Gayle Bradley - my first post on a forum.

[GGB0308]

First of all, thank you for your interest in my Spyderco collaboration. I thought I would address some questions I have read on the forums.

[INDENT]I chose a hollow grind because it gives you a thinner edge with less resistance to the material being cut.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The blade material (CPM M4) is so tough and strong it will allow for a very thin edge and still have ample strength for a rough use knife. (My competition knives have an edge thickness of about .014 before the sharpening bevel is ground.)[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The blade has belly from tip to ricasso for better cutting ability in most cases.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The tip is slightly thicker for additional strength.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The handle is large enough to accomodate any hand size and most types of grips.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]Some dimensions not covered in the spec sheet are: liners are .068; blade is .120; thickness is .517.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]Because of the size of the knife and thickness of the liner material, I chose carbon fiber to reduce weight and add furher strength.[/INDENT]

One last thing about CMP M4, it is not stainless, but I have found that applying silicone to the blade will prevent most corrosion and stains.

Thank you for your interest in my work-horse design and your trust in Spyderco knives.

Stay sharp,
Gayle Bradley

[kbuzbee]

Gayle, welcome to the forum. I love the collab.

Have you thought of a BBL instead of the liner lock? My only other preference would be a deep carry wire clip.

But it's a great knife and thanks for bringing it to the Spyderco family.

Ken

[skunk_2]

off topic i know and im sorry!!
i find this forum is unlike any other ive been a part of! its great!!!
i got a hello/welcome from sal on my first post, and guys like gayle make posts here, and answer questions from the consumer! its awsome!
i can honestly say that ive never been welcomed to the other forum im a member of by the guy who designed my civic SI!!! and ive yet to see an engineer on answering questions about why he did this or why he did that!

[sal]

Hi Gayle,

Welcome to the Spyderco forum. Glad you could stop by. I'm sure we can all learn from your experience.

We have a few of our designer/knife-maker's participate and it's great when we can get info from the designers.

(For those that may not know, Gayle was the two time champion of the BladeSports competition. He designed, built the knife, and competed and won in a contest among the best of the best in cutting competitions. Something about "walking the walk").

Give your lovely wife, Hester, a hug for me.

sal

[FIMS]

Great knife all around. I don't think this knife could have been made with any other collaboration other than Spyderco.

[tonydahose]

Gayle, i don't have your have your knife yet but i will be getting one soon. welcome to the board, aka Sal's livingroom :) .

[Brad S.]

Hey Gayle,

Welcome abord! Its great to see you hear. Ive really enjoyed when the Designers/makers come around. Particularly being one myself, its nice to hear what the maker/designer was aiming for in their design. Sometimes I find I learn about little features on the knife, that might not be obvious to most, but was a special touch of the designer.

Welcome! Hope to meet you at some futures shows as well if your around

Brad Southard

[npueppke]

Welcome to the forum, Gayle! Nice of you to answer our questions, and I'm sure you will find this to be a very welcoming, open minded place for discussions about Cutlery. I'm planning on picking up your collaboration in the future as well, looks like a great blade to me!

[CanisMajor]

Welcome to the Forum Gayle, I love the collaboration model just released, I hope there are many more to come.

Canis

[gunmike1]

Thanks for the break down, Gayle. I really like the knife and will probably buy a spare. Mine has a nice and thin .017"-.019" edge that is now 9 degrees per side after I sharpened it thinner. For me CPM M4 has been a great performer in the field and for utility work. I plan on getting mine rehardened to 65 RC or so to push the performance envelope some, and possibly thin the edge to .010"-.012". I thnk M4 can handle that for skinning and utility tasks, and probably even harder duty tasks, buti certainly wouldn't use it as a chopper. Do you have any insight into how CPM M4 performs at 64-66 RC? Also, I am used to using steels not nearly as tough as M4 with .010" edges, so I doubt I'd have problems with my type of cutting with my edge thinned out, do you have any thoughts on a thinner edge? I guess if I go too hard and too thin my second knife, which I plan to keep factory stock, will always work great. You really hit a homerun with this design and I just love the steel, as it gets sharper than anything else I've tried while holding an edge incredibly long. Spyderco does a great job with it's heat treat.

Mike

[JNewell]

Many thanks for taking the time to stop by and provide further information about this knife. It's wonderful to get your perspective on the knife. It's also a great kick-off for the new knife and the new year (happy new year!).

I was amazed by the combination of design, materials, workmanship and value that you and Sal (and the factory in Taiwan) have brought together. It's an outstanding knife in every way, and I am looking forward to many years of great use.

Welcome - I hope we'll be able to learn more from you as the new year progresses.

First of all, thank you for your interest in my Spyderco collaboration. I thought I would address some questions I have read on the forums.

[INDENT]I chose a hollow grind because it gives you a thinner edge with less resistance to the material being cut.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The blade material (CPM M4) is so tough and strong it will allow for a very thin edge and still have ample strength for a rough use knife. (My competition knives have an edge thickness of about .014 before the sharpening bevel is ground.)[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The blade has belly from tip to ricasso for better cutting ability in most cases.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The tip is slightly thicker for additional strength.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The handle is large enough to accomodate any hand size and most types of grips.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]Some dimensions not covered in the spec sheet are: liners are .068; blade is .120; thickness is .517.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]Because of the size of the knife and thickness of the liner material, I chose carbon fiber to reduce weight and add furher strength.[/INDENT]

One last thing about CMP M4, it is not stainless, but I have found that applying silicone to the blade will prevent most corrosion and stains.

Thank you for your interest in my work-horse design and your trust in Spyderco knives.

Stay sharp,
Gayle Bradley

[Piet.S]

My competition knives have an edge thickness of about .014 before the sharpening bevel is ground.

I like that a lot.
Edge thickness is rarely mentioned but is one of the keys to cutting performance.
Very few production knives go real thin, not enough handmades either.

[anti-torsion]

Hey Gayle,

Thank you for stopping by and giving us more insight.

I hope to see more collaborations from you in the future, perhaps a fixed blade?

[ChapmanPreferred]

It is a pleasure to read your insight into the design feature choices. Thank you for stopping by for a visit!

Sincerely,

Doug

[gunmike1]

I like that a lot.
Edge thickness is rarely mentioned but is one of the keys to cutting performance.
Very few production knives go real thin, not enough handmades either.

I agree 100% about edge thickness being one of the dominant factors in determining cutting ability. That is why I have so many regrinds from .004"-.015" depending on application. The thinnest factory folder of a "normal" size that I've ever had is my Caly 3 ZDP and it's .012" edge. My Benchmade Rift is made for hard use in 154CM and shockingly had a .014" edge, but my M4 Rift was .021" after they fixed the blade play issue, and that was with a fat edge angle. The Bradley has an outstanding .017"-.019" thick edge, which is excellent for a very hard use knife and can probably withstand some serious abuse at that thickness considering the toughness of the steel. I am really confident with my experience with CPM M4 from the .018" Mule to my .007" full height hollow ground Krein Custom that the Bradley can put up with most all hard use short of abuse with a .010"-.012" edge. At the thickness some customers may damage the edge if they tried chopping some hardwood then twisting out of a deep cut, but for normal knife use a .010"-.012" edge should provide great slicing (though it certainly isn't bad from the factory, I'm just used to thinner) and plenty of toughness due to the steel's properties. I'll definately get another knife to keep factory edge thickness and heat treat, but I have a feeling my thinned out, harder Bradley will serve well and really showcase CPM M4 at it's best at 65 RC or so.

Mike

[dphillips]

Gayle,
Glad you joined the forum. Hang around for awhile, these guys are about knives that perform.

Donavon

[The Mastiff]

I'm going to keep this one stock Mike. The two I have are both excellent cutting machines, and aside from being shorter bladed than I prefer, just right in every other way. The handle fits my hands ok, which is important to someone as ham handed as me. I also have moved over to silicone for corrosion purposes, having both the clear silicone purchased from A.G. Russell, but also the silicone cloth made by outers for when a quick wipedown is needed to just get fingerprints off it.

I prefer this steel over S90V for reasons we've talked about before, and have found the platform that feels just right in my hands after going through several M4 models from the other company producing them. Except for one of the models from the other company, they were more axe like in their grinds out of the box than I prefer. These do seem to sharpen even cleaner too, with less burring, possibly due to higher hardness.

Quality on these models is nothing less than excellent. I'm very pleased overall, having bought a second one already which is saying a lot for someone as broke as I have been lately.

Things keep getting better and better. Every time I think I'm going to lay off buying knives for a while, something just a bit better for me comes up.

Innovations and quality in the industry over the last 5 years has been nothing less than amazing.

[edge-e]

Gayle,I really appreciate the deep and high hollow grind on this knife.I think it works well with the cpm m4 and performance of cutting.I have to thank you and spyderco for producing one of the finest knives for fit and finish as well as disign.I hope to see more collaberations and new design in the future.

Keep up the good work.
oh,welcome to the forums. :)

[Ed Schempp]

This knife should be a work horse; very good compatibility in design and steel. I'm delighted that your design has come to market.

I suggest that others Google Gayles name and check out his custom pieces. Gayle makes some great lock backs and slip-joints...Take Care...Ed

[gunmike1]

Donovan, it's good to have you and Gayle here, as I just love watching what you guys do with CPM M4 blades in your hands in competition.

Mastiff, the knife is definately great stock. Way better sharpening than the competition with better edge holding to boot. With the thin factory edge and high hollow grind mixed with the best factory heat treat on CPM M4 there is you have a GREAT cutting tool. The fit & finish is incredible, the CF is perfect, the liner lock (which I generally don't like) is great, and the ergos are good and fit my large hands real nice. I will definately buy another and keep it stock, I just have a gene that makes me try to maximize the performance in any knife, including a tremendous performer like the Bradley. I'm so used to ultra thin Krein grinds, and now with the possibility of a Phil Wilson heat treat to 64-66 RC (if it's not there already) I just can't resist tinkering. As it stands my Bradley is the sharpest knife in my collection (that is saying something too with the knives in my house) after sharpening it last night to an unreal sharpness level (my Stretch CF is uber sharp, the Bradley puts it to shame). It sharpens up so easy it is crazy, the edge just takes to each stone quickly and barely burrs unlike the competitor's M4. The edge gets shiny and really sharp even at coarser grits and just continues until it makes hairs pop in fear almost before you touch the edge to them when I try to whittle hair. I am probably going to see a small improvement by going harder with the steel and a tad thinner (if I even get it thinned initially, as the .017" high hollow grind out cuts flat grinds with the same edge thickness), but I can't help but try to push the limits. I may luck out and get 66 RC CPM M4 after the re heat treat, and with that possibility I can't help but go for it with this knife. M2 at 66 RC is a real treat, CPM M4 should be a good bit better. I will surely be ordering another Bradley model to keep factory stock (aside from putting my own edge on it), and the new one will have Gayle Bradley's logo on it as well unlike my early model to pay tribute to the man that made this great design. I pre-ordered this model blind: I had no specs on this knife but Spyderco, Gayle Bradley, and CPM M4 and those 3 components were good enough for me to pledge to purchase this knife. Not only did they come through, but the manufacturer in Taiwan did a wonderful job making a knife with no fit and finish flaws that I can notice. I think it is time people stop thinking Taiwan means junk knives, as the Bradley is built as good as any knife I've ever owned, if not better. Design, materials, and craftsmanship come together in this knife to make one of my favorite folders ever even though I'm not a fan of liner locks. The lack of a finger cutout and the massive lockbar combine to create a liner lock that i have more confidence in than my Millie's, which is saying something. I just can't see unlocking it accidentally, when it thinks open it is staying that way until you want it unlocked. I am so long winded it is getting pathetic, but this knife just exceeds all expectations I had for it and the more I use it the more I like it. It's a tremendous value and I can't recommend it enough to someone looking for a top notch folder in every way: great materials in carbon fiber and especially CPM M4, great build, great looks, and most of all great performance.

Mike