Spy27 Mule in use and testing feedback

[PStone]

Just got my Spy27 Mule today. My very first one. Out of the box impressions are good. Scary sharp. Blade is nicely finished. Even grinds. Smaller than I initially thought it would be, but am extremely happy with the size. Ordered scales and sheath too. Took all of 5 mins to have a completed knife on my belt. Love the texture on the scales. Going to carry it EDC for a bit on the factory edge and see where that goes. This is also my first Spy27 blade. Pics of course:




First test will be edc tasks on factory edge. Will be maintaining with Sharpmaker to start. I will update when I get some time with her. More pics to come. :spyder:

[PStone]

Day 1. Stack of boxes. Maybe 25 or 30 all together. I cut each one into multiple smaller pieces. I also tried my hardest to rip, and not cut any tape. Was a good 45 min session.


Starting with a factory edge, felt like a laser. For the first 6 or 7 boxes. Then it seemed to lose that screaming laser-like sharpness. Still push cut, but I could notice it become no harder to do. And the slicing ability seemed to be faring much better. At around box 20 was when I really noticed a drop in performance. I was needing to use a sawing motion to finish up. Doesn’t shave at this point. If I scrape hard enough it will. Hard to say exactly how many feet I cut. In volume terms, the scraps filled half of my 2 yard recycling dumpster.

If I had to compare the steel today to something I already have experience with, I would say it’s close to LC200N in terms of wear resistance. But slightly better. Possibly as good as s30v. Right now as it sits, it can’t shave or push cut very well, but will still slice copy paper. A little roughly though.


Tonight she will see the Sharpmaker medium rods and a strop. I will post about how she sharpens tomorrow. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Can’t wait to see what others are doing with theirs! :spyder:

[PStone]

Also forgot to add. I absolutely love the design of the Mule. I never once had any hotspot or fatigue during use. The scales are perfectly textured. And the handle fits me very nicely. This really should be a regular production design. I feel $134 I paid for the complete “kit” is an absolute steal.

Are there any current production models close to this that I’m not thinking of I wonder?

[Bemo]

Thanks for doing this! I will admit one of the appealing aspects of the mule is a super high quality knife with exotic steels with a very reasonable cost. I ordered the handles as well and have been curious if the texture is too aggressive and it sounds like it's not.

[TkoK83Spy]

Nice start! Sounds pretty accurate to what I've HEARD about this steel, so it's nice to actually see it used and with materials that we can all compare and relate to. Interested in how it goes with sharpening as well.

This makes me so excited to get Larry's mule in my hands!! He sent me the tracking number today :D

[Bolster]

At BF, Submicron did a similar, and fairly comprehensive cardboard test of SPY27. But now I can't find the URL.

[PStone]

Sharpening completed last night. I spent about an hour with the sharpmaker. The bevel was somewhere between 30 and 40 degrees inclusive. 30deg only hit the shoulders. 40 only the apex creating a “macro” burr. So I decided to cut the shoulder back on the 30 setting. I think it would have gone much quicker with cbn or diamond, but am happy to spend the extra time with this one.

Definitely took a bit more effort than with LC200N. Felt almost like the s45vn pm2 I used to have. Once I got to the apex and created a small burr, it was easily shaking it off with just a couple alternating passes. I did go down to the fine rods and could’ve been happy with that edge. Was popping leg hairs like crazy. But I wanted to take it further and clean it up just a bit more.

So I stropped on black and green Bark River compound on rough leather. That’s when I got to a level I’ve only ever gotten to with AEB-L. Hair whittling. I know it’s kind of a parlor trick, but dang. I’ve only been able to do this with AEB-L before. Although it’s not for lack of trying :D


Not sure what today will bring, but I will definitely try and get some pics and update here. Thanks for reading! Let’s get out there and cut stuff!! :spyder:

[legOFwhat?]

Nice start! Sounds pretty accurate to what I've HEARD about this steel, so it's nice to actually see it used and with materials that we can all compare and relate to. Interested in how it goes with sharpening as well.

This makes me so excited to get Larry's mule in my hands!! He sent me the tracking number today :D

I can't remember what I set the bevel at on that particular mule :o I do thing I left it toothy though :D

Thanks PStone for the great info and testing! I'm eager to try my hand at SPY27 and more eager to make a set of scales just for it, but for now I have a spare set to play with.

[TkoK83Spy]

Nice start! Sounds pretty accurate to what I've HEARD about this steel, so it's nice to actually see it used and with materials that we can all compare and relate to. Interested in how it goes with sharpening as well.

This makes me so excited to get Larry's mule in my hands!! He sent me the tracking number today :D

I can't remember what I set the bevel at on that particular mule :o I do thing I left it toothy though :D

Thanks PStone for the great info and testing! I'm eager to try my hand at SPY27 and more eager to make a set of scales just for it, but for now I have a spare set to play with.

No biggie...I'll find that sweet spot! I like toothy too though, so that's nice to hear!

Great job on sharpening PStone! I feel I never have the patience, or sometimes the ability to take the edge to that extreme. Always appreciate seeing hair whittling sharpness though! Makes me think I need to invest in some of these compounds to add to my strop, I just have NO CLUE what to get or which order to go with when it comes to all these microns. That stuff is like rocket science to me :p I'd just like some basic stuff.

[PStone]

Thanks for reading guys! I’m still not the best at sharpening. So being able to show what a Sharpmaker can do is awesome. I’ve always been kinda intimidated by all the expertise and exquisite edges I see online. My goal is to let people like me know that we can have fun, learn, and share without breaking the bank or our brains. (Although I’m definitely guilty of spending waaaaay too much on my hobby and overthinking everything :o )

And Rick, you don’t need fancy strops and compounds. I spent $25 at knives plus for my basic strop and choice of 2 compounds. That was a couple years ago so prices may have gone up a bit. I got enough black and green to last a lifetime from that one purchase.

[TkoK83Spy]

That's the strop I have too, if you're referring to their green leather strop. I know it's been said not to do so, but they say so right in the instructions they sent with the strop...to use olive oil as a compound, so that's all I've ever used. It doesn't smell funny or look any different after doing that, but I would like to try some other stuff.

[PStone]

That's the strop I have too, if you're referring to their green leather strop. I know it's been said not to do so, but they say so right in the instructions they sent with the strop...to use olive oil as a compound, so that's all I've ever used. It doesn't smell funny or look any different after doing that, but I would like to try some other stuff.

I went to look at how much they are now. It turns out I bought my strop from DLT. Not KnivesPlus. D’oh! Been a while and I must’ve gotten mixed up. This one here:

https://www.dlttrading.com/large-field-sharpening-kit

Double sided and you get to choose two compounds. Looks like they’re $33 now. Still a great deal. They’ve got a lot of others to choose from too.
I have used mineral oil on it before to clean it. Oil surely does help spread the compound more evenly when reapplying. So I bet that olive oil is doing exactly what it’s supposed to and redistributing the compound to expose fresh grit. However now I just use a small razor blade to scrape/clean and redo it without any oil.

Recently I have been pondering getting these and learning more about diamond compounds micron size.

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Jend ... P1647.aspx

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Jend ... P1649.aspx

Like you, I feel like it’s a whole other rabbit hole to go down. For now I am happy with my black and green “crayons”

[Cscottsss]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing

[eonbluemantra]

Well I got mine tonight. Sharpened it up for about an hour. All to have the Boltaron sheath destroy my edge. It rolled/chipped my edge at the tip area. So just an fyi. Anyone else experience this?

[Bemo]

Thanks for sharing that about the Boltoron. I've been curious. KaBar went through that a while back as well. Not sure if it's a tolerance thing or what.

[Cscottsss]

Well I got mine tonight. Sharpened it up for about an hour. All to have the Boltaron sheath destroy my edge. It rolled/chipped my edge at the tip area. So just an fyi. Anyone else experience this?

Well that's a bummer! Wow.

I got the same Boltaron sheath with my new SPY27 Mule but have yet to use it.

Now I'm hesitant to use the sheath if this is going to happen.

[TomAiello]

I've been using a boltaron sheath with my K390 mule for some time now without any problems. I wonder if it's a fitment issue on specific sheaths?

[eonbluemantra]

Spoke to SFO today and they’re going to take of the sheath, solid customer service. It seems SPY27 deburr’s very easily. Took this edge up to 2300 Diamond Matrix stone at 15dps.

[PStone]

Not too much action today. None actually. So she’s going to help with an after work snack and coffee. :spyder:

[PStone]

Spoke to SFO today and they’re going to take of the sheath, solid customer service. It seems SPY27 deburr’s very easily. Took this edge up to 2300 Diamond Matrix stone at 15dps.

Fantastic looking edge! And I agree that it deburrs nicely. Also great to hear that SFO is already taking care of you. Some great people there. Candi helped me get the sheath and handles order combined when I got this mule.