Nilakka issues resolved?

Raylas · #1

Okay, so I've heard a LOT about the spyderco Nilakka, and I REALLY like the look of the knife. But before I can think of buying one, I have to ask, does ANYBODY know if the issues regarding the blade have been fixed? I know the blade became infamous VERY quickly for being extremely fragile, and I want to make sure I can use the knife before I buy it.

yablanowitz · #2

They started adding a 30° microbevel 0.010" thick shortly after release. It still isn't a machete, axe or cold chisel, but I haven't had the issues with my second that I had with the original. I did this chain with the original after convexing the edge.

Raylas · #3

^ Wow. Nice carving :D What kind of wood is that?

And that DOES inspire some confidence in it. I'm not looking for a folding machete, I just want to know if I can carve sticks for fires, slice zip ties, cut tape, that kinda stuff.

yablanowitz · #4

I don't know what kind of wood it is. It started life as an extension handle for a paint roller marked "Made in Indonesia".

You'd need to be very careful using it for zip ties, as it is very easy to get lateral loading cutting them, and the blade is ground quite thin. As long as you do your part correctly, the knife will do its part easily. Get careless and you could break a chunk out of the edge in a heartbeat. Hard wood with a lot of knots requires care as well. Personally, I think it's well worth the effort.

Raylas · #5

^Ah, mystery lumber, THE BEST KIND :p

Well I usually cut zip ties with a sawing motion, and usually from the side, and I usually work around knots. The most common kind of wood in these parts is oak, maple, and black walnut, none of which are terribly hard far as I know. I just make feather sticks and carve little stakes.

You wouldn't know how it holds up to warp wrap and cardboard, would you? I'm assuming it would handle those fine as long as I don't do anything foolhardy.

Blerv · #6

That's amazing work Yab :) . I thought at first you took a picture of a tarnished metal chain as a poke on the revised factory edge angle. :p

yablanowitz · #7

I don't know what you mean by warp wrap, but it goes through cardboard at approximately the speed of light.

yablanowitz · #8

Blerv wrote:That's amazing work Yab :) . I thought at first you took a picture of a tarnished metal chain as a poke on the revised factory edge angle. :p

Thanks. The pole started at 6' and ended up being a chain 7'-6" long.

Raylas · #9

Blerv:That would actually be pretty funny, but according to Yab, the revised edge is actually not bad.

^ Warp Wrap is those stupid plastic clamshell things with the heat seal. I usually cut though the thinnest section I can find. Granted I usually carry 2 knives with me, so.... don't think it matters knowing I can slice up most stuff with the nilakka and go to the techno for the heavy stuff.

Thanks guys, I'm gonna get a Nilakka as soon as it's possible for me.

yablanowitz · #10

Clampaks? It denies their existence, so watch your fingers.

I'd love to see the Nilakka with the original zero flat grind in M-4 with the hardness run up to about Rc64 or so.

Raylas · #11

^ Okay then, duly noted. It sounds a little like my Caly ZDP, that thing seeks my fingers! :eek:

While I'm not a fan of M4 (my sweat eats it), I could see that a as sprint run. Maybe some Grey or blue G10 to match the patina? Might be nice for the folks that love M4.

I wonder if there's any decent stainless the original zero grind would work in.... maybe RWl-34, or AEB-L. Those are fine grained, good edge retention and they take a very fine edge, pretty tough.... might work.

Cliff Stamp · #12

yablanowitz wrote: I'd love to see the Nilakka with the original zero flat grind in M-4 with the hardness run up to about Rc64 or so.

Like this :

Raylas wrote: You wouldn't know how it holds up to warp wrap and cardboard, would you? I'm assuming it would handle those fine as long as I don't do anything foolhardy.

The knife can do that with the original grind you just have to polish out the coarse grinding scratches and stabilize the edge which is likely a little over heated as-ground. I never put a secondary bevel on mine though the edge lightly convexed due to simple wear on the stones and picked up 1-2 dps. YT playlist : http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... 7FyLWD_o8e .

Raylas · #13

^Initial edge is rather irrelevant to me, I always sharpen my knives first BEFORE I use them, precisely because of burnt edges. I just needed to know if the thing could hold up to what I'm going to do with it. Bear in mind I don't have a ton of sharpening equipment. I have a sharpmaker with the standard rods and a homemade strop with DMT compound. So it's not as if I can do a drastic reprofile on any knife, but I can maintain and repair most issues.

Bladekeeper · #14

yablanowitz wrote:I don't know what kind of wood it is. It started life as an extension handle for a paint roller marked "Made in Indonesia".

You'd need to be very careful using it for zip ties, as it is very easy to get lateral loading cutting them, and the blade is ground quite thin. As long as you do your part correctly, the knife will do its part easily. Get careless and you could break a chunk out of the edge in a heartbeat. Hard wood with a lot of knots requires care as well. Personally, I think it's well worth the effort.

Usually from Indonesia it'd be a soft fruit wood , most of the carved stuff is including the larger furniture pieces , because of the humidity content it usually cracks a few months after import .
At least in temperate climates I'd love to see wip pictures of that chain being carved , can't begin to put the steps together in my head it now hurts :D .

yablanowitz · #15

Bladekeeper wrote:Usually from Indonesia it'd be a soft fruit wood , most of the carved stuff is including the larger furniture pieces , because of the humidity content it usually cracks a few months after import .
At least in temperate climates I'd love to see wip pictures of that chain being carved , can't begin to put the steps together in my head it now hurts :D .

Not the same chain, but here's how I do it. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... le-a-chain

Raylas · #16

Bladekeeper: I'd like to see those pics too if they exist, would be really cool!

Bladekeeper · #17

yablanowitz wrote:Not the same chain, but here's how I do it. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... le-a-chain

Thanking you

.

FarmerTed · #18

yablanowitz wrote:Clampaks? It denies their existence, so watch your fingers.

I'd love to see the Nilakka with the original zero flat grind in M-4 with the hardness run up to about Rc64 or so.

There's a thread about running M4 at low angles, didn't turn out so well.
http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... low+angles

Blerv · #19

Raylas wrote:Blerv:That would actually be pretty funny, but according to Yab, the revised edge is actually not bad.

Yea I was trying to figure out the supposed conflict too. The lightbulb eventually went off

.

yablanowitz · #20

FarmerTed wrote:There's a thread about running M4 at low angles, didn't turn out so well.
http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... low+angles

Compared to the results I got with S30V at 10° included, that doesn't look too bad.