Mule Team 21

[spyderwolf]

I'm drooling over a Mule,but my fiance is starting to get a spyder allergy,she sees them all over the house .Maybe next year...

[xplorer42]

I'm drooling over a Mule,but my fiance is starting to get a spyder allergy,she sees them all over the house .Maybe next year...

I know that exact problem all too well. That's what Spyderco does to us...they make too many knives I HAVE TO own. :p

[SpeedHoles]

Anyone out there put theirs through the paces and have some updates?


Have one on order and anxious to get my hands on it! :D

[ScottG]

My novice impressions: I have used it heavily in the kitchen since getting it. The patina is somewhere between natural and forced (intentionally "forgot" to wipe it off after use with acidic fruits). It has been run through the Sharpmaker up through the ultra fine rods then white and green compound on the strop and was at one point was hair whittling sharp, but then human error intervened. I thought there was a burr or maybe micro chips, whether there was or not I am not certain, so I ran it across the medium (my most aggressive) rods as I have seen suggested. Well it seems that 4v is brutal to sharpen from that dull without diamond rods and I have been struggling to put an edge back on. My sharpening experience includes CTS-XHP, S30v, VG10, Hap40, Superblue, H1, and ZDP 189 and I am having the most difficulty with 4v. That being said, before I got in the way of the knifes performance (which I am hoping to restore soon), 4v seems like a very resilient steel which I would very much like to see in future knives. I would be especially interested to see a Chaparral with its thin blade stock in this patina developing steel to experience just how slicey it really is.

[Mushroom]

Good call bumping this one Speed holes :D and thanks for chiming in with your experience with 4v so far, Scott!
I've been tossing between this and the MT20 recently and after reading the review the from Kevin Estela, I'm partly convinced to get the MT20 :confused:
Would still love to hear what others think of 4v!


I found the review from Kevin Estela here:
//forum.spyderco.com/viewtopic.php?t=68547" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bearfacedkiller]

I wouldn't expect 4v to be much different than S30V in sharpening. I would say that either your rods are dirty or you are not hitting the edge and need to reprofile.

[Ruarch]

I won't be stressing mine out until spring when I plan on using it to make fire sticks and whittling kindling with it. (not batoning)

[ScottG]

I wouldn't expect 4v to be much different than S30V in sharpening. I would say that either your rods are dirty or you are not hitting the edge and need to reprofile.

It has been reprofiled and brought to a mirror polish, or very close to it with medium, fine, ultra fine, and then compounds. I will clean the rods tomorrow and see where I get thank you for the suggestion.

[SpeedHoles]

Here's a couple of noteworthy quotes I was kind of remembering from the "Military in 3V", thread, where 4V was brought up in comparison.

From my more limited ( Bark River, Mule, and Big Chris Bushcrafter at rc 62) I'd love to see a 4V folder done in Spyderco fashion with a performance oriented blade. I like the steel and the performance category it inhabits. As with 3V and Cruwear tough and wear resistant shouldn't limit these to fixed blades even if they do fine there. 4V is a bit more abrasive wear resistant than 3V/Cruwear if it is heat treated and ground for it but not so much so that I'd throw away the others. It leans more towards wear resistance than toughness and 3V is it's opposite but they aren't all that far apart almost to the point they could be used interchangeably if not run hard and thin for slicing exclusively. I can't honestly tell much difference except in the Big Chris Custom at rc 63 . The Bark River at 58-59 isn't really much different than my 3V Bark River at the same hardness and either won't cut as much rope as my Phil Wilson Cruwear slicer at around the same hardness. That's just geometry.

Sounds like I'm ambivalent? No. I would love a folder done right in any of these steels and find they all make excellent knives. Now it's a matter of cost and ergonomics. Just details.

I already stated why I prefer 3V - you get the extreme toughness that is very desirable for a thinish-bladed working knife, and with the right HT you get excellent abrasion resistance and good rust resistance (for a non-stainless). 4V promises very good toughness and better abrasion resistance, but not as good rust resistance. It sounds like a great choice too and Joe (and others) is probably right - most would probably not see the differences in cutting / work performance. PD1 is another one that gets good press, usually in the same breath as Cruwear and Zwear

My Cruwear Military is my favorite variation of that knife, and also the same pretty much goes for the M2 Cruwear. Also enjoy my Schempp Tuff in 3V (although drastically different knives). So if 4V can be nearly as tough in a folder as those 2 steels, but with a little more wear resistance, it made me interested and excited to try this MT21! Apparently these benefits come at a bit of a sacrifice to corrosion resistance, but I've never been one to shy away from a patina and actually quite enjoy it with the Mules.

[SpeedHoles]

Just got it all set-up and ready to use!

[losinground]

where did you get the sheath from? sheathpro?

[SpeedHoles]

where did you get the sheath from? sheathpro?

This one is from glockcrazz (bayoucustomsheaths on IG). His name is Joey and he does custom kydex sheaths
(not sure if I'm supposed to write sellers names on here...? I can get you his email through on if you need.)


I have a Sheathpro for my MT1, and it is nice quality, but I wanted one with a smaller, sleeker footprint. The rolled thumb area to pop it out is nice, too. Going to order another for a different Mule soon...

[GLOCKCRAZZ]

Just got it all set-up and ready to use!

I'm glad you like the setup.

[Xplorer]

About 5 months ago I made my first knife handle for a Mule Team 21 out of green micarta and copper liners and posted it here in this thread. Since that time I have been working in my garage during evenings and weekends on all sorts of knife related projects. Last week, I decided to update the handle I originally made for my Mule 21. My original handle was green and copper and I liked the look, but it was way too heavy and bulky for the blade. The Mule Team blade is thin and lite-weight and should be complimented by a handle of equal stature.

So, having learned a little more I planned this one more purposefully. I wanted it to be thin, lite and have a balanced feel in the hand. I wanted the materials to be durable and good looking. I also wanted the colors to blend in with the blue and grey backpack I use most often. Here's my updated Mule 21...











Carbon fiber, black C-Tek & Turquoise scales on blue G-10 liners. Nickel silver tubes and a Titanium pin. Kydex Sheath.









Time to hit the trail..

[mattman]

WOW!

THAT is gorgeous!

[PayneTrain]

Mattman, you took the words right out from under my fingers. That is masterfully done, Xplorer! Even the photography is great! You have quite the artistic eye.

[Ranger393]

Out-Freak'n-Standing!!! Dude, I posted pics of my first Mule project in another Mule Team thread and now I wish I hadn't. Your's makes mine look pretty rough. That handle is pro level stuff for sure. Very well done sir,, and I especially like the tube used as pins on the front and rear,, very nice touch. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[farnorthdan]

Holy smokes Xplorer that looks awesome, you my new friend have some talent, would it be possible to get some more details on the process you used.

[Xplorer]

WOW! THAT is gorgeous!

Thank you mattman!

Mattman, you took the words right out from under my fingers. That is masterfully done, Xplorer! Even the photography is great! You have quite the artistic eye.

Thank you PayneTrain! I appreciate the kind words.

Out-Freak'n-Standing!!! Dude, I posted pics of my first Mule project in another Mule Team thread and now I wish I hadn't. Your's makes mine look pretty rough. That handle is pro level stuff for sure. Very well done sir,, and I especially like the tube used as pins on the front and rear,, very nice touch. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Thanks Ranger393! The tubes front and rear make it easier to attach to a branch for a fishing spear of course....ya never know. :D

[Xplorer]

Holy smokes Xplorer that looks awesome, you my new friend have some talent, would it be possible to get some more details on the process you used.

Thanks farnorthdan!
The most helpful thing I can tell you about this process is that I made the scales the day before I intended to attach them to the blade. Trying to epoxy everything together at once is a nightmare.
I cut the Turquoise, C-Tek and Carbon Fiber pieces and then got the sides nicely squared up on a disk sander, followed by hand sanding on a very flat surface plate. I epoxied the CF/turq/Ctek to the G10 liners and clamped everything carefully so the gaps stayed tight. The liner provided rigidity to the cf/turq/ctek bonds. The next day I had a single scale to work with on each side of the blade. I drilled the holes and outlined the blade.

I rough cut the profile by following the line on a band saw. I used temporary fasteners to hold the scale to the blade and finished 95% of the profile shaping on the belt sander. I also ground down the tubes, pins and turquoise. I then took the scales off of the blade and finished the very front edge of the handle by hand, in a vise. At that point I was ready to epoxy the scales to the blade...

When the epoxy was ready I did the final shaping on the belt sander with 120 grit. I did all of the finish work after that by hand. I used 150, 220, 320, 400, 500, 1000, 1200, 2000 and finally...green rouge on the buffing wheel.
I made the sheath from Kydex in a home-made press that I posted pictures of earlier in this thread.

If there's something you were wondering that I didn't answer, just let me know. :)