I'm feeling manix

[Geometry]

I feel like I'm on a journey.

I'll explain. I put up a shaman for trade on another forum, and decided to take a guy up on a put together manix 2 build. Black scales and liners, all blue titanium hardware, and an s90v blade out of a cutlery shop lightweight. It delivered today while I was at work and I was pretty excited.

The guy did explain that one of the TI body screws had sheared off, and he couldn't get it out. He already had my knife, and I was confidant I'd be able to get it so I didn't mind. It arrived missing one, and another sheared as I was taking it apart. No biggie, he included the original hardware and I was indeed able to clear out the piece stuck in the hole.

I put it back together and the action seems weird, after a bit of fiddling it improves, but I've concluded that one of the liners isn't flat. Also no biggie because I have a set of AWT scales on the way that delete the liners, should be a whole new thing after that.

I hope. I'm a tad nervous at this point. The shaman I sent out was basically brand new. Nicest Spyderco I've had too, really well done knife.

Now I'm inspecting the blade, and it's had a hard life. Looks like it's been sharpened crudely with one of those worksharp belt sharpeners, the tip is GONE, and I've got my work cut out for me. Somehow it has chips in the spine? I didn't take any pictures of the edge at this point because I had a sinking feeling and needed to see if I could sharpen (restore) the blade before I could feel at ease.

Now, I've never sharpened s90v, and the coarsest thing I have around is a dmt "fine" plate. I usually don't reprofile too much, just do my best to match angles and it makes short work of things. This was different. The edge was everywhere, and the tip was rounded away, so I got to it.

After potentially 3 hours of sacrificing my dmt plate to s90v, and accidentally skipping dinner, I have a not pretty, but sharp, manix. Mostly has a tip again, but not as pokey as I'd prefer. The bevel is pretty large, I'm not sure of the angle but my muscle memory for spydercos typical 15-17ish edge was too steep.

I kinda feel like I rolled the dice and lost, but I'm looking to make this thing have a bright future weather it wants one or not. As mentioned, AWT scales are ordered. Hopefully the action is cleaned up by this. The blade though, is not nice. Looking at the huge bevel, mediocre tip repair, and general scratches everywhere made me wonder if this is finally the blade to try getting reground. I've never done that, and wouldn't really know how to go about finding someone to do so, but I did say I felt like I was on a journey did I not?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome! Reassurance, condolences haha. If you've had a blade reground, tell me about that! If you have feelings about s90v, tell me about that too!

[Bolster]

First, I would love to own an S90V Manix, so congrats on having an extremely good steel that has eluded me so far. If I did own a S90V Manix I'd probably baby it, unless it looked used already, in which case I'd use the heck out of it and enjoy it. You can jump directly to stage two with yours.

Second, the area circled is what I watch to see if a knife has been sharpened a lot and, consequently, if the edge is thickening. Yours has not been sharpened much, so it's got a lotta lotta miles left on it, by my reckoning. I would imagine a belt sharpener could take a lot more metal from the heel of the blade than I'm seeing here.

The nicks on the spine, dunno. Used it for striking sparks? The much more important thing is whether the lockup is solid, and it must be, since you don't mention it.

If it were mine I'd put it in my Hapstone guided sharpener, give it a nice low back-bevel to even out the grind, and then maybe put a microbevel on at around 17. And then it would become a most-favored knife because I'd use it fearlessly.

The tip looks good from my house.

If you wanted to expend the effort, and were willing to sacrifice the "bug," you could sand the blade spine to edge (before sharpening) until the horizontal scratches were replaced with even factory-looking grind lines. But for a user knife I'd not bother, I'd seek to add to the hard-use look.

[jmj3esq]

Sorry, I think you're right. You lost that dice roll.

[PaloArt]

Well, what you can do now is to get in DIY project and refurbish this beauty - scratches on the blade can be remediated easily as I did that on my PPT in S90V - Diamond Resin Sandpaper, some good oil (I used motor oil), tape parts you don`t want to mess up. Put few drops of oil on a piece of sandpaper which you should attach to workbench (kitchen desk for me) and follow original grind lines with 275 grit then 350 (Probably closest to Taiwanese models) and finish with 400 max (400 I use on my Japanese Spydercos as it matches original finish the best). Leading strokes only - pushing lightly blade away from you, edge facing you and top of the blade away from you (hope this makes sense). At the end of the stroke, end of sandpaper, gently lift blade and repeat - should take approx 15 - 20 minutes to have some really nice result. Just remember - do not push on the blade and make sure you are consistent with placing the blade on the surface, go straight as much as possible to really match the grind lines. I use ricasso\plunge line at the hole (hope the name is correct) on the corner of the benchtop as my guide so I do not slide over with the blade or have any unwanted movement.

Hope this might come in handy :)

[Cowboyfromhell]

A brand new mint condition shaman for a heavily used and modified manix.....yep u lost in that trade bigtime. Caveat emptor...

[Evil D]

Always remember you can hide a lot even in really good quality photos just by taking them from the right angle, and suddenly the blade isn't scratched up and it looks mint.

It's not the end of the world, it's just broke in for you so now you can use it for more than pocket jewelry. I would personally replace the titanium screws, seems like the worst material for knife screws to me. When you push this knife to it's breaking point, even a factory fresh one, it'll be the screws that fail before anything else and I would trust steel over titanium. Titanium has it's place but it's more likely to break than bend under stress and those screws do see stress.

[Foehammer]

Well at least the guy sent you your knife. I bought a Rex 45 Manix two months ago from the secondary market and it was never sent out despite paying for it.

But aside from my pity trip yeah, you kinda got a rough deal. At least you won’t be afraid to use that Manix!

[Geometry]

Second, the area circled is what I watch to see if a knife has been sharpened a lot and, consequently, if the edge is thickening. Yours has not been sharpened much, so it's got a lotta lotta miles left on it, by my reckoning. I would imagine a belt sharpener could take a lot more metal from the heel of the blade than I'm seeing here.

You make a really good point actually, I'm sure this thing has life in it. I'm gonna have to step up my sharpening skills and equipment!

Titanium has it's place but it's more likely to break than bend under stress and those screws do see stress.

That makes sense to me. In fact, the guy did explain that after putting them on this knife that was his thought as well. He let me know one was damaged to begin with and he had the original screws so I had every intention of putting steel screws back in. Fortunately getting a sheared off screw out of a hole is something I was confident I could do, so no harm there!


Thanks for the kind words folks. I knew this trade was worse for me off the bat, but the shaman was never seeing pocket time and I was ready to move forward. I didn't mean to be in an adventure but I guess I'll make the most of it!

Still curious about a regrind...

[Geometry]

I bought a Rex 45 Manix two months ago from the secondary market and it was never sent

That sucks! I think my takeaway here is to just buy stuff new and beat it up myself. A rex45 manix might tempt me though, I haven't been able to get my hands on that stuff!

[benben]

It's just an uneven knife trade, worse things have happened!

[Albatross]

You got the worse end of the deal, BUT S90V is great stuff and you will probably enjoy the scales you ordered, more than the factory setup, so maybe it's not so bad. The previous owner should have done a better job of conveying the condition still.

I wouldn't worry about the tip too much, because it will sort itself out with a few sharpenings. If you remove a bit of metal from the spine, with a diamond plate/stone, it will get rid of some of those chips, while helping to restore the tip, assuming you haven't already done this. The blade scratches and overall condition of the knife might make it a good candidate for a DIY stonewash project. That would hide those scratches and if you were feeling especially adventurous, an acid wash is another potential option. If you go this route, it's best to wait until the blade is due for another sharpening, since it will need to be sharpened after a stonewash or acid wash anyway.

S90V is a fantastic stainless steel option and it's high vanadium content makes it a really aggressive cutter (with a low grit sharpening). A DMT coarse plate is about all that's needed, but going up to the fine plate you have still works well. Anything beyond fine, in my opinion, takes away from the aggressiveness S90V has. From my experience, sharpening low vanadium steels to a low grit finish, doesn't yield the same cutting aggression as something like S90V. It's like micro serrations. If you finish the sharpening with a strop loaded with diamond spray/compound, the edge will have a nice balance of push and draw cutting abilities, that some other steels just cannot replicate.

Enjoy your new knife and the adventures that comes with it.

[Bolster]

...The blade scratches and overall condition of the knife might make it a good candidate for a DIY stonewash project. ....

Having done several, if you don't polish out the blade to a fairly fine grit first, you get a "stonewash over grind" effect, which is fine, if that's what you want. But unless you polish first, you'll not get the equivalent of what Spyderco did on the recent Manix 15V, which was a really beautiful smooth stonewash.

Regards regrind, that's usually done to thin out the blade for extra slicey-ness, not necessary for rehab. But you could. You sort of have DIY replace-the-scratch-pattern-regrind instructions above. But re-sanding the blade at home on a flat piece of sandpaper won't thin it hardly at all (unless you do it for a year). Do you want to spend a lot more $ on this knife? If so, you could do a regrind, sure. If it were mine, I'd use it hard. It's a great steel to use hard.

[gunmike1]

If you have $60 for a regrind from BGM knives then that blade will be looking way better and cut way better as well. With the edge thinner it will also sharpen up faster to go along with better cutting ability, and the bevels will be far less pronounced at the equivalent angle to what you have on there now. You might even ask him to stonewash the blade after regrind if you are big on the appearance. I still have my ancient Manix 2 S90V/CF (solid S90V, not 154 CM/S90V laminate, the first production knife in S90V if I remember right) and it has always been a very solid performer. I’d imagine the newer runs of S90V are superior due to the heat treats being dialed in better, so it seems well worth the investment of a regrind if you can swing the cash. Like you I have some AWT scales on the way due to a Manix 2 with bad action (gritty and stiff on mine, Spyderco W&R couldn’t improve it, though I doubt they tried too hard), and they sure look like I will like them at minimum due to the decreased weight. We will have to see though.

[Doc Dan]

I'd change the scales, sharpen it, and use it. Those scratches will keep you from babying it. Of course, you can easily polish those out, as has been noted. Don't sweat it. Use it.

[Geometry]

if you were feeling especially adventurous, an acid wash is another potential option. If you go this route, it's best to wait until the blade is due for another sharpening, since it will need to be sharpened after a stonewash or acid wash anyway.

S90V is a fantastic stainless steel option and it's high vanadium content makes it a really aggressive cutter

Enjoy your new knife and the adventures that comes with it.

I helped my brother in law acid stonewash a pair of delicas last year that came out pretty good, that's certainly a possibility! And I am really looking forward to seeing how s90v is to sharpen and use!

Regards regrind, that's usually done to thin out the blade for extra slicey-ness, not necessary for rehab.

That's the idea! I've really wanted to try a stupid thin ground knife, and a beat up blade just seems like a perfect candidate!

If you have $60 for a regrind from BGM knives then that blade will be looking way better and cut way better as well. With the edge thinner it will also sharpen up faster to go along with better cutting ability, and the bevels will be far less pronounced at the equivalent angle to what you have on there now. You might even ask him to stonewash the blade after regrind if you are big on the appearance.

I was looking around yesterday for people that currently offer regrinding and that's exactly who I found! I was really thinking about picking up one of those BHQ m4 manix 2 LWs that drop tomorrow, but maybe I'll just double down on this one instead of grabbing another!

[Geometry]

I'd change the scales, sharpen it, and use it. Those scratches will keep you from babying it. Of course, you can easily polish those out, as has been noted. Don't sweat it. Use it.

You make a good point too, this one will for sure not be babied. I'd consider a regrind more for the extreme performance than aesthetic improvement, this one is just already all broken in so I have no hesitation messing with it!

[Geometry]

Update!


Awt scales hit the mailbox today, they seem nice!

But the journey continues.


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Got everything swapped over, and the action is still stuff as a board. Not the fault of the scales of course. I tried pulling it apart again and swapping the original ball and cage back in, it seems like they fit looser. Not in lockup at all, but while the blade is between open and closed. When the knife has one scale off, the blade swings open and closed beautifully, locks up as it should, fantastic.

When the whole thing is together, and the screws are snugged at all, the action is like, two handed stiff. With the screws almost loose, pivot snugged the tiniest bit, the action is acceptable. Nowhere near the spy27 lightweight I have sitting right here, but for now I've threadlocked everything in as is.
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Now, the next step of the journey.
I wonder if, in pairing a blade from a lightweight, the lock parts from I don't know where, and aftermarket scales, the tolerances are just a tad off. When the body screws are snugged the blade is pinched tight, perhaps the washers are too thick? I polished them smooth and added some gunny glide to no avail.

Who's got any thoughts about thinner washers?
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Feel his disapproval, he only likes the very smoothest of knives.

*Edit not sure what's up with the images in this post, my cat disapproves even further.

[Geometry]

I was impatient, so I hit the washers with 1000 and 2500 grit sandpaper, that was pretty much the ticket! I can now snug the screws down an appropriate amount and the action seems almost about right. Maybe could use a tad more sanding, and I'm gonna put the ti cage, stiffer spring, and more snug fitting ball back in later.

Plus my brother in law has that pumpkin spice gunny glide, so now my knife smells like muffins.

The journey is starting to feel rewarding!