Elastic Ceramic. Wow!

[Fireman]

I did a torture test on mine. I have the whale one that may be stiffer. I was doing some lateral edge force on some tough hard wood and only got a barely visible edge chip in it. it performed well on whittle abuse making bushcraft notches on a test stick. It is not steel but **** can it cut.

[TTEG33]

Have been using mine for a while now, did kinda a torture test today by forcing it through some turkey breast bones. Only got a few very small spots on the age. HIC really behaves like a high hardness steel in this regard rather than ceramic.

[Fireman]

I came to similar conclusions about the HIC blade after my torture test. If you treat it like a high hardness knife, you will be fine. It definitely closes the gap on traditional ceramic knives and some of the high hardness, high carbide knives in terms of strength but out cuts the best of steel knives by at least a factor of 2!!!!!! It’s worth having and trying. We may see incremental increases in edge retention or cutting between exotic steels but a huge jump in performance when you go with this ceramic. If I was a person who needed to break down many boxes on a regular basis, I would pine for this knife. It is a ceramic revolution.

[sal]

We're moving forward with the manufacturers.

sal

[Fireman]

We're moving forward with the manufacturers.

sal

Sal, please expound!!!
Details, deer sir!
Are you saying there will be a ceramic mule?

[legOFwhat?]

You can't smack the smile off my face right now, and I really hope they run a larger amount for this!

[abbazaba]

This will be fun!

[Fireman]

I hope to see this technology move forward with different carbides, BN or diamonds in the mix but baby steps.

[Fireman]

I was thinking that carbon fiber or printed scales will make an ultra light powerhouse of a mule.

[Araignee]

We're moving forward with the manufacturers.

sal

Hi Sal, thank you for lettings us know about this great news

This ceramic material is intriguing. This will be my first mule, when and if I can buy it.
Indeed, I've read that mules can be difficult to procure and go for three times the price on eBay. That's certainly frustrating for all the genuine buyers - those who want to enjoy the knife for what it is, as oppose to speculating on its value.

Would it not be possible to implement a reservation system ? You know, something like Kickstarter - if you're interested, pay in advance. This way you could plan production accordingly and you'd be able to serve a bigger number of customers (since there seems to be unmet demand currently).

[Fireman]

Any new information that can be shared Sal? Got to keep the mule team on edge

Mule trivia… A group of mules is called a Barren, span or a pack.

[sal]

Hi Fireman,

We are getting quotes for tooling and parts and I sorry to say that it looks at this time like they may be cost prohibitive to more forward. Tooling is very expensive and for a fixed quantity like the Mule Team, the tooling cost alone spread out over the run will add $50+ per part on top of a part cost of close to a $100. I question the market's interest in such an expensive Mule team when they can purchase a kitchen knife sample from the factory for 1/3 the cost.

sal

[defenestrate]

Tooling is very expensive and for a fixed quantity like the Mule Team, the tooling cost alone spread out over the run will add $50+ per part on top of a part cost of close to a $100. I question the market's interest in such an expensive Mule team when they can purchase a kitchen knife sample from the factory for 1/3 the cost.

sal

That makes sense. I guess I will check out samples. I still think this is a great idea but maybe better if enough of us can get into trying the material to be able to commit or preorder or something, which of course might add some extra work, though I feel like if you could get enough commitment you could maybe just do it.

That said, this is still a pretty small group and I don't know what the interest would be outside of it. On the bright side, it might discourage flippers, but being able to keep the last several at 50 bucks is surely part of why they are doing so well.

Would love to see one of these out and I would buy as long as I still had a decent job, but I can't speak for anyone else and don't know a good way to be sure without adding administrative weight to what is supposed to be a simple, light, fun project, or maybe I'd actually have a helpful suggestion.

[standy99]

I am in the not that interested camp and definitely not at prices mentioned above.

Interesting concept but steel is my interest

[Fireman]

Well, I am saddened over the news. I guess with increased cost, it takes more volume to spread the tooling cost. Is there a way to make the tooling cost more palatable by sharing the same cost with other knife models? For example, use of the same mold for the fixed and folder? Would it make more sense to skip the mule and go straight to a folder? Could we make a folding blade to go into an existing popular model like a Delica to keep costs down?

[Bluemoon69]

Well, the elastic ceramic may be shatter proof but it is still a brittle material. I was slicing a winter squash in half and three large 1/4 inch chips broke out of the blade as the knife edge followed the crack ahead of the knife. I believe many would be disappointed in this materials durability beyond slicing boxes and rope.

[sal]

Hi Bluemoon,

Welcome to our forum.

Hey fireman,

We're still communicating and something might come up. I wanted to give you all an update.

sal

[Fireman]

Thanks for the update. So it’s on hold till something helps it make sense financially, if I read you right?

[AlexRus]

We're still communicating and something might come up. I wanted to give you all an update.

sal

Thank you Sal!

[TTEG33]

Recently got their shark model, it has lower degree edge comparing to barracuda I ordered in June. Don't have equipment to measure the exact degree but the felt sharpness definitely improves.