MT08P – Mule Team Fixed Blade featuring Aogami Super Blue Steel

[MCM]

"Is it supposed to be sharpened"

Yes, just add scales.

[Bluntrauma]

Waiting for my Mule to get finished and thought I would throw up a couple of progress shots from Phil.

[MCM]

My 2 arrived today.
These look really nice! And sharp!
Will go onto the pile of Mules for down the road.
Plan to have a sizeable pack of Mules for custom scales
when I have the time at some point in the future.

[Bluntrauma]

Got one more update with sheath. Sure am getting excited about this one!!!

[Donut]

I will have to post a picture of mine with the Halpern Scales. I got a set of their "Slim" scales and I don't think I've seen any pictures of those on here yet.

[Donut]

Hopefully you can get an idea of what it looks like. The brown scales are the original type 3's, which aren't undersized at all. The black is a nice amount thinner and they are very slightly undersized. I am liking them. :)

[gijoe945]

Have a Kanetsune Take in this steel. You can drop a silk scarf from about 12 inches over the edge and it will slice partway through. Use Renaisance wax after use. Also on bamboo handle.

[Niles]

Donut, why undersize the handles? No criticism, just curious.

[JNewell]

Donut, why undersize the handles? No criticism, just curious.

Improved grip and handling.

[Niles]

Got my first chip on the Super Blue:



I was using the fine edge to finagle a watch band loose (trying to compress the pins that hold the band to the watch). Before I started, I wondered if something like this would happen, but it was a really light duty task with minimal force involved.

I really appreciate how sharp this guy is, and though it's an amazing knife for purely inline cutting purposes (i.e. I wouldn't whittle with it) like kitchen duty, I wouldn't want it in my pocket. It may cut cardboard all day long, but if I'm afraid to use it to pull a staple out of that cardboard, it doesn't belong with me. I think a folder with this steel and this grind would be useless to me.

It is scalpel sharp though...and that's really cool.

[The Mastiff]

It's a high carbon ingot cutlery steel with a pretty fair amount of tungsten carbides. Like every other steel it has it's strengths and weaknesses. It's more designed for slicing between cell layers of fish and meat than for prying and digging, or scraping.

It's not for everybody. It's top tier in what it's good at though.

It is right down my alley.

BTW, if you wanted you could change the edge to make it more resistant to such things, but as you have surmised, it's never going to be more than an AFI steel when it comes to folders.

[JNewell]

Basically, you were prying with the edge on a metal object. That's totally outside any reasonable use of the knife and the chip is to be expected. Using it to pull staples is similarly totally outside the proper use of the knife. You really can't complain that the edge chipped or that the knife is useless for these types of purposes.

Got my first chip on the Super Blue:



I was using the fine edge to finagle a watch band loose (trying to compress the pins that hold the band to the watch). Before I started, I wondered if something like this would happen, but it was a really light duty task with minimal force involved.

I really appreciate how sharp this guy is, and though it's an amazing knife for purely inline cutting purposes (i.e. I wouldn't whittle with it) like kitchen duty, I wouldn't want it in my pocket. It may cut cardboard all day long, but if I'm afraid to use it to pull a staple out of that cardboard, it doesn't belong with me. I think a folder with this steel and this grind would be useless to me.

It is scalpel sharp though...and that's really cool.

[dsmegst]

Knowing that the Super Blue steel is primarily for kitchen use, how do you guys like the shape of the blade and the handle for kitchen duties? I tried to make one of the 9Cr18Mo mules more kitchen friendly. That meant flattening out the bottom portions to it won't hit the cutting board during use.



I've seen at least one other mule similarly modded. Any more ideas?

[Niles]

Basically, you were prying with the edge on a metal object. That's totally outside any reasonable use of the knife and the chip is to be expected. Using it to pull staples is similarly totally outside the proper use of the knife. You really can't complain that the edge chipped or that the knife is useless for these types of purposes.

Not complaining. Reporting. I don't know anything about this steel, and the report seems to me to fit the spirit of the mule project. I went into using the blade like this expecting it might chip, but hoping it wouldn't. I don't mind the chip. Doesn't hurt it's cutting and I can always clean it up.

Mastiff, what does AFI mean?

[JNewell]

Not complaining. Reporting. I don't know anything about this steel, and the report seems to me to fit the spirit of the mule project. I went into using the blade like this expecting it might chip, but hoping it wouldn't. I don't mind the chip. Doesn't hurt it's cutting and I can always clean it up.

Mastiff, what dies AFI mean?

Fair enough! :)

"Afi" is short for aficionado.

[Morris]

"I've seen at least one other mule similarly modded. Any more ideas?"


Well, at least the knife looks gorgeous! Not sure what more you could do.

I'm making scales now for my Blue Mule, to use in the kitchen too.

[JNewell]

I've been (still am) using one of the 9Cr18Mo mules in the kitchen, too. The main handicap for me is related to is length, but otherwise I've found it pretty handy and a nice slicer and cutter.

[Donut]

Donut, why undersize the handles? No criticism, just curious.

The original ones make it about a half inch thick, which IMO is a little too thick. Maybe for a LOT of work it might be more comfortable, but I'm happy with a well balanced knife.

*edit* Oh, I think you mean the exposed tang... I'm not 100% on that one either, I know the Gayle Bradley is like that to improve comfort, I think it works. I keep thinking it might give you a blister quicker like that. It could also be just dealing with the tolerances of the Mule blades.

[Bluntrauma]

Well just got the finished shots for the Mule. Thanks again to Phil Dobson for an amazing job. This one should be in my hands within the week.





...and the beauty shot. :D

[dsmegst]

I've been (still am) using one of the 9Cr18Mo mules in the kitchen, too. The main handicap for me is related to is length, but otherwise I've found it pretty handy and a nice slicer and cutter.

I find that the blade is too broad for peeling fruits and such. When I choke up on the blade, my index finger and thumb spread too far apart for comfort. I thought about grinding the spine down past the Spydie hole but it makes me nervous to attempt something so drastic and can potentially ruin the heat treatment. I wasn't too worried about reshaping the handle since that's not as critical.

Bluntrauma, that's an absolute beauty. Congratulations on your new knife.