this one, dealwithit
Cutlery on the left was made from ww1 Arty shrapnels

>>64230537

cool daggers, sry for the silhoutte

>>64230546

Some nice Landsknecht Katzbalger's for the lovers

>>64230559

Fancy schmanzy messer

>>64230571

Prussian army sabres

>>64230593

some caucasian style dagger

>>64230601

some klaus schwabcore art cutlery

>>64230625


Faschinenmesser, my favorites.

>>64230635

>They said i should get a grip
>had to whittle 10 years for it

>>64230645

Hail the scissorpeacock!

thanks for posting these.
Sollte da auch mal hingehen.

>>64230752

Some scissor for the scissorpeacock

HEIL DIR OH SCHERENPFAU!

>>64230756
8€ entry fee, vast collection from stone age, bronze to iron. large medieval section, sadly not many modern knives but very good, staff is knowledgable and actually fair prices on giftshop (paid 5€ for a hardcover book on special purpose knives)

>>64230775

nearly finished

>>64230882

orc tier blade

>>64230892

Some more cutlery incoming

>>64218043 (OP)
are there any good books and methods on knife self-defense? specially against other guys that don't have a knife

>>64230909
those were ornamental swords gifted to firefighters btw (i yearn to RETVRN to the days were every bloody special service job gifted daggers/swords on occasions #prussianthings)

>>64230921

That being said, i may post more on another occasion for i am now too tired. Lets wrap it up with this engraved nice piece from 1761.

"The noble good german wine bestows each meal with honour and shine"

>>64224195
This is why I only buy Japanese Spydercos.
America
>Oh, it's okay, try harder next time.
Japan
>You dishonored yourself, your ancestors and our company. Disembowel yourself immediately... and do it with the knife you fucked up sharpening.

>>64232201
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDrSNl8XxTQ

magnamax PM2 WHEN

>>64232201
Fair point.

>>64230409
Thanks, anon.
Very cool.

Anyone bought these Pakistani Winkler clones? They say they use D2 steel but I'm not sure how much I can trust them.

I want a big fuck off knife bordering on a short sword for funsies and I want a bowie because America
So who makes good bowies that don't look gay

>>64233310
What makes a bowie look gay?
>is it the makeup?

>>64232930
>Pakistani clones
>I'm not sure how much I can trust them

>>64232930
Bruh

>>64229357
I figured these were like $450, but they're only $176. Good job Microtech undercutting Spyderco and Benchmade.

>>64234228
Yeah but they all have a slight chink in assembly.

>>64234243
Never mind, I thought those were the Chinese made ones.

>>64234243
>many chinamen died to bring you this knife

>>64234228
Now good is the quality for $176?
I would love to have one just a big smaller. Hopefully they do a mini of it. It would be amazing EDC for $125 and mini.

>>64233310
fun fact: bowie knives are not an american invention but a copy from a german knife model

>>64234818
Fun fact: every blade in existence is a slight variation copy of another blade someone else made

>>64233310
Bark River knives.

>>64235167
HA! grok flint knife grok original. grok make by have 2 rocks and smack together. skin mammoth good.

I am currently reading Samuel Chamberlain's book "My Confession" about the Mexican-American War and people were really fond of using their knives back then.

> company of Texas Rangers rides through village, make camp a couple hundred yards away
> one drunk Ranger stays behind, steals huge crucifix with Jesus figurine out of the village church
> drags crucifix up and down the main street behind his horse
> village priest tries to stop him, gets trampled to death by the Rangers horse
>villagers drag Ranger from his horse, tie him to the crucifix and flay him alive
>Ranger come back looking for drunk comrade
> see him tied to the crucifix in the village square
> Rangers proceed to butcher villagers with pistols and Bowie knives, men, women and children alike

>>64230939
whats that handle material

>>64236374
I'm guessing some sort of ceramic.

>>64236374
I noticed that last night going through and my guess for the era, it might be bone or antler that's been carved and then maybe filled in with some kind of darker material. That's just a guess though, maybe the guy who took the photo knows more

>>64235216
It blows my mind that 50-odd guys went on a blood soaked spree of depravity that lasted for years, while managing to operate so close to the margins of existence that there is literally only one primary source and even that one is debated. Most of the shit they did is just lost to history. You could just do whatever the fuck you wanted in 1860s Mexico and no one would know.

>>64237864
>1860's Mexico
That's another forgotten Mexican war. I wouldn't have known about the Franco-Mexican War if it weren't for Two Mules for Sister Sara.

>>64236374
They used real ivory back then as well.

>>64218043 (OP)
I bought a Spyderco Police 4 and Endura 4 Wharncliffe used for $110 and the guy threw in a CA AD15 for free. Was a pleasant surprise to open the box and see a note saying they threw in an extra blade, thinking it'd be some little Spyderco slipjoint knife or whatever only for it to be a S35VN tank.

>>64238215
CS*. Also the Police 4 is way bigger than I expected. Kind of silly.

>>64238215
>>64238216
Nice haul, anon.

>>64234818
Is this actually the case or is this like how europeans try to claim hamburgers are european because of hamburg steak which is an american name in the first place for Frikadelle

>>64238708
The best part is no one really knows.
There's plenty of historical stuff and speculation but mostly nothing really very concrete in terms of archeology to say 'this was Jims' big fuck off knife, because people all through history have had the big big fuck off knife practically everywhere since metal knives existed.
During that period, that area there was a lot of English, German and French cutlery floating around as the 'murrica's hadn't really gotten its shit together for producing a lot of cutlery, some people speculate that it might be an English butcher knife that got tweaked up for killing motherfuckers or it was made by someone locally as a gift to him.

Problem really starts after Bowie
All the happy merchants that are the Cold Steel of their day go, we've got all these dudes running around saying, need a big knife like Jim had and they essentially fired up the entire Sheffield cutlery industry to start pumping out big Jim knives that were
>'about yay-long, got the thingie there, maybe a bit pointy. look, fucked if we know these cunts will buy anything'
Next happy merchant ship over
There's fucking thousands of them! Which is great when you need to skin indians and stab people over a game of cards, but its made the whole thing pretty muddy and there's been like a million boomer cunts with a 5th grade education, barely literate telling anything to anyone that will listen about how they're old and should listen to them.

tl:dr
No one really knows much

>>64238418
Danke. I'm really impressed by the AD15 honestly, my beefy but not overly so, pretty comfortable grip, cool locking mechanism. Definitely a pleasant surprise since it's not a knife I would have ever considered buying before.

>>64238708
In this particular case it's the latter, Solingen pumped out tons of Bowies and he probably saw one and decided that was the origin. I've seen people do that with Sheffield knives too. Frankly "Bowie knife" is a term that casts a far wider umbrella than most people understand so people who talk like it was historically a single design are incorrect from the ground up. In modern context it generally refers to a clip point blade but even then people have gotten spergalicious about size, having a guard, etc. when none of those stipulations existed until fairly recently and have largely been put in place arbitrarily by randos. The same thing happened to the term "dagger" and it's happening with swords as well.

These days I usually just talk about modern knives because a lot of historical conversations and threads about what defines X are full of people just making shit up.

>>64236374
guy who made the photos here.
I really cant tell for certain but judging by the looks and the time period, >>64237326
most likely guessed correct.

>>64237434
could also be but im not sure if that marbleesque fine thin lines could be done by that.

>>64238708
>>64238721
Since the end of the 19th century germany's solingen exported a lot of hunting knives, called "couteau de chasse americain" to the state of arkansas. In solingen they called em Arkansasknifes. They show up in Catalogues from 1815-1820. After the "legend", James black forged the first "bowie knife" in 1830, Bowie's brother claimed to have drawn the sketch in 1827.

>>64238708
>clip point knife with big blade
is not exactly a new invention. Certain German knives (bauernwehr) are very similar. Seaxes could be as well.

>wait 82 years for a full tang Ka-Bar
>look inside
>skeletonized tang
JOHN KA-BAR IS A NIGGER

>>64241794
>Mr. Kabar, people love the Kabar knife but are complaining that it has a single point of failure in the tang.
>Then let's give the people two points of failure in the tang!
Typical CEO retard.

>>64242146
If it was full tang there would just be a single big point of failure in the tang. Checkmate, atheists.

Reate exo-m is really pretty.
I like it.

in spyderco spergging; i just think its interesting that golden now is the plant with bad bevels. maybe 5 or so years ago it was seki city making uneven grinds. ime this is no longer the case.

unrelated, ive been eying a roadie XL.

a while ago i posted about meeting a benchmade machinist who gave me a 60% off card. i looked at a lot of stuff but settled on just customizing a mini bug and buying some ti scales for it. a while ago i had a mini bug with AWT scales which was quite a good knife, which i ended up selling, so here we are again.

this is currently the only thing i own that isnt a framelock or a slipjoint. its been a little while since i had any axis locks. i cant deny they are fun.

>>64243063
My Military 2 has perfect grinds and a super pointy tip.

All you need is a shitty gas station flip knife based on what happened in Charlotte.

>>64218043 (OP)
Was the blade that shape originally or has it been sharpened down over the years?

>>64243163
The based boomer who filleted those broccoliheads in the river proved that too.

>>64241794
very dumb. it's not even like it saves a huge amount of weight

Thise are quite deathly

>>64245799
instant death

You only need a full tang on knives made out of brittle stainless steel, high carbon steel knives like the ka-bar can get away with thin tangs, the material has enough yield to prevent it from breaking at the tang. Even this huge cavalry saber doesn't have a full tang, tang anxiety is a modern mental illness.

You're pedantically correct in that a full tang design is stronger, but the ultimate knife isn't an overengineered prybar with a sharp edge.

Been carrying my carbon fiber inlay sebenza 31 large recently and this thing is awesome. carbon fiber just makes far more sense on this knife as an inlay than wood or micarta or ebony from a material science pov. You've got a magnacut blade and titanium handle after all. A chemically inert material like carbon fiber is perfect.

>>64242146
>>64241794
>>64245621
They cut out a section of the blade that doesn't even contribute much to its second moment, and the stresses will primarily be where the guard is.

Puukkos r pretty

How much i'd give for one of these in vintage condition

They are, but the complete lack of any type of finger guard or groove unnerves me, would never use one. The antler handled ones are peak. A bit ironic as I have a bunch of Terava, Peltonen, Brisa, and Casstrom knives.

thread's gonna die
bump

https://scienceofsharp.com/

Anyone read much of this guy's stuff? He takes SEMs to blades and judges various sharpening methods. It's very scientific, but the problem is there's so much material I can't figure out what the takeaway is

>>64250313
>the complete lack of any type of finger guard or groove unnerves me
Are you a literal child who needs a chunk of metal to stop their hand from getting ouchies?

>>64253393
The type of MFer who sends himself to the emergency room after borrowing your SAK.

>>64250290
>>64249655
Since i am at it i might as well post moar

>no signature needed for 750 dollar knife delivery
dlttrading wtf

>>64253920
you gotta pounce on that shit like a hungry squirrel as soon as the mailman drops it off- refresh the tracking number page and one time, it will be there

>>64249655
>your deranged Finnish gf will never threaten you with a puuko

>>64223374
>>64223354
that's probably fake

>>64223914
>dude trust me bro

thoughts on shitter knives with soft steel that can be sharpened quickly?

>>64253393
It’s irrational, please understand.

>>64255125
Would you want tires on your car that go flat all the time but are easier to fill with air?

>>64255125
It works for people who like sharpening knives or use garbage like pull-through carbide sharpeners because they're animals

>>64255125
If you’re thinking “cheap replaceable shiv” and not “dependable tool,” go ahead

>>64255232
I use a pull-through on this, what’s your problem?

Also, cold steel ti-lite or Mercator k55k? I’ve owned them both, but Amazon kind of rips you on the Mercator for what it is and the ti-lite only has the stud on the right hand side and I’m a leftie.

>>64255951
Pull-throughs are dogshit for lazy people.

>>64255951
It messes up your edge, it really does. And doesn't get it nearly as sharp as with stones. It might make a burr and that's what you're cutting with but burrs are weak and wiry. I have an AUS-8 steel knife I used a pull-through on, years ago before I knew better, it must've "sharpened" it at 25 degrees per side. It seemed sharp and cut paper. I went to touch it up on ceramic stones, and IDK if these were always there and I didn't notice, or if they were revealed through sharpening, but there are chips and nicks in the edge which is smooshed down to a 25 degree angle. So now, it's a reprofiling job. It can roughly cut paper, but isn't shaving sharp. IDK if I'm going to just decide to stick a book under the sharpmaker to get a 25 degree angle and do that to at least smooth out those dings or if I'm going to keep reprofiling this thick blade on diamond stones every here and now until I finally get down to the apex which is still far away. I didn't even use the pull through on it that much, didn't destroy the tip like I did on my M4 knife. Both will be perfected with patience, but it's going to take a while with the light-duty yet accurately sharpening sharpmaker. Pull throughs pull along the edge, stones go perpendicular. You can see the shavings from the edge, like pencil shavings. Not precise.

Eurocuck here. Just copped myself a Victorinox Evoke, about the best I can legally buy.
Is it worth making a wrist lanyard for it, or are they memes? I am pretty clumsy and don't want to slice my balls off whilst DIYing a spear after the nukes drop

>>64256410
I don't do wrist lanyards because there might come a time where it is advantageous to drop the knife quickly. I've never been using a knife and thought, "gee, I wish this was attached to my wrist." Maybe one of those danglers for extraction like a Chris Reeve would be nice if you want a lanyard, does it have a pocket clip?
Cool knife too.

>>64256428
>because there might come a time where it is advantageous to drop the knife quickly
Fair. I get sweaty palms very quick however and am known for dropping things. I am more at risk of losing my grip/hurting myself by dropping it.
>does it have a pocket clip?
Yeah, I detached it though. Quite likely to snag when I need to take it out

>>64256439
>Quite likely to snag when I need to take it out
and you want to add a lanyard? are you retarded?

>>64256444
A small loop of paracord is inherently less snaggable than an inflexible metal clip designed SPECIFICALLY to hold an object in place against a surface you double autist

>>64230909
wow thanks anon as a former sabre fencer this is the shit.

>>64256495
No, he has a point. A clip is small, rigid and will always be near the knife, it'll just drag a bit if you're using it and it's engaged harder than usual. A lanyard, especially one large enough to wrap around your wrist, is going to have a larger diameter and will flop around, giving it more chances to get caught on something you move past or wrapping around whatever else is in your pocket if it's not dangling outside. A clip might snag when you take the knife out, a lanyard could snag at random. One of those anal bead pull cords might be what you want, but if you're after something that won't get caught you should also avoid a lanyard.

I use clips on all of my knives, and the only thing they get caught on is the cord for the powder skirt on my jacket, which, strangely, is a lot like a lanyard and also gets caught on door handles.

>>64256439
>Quite likely to snag when I need to take it out
Are you carrying it in-pocket rather than clipped as Our Leader Wranglerstar is wont to do in his battle with knife-stealing interdimensional wood elves?

>>64255951
I have a tracker knife in my collection. once in awhile I take a look at it and try to figure out why it exists.

>>64228517
Had 2 in black previously. Youre going to want to red loctite those little gd torx bolts asap.
Happened on both.
Ive "neck-carried" (is that a thing?) the crkt minimalist bowie drop point since before they were more than 18 bucks at a local big-bix store.
Grrrrrreat lil piece of kit!
I redid my lanyard with a semi-tight, double fishermans loop for fitment.
99% of the time, the only people who even noticed it were folks at a cash register for some odd reason?
10/10 recommend.
Used that bitch everyday for one reason or another it seemed. Even slept with it on sometimes, forgetting it was even there? Odd, but true.

Regards.>>64230529