Spyderco Forums

Simply because people have been doing it, is not an argument that it should be done. People used to drill holes in peoples head to let out evil spirits for a very long time as well, but it is likely anyone would argue that is a sensible modern practice. Assuming an edge has been properly shaped by ...

Fancier wrote:I can't tell if that is sharpening or just part of his quality control ritual....

It is stropping and it truly refines the edge on a straight razor. The differences of good stropping can be felt during the shave (I have verified this numerous times )

Barbers and master straight razor makers have been stropping on their palms for ages. It bears mentioning that traditional stropping is a process that does not involve abraiding steel. The concept of stropping for the purpose of sharpening a knife is a bit different. (sort of like comparing a steel,...

ehh...things are going pretty well...sort of... I have evolved in my interests a bit. Still love Spyderco knives, but have gotten a bit (a lot) more serious about competitive cutting, and have gotten into honing razors (which, shall we say, is a bit more involved than knife sharpening ;) ). I always...

Rule #1 with ZDP, you actually want to AVOID making a burr. Rule # 2 with ZDP, refer to Rule #1. You wanna bring the apex just to the point that it's about to burr, and then switch to finder grit stones and continue until you have the edge honed out. When ZDP burrs, it chips very easily, and then y...

For anyone interested: Here is the layout of the course and the scoring. 1. vertical 2x4 (must cut board in half) 5 points 2. Horizontal 2x4 (must cut in half, if the blade strikes the board (even once) within 10 inches from the end, it is a NO CUT) 5 points 3. Mini peanut butter cup on golf tee. *M...

Not for sure. I think probably a lot of them are around 62-64...but different batches of the 171 were reported to be lower or higher. They are no longer made...so most of us are transitioning to customs that have tighter tolerances perhaps. There is a delicate balance between hard enough and a damag...

I'm wondering too. I always enjoy hearing what they selected, why, and how it's doing. maybe someday. Joe It is a custom made chopper made by Big D Knives (Donavon Phillips). He makes his choppers from CPM-M4. Ted Ott used his own design/creation (also M4). Gary Bond used a Warren Osborne custom ch...

We need a Spyderco BSI knife! Donavon made his own knife for today.

Currently there are no BSI comp knifes in production other than customs by individual makers.

Really interesting...I've never watched a cutting comp before. If there's a way to do it, have the plank cuts ever been measured for force of impact? Also, the delicate cuts, what's the material? Wood dowels? There was a mini-peanut butter cup on a golf tee, a bendy straw (that had to be cut above ...

It was another beautiful day in Missouri today. I again attended the Shepherd Hills Cutlery Show and Blade Sports International Competition. Donavon Phillips (one of Spyderco's sponsored cutters) won overall, with a fantastic performance. For those interested, here is a video of some of the comp run...

In general it is going to depend strongly on the profile. I have some knives which have edge angles of 5-10 dps and edge thickness of between 0.005-0.010" with high primary grinds (hollow/flat/convex). It is pointless to put a low grit edge on them to obtain slicing aggression because they will sim...

So which steels fall into which catagory for you, Ken? (also)Ken ;) I have been deep into competition cutting lately so I have been playing with the tougher steels. Notable standouts are CPM M4, and 3V. I take them up to 15k and they polish wonderfully and slice like demons. Then again....I am find...

I'd say it depends on the steel. Some steels take a great polish and slice very well even when polished. It sounds odd but I have found some steels to actually slice really well when polished.

Oh my...

Spyderco offers free sharpening. Something tells me that they will return to you a sharp knife (probably the same knife that you are having difficulty with).

You raise some good discussion points. First off, thanks...I'm glad I offered some inspiration to you. Second. In competition cutting the winner and the looser might well use the same knife. Said another way, the winner wins either because he is the best, or the best cutter made a mistake that allow...

You guys are to kind! Thanks.

Hopefully I'll be able to stick around more.

Good to hear from you too Jazz. Yeah, the boys and I are regularly getting out and doing something (though lately it has been crazy hot, and the ticks are a serious problem). They seem to really enjoy watching and filming cutting practice. Its amazing the level of understand and respect these boys h...

I have the MBC enhanced version of "A Crash Course In Defensive Knife Tactics" and I believe he uses a Delica exclusively in the video...though nothing in the video is specifically limited to the Delica (except possibly for the meat man demonstration where he shows the damage it can inflict....if I ...

Oh, how I wish one of these was a Spyderco ;) http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7578012944_ce26440984.jpg Anyone who really knows me, knows that I rarely really smile in a photograph. This smile is the real deal...not a fake "cheese" ;) http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8152/7578033968_853fcf8f44.jpg