I used my BHQ M4 PM2 to break down a bunch of cardboard this morning, so I decided to take the opportunity to force a boiled vinegar patina on the blade (with the pivot and lock face area taped off) as I'd noticed that this run of CPM-M4 appears to be noticeably less corrosion resistant than the CPM-M4 in my Mantra.
Ten minutes in boiled vinegar later, I took the freshly patina'd blade to my King 1k/4k combo stone (which will cut CPM-M4 just fine if you flatten it immediately prior to use and sharpen using the left over slurry from flattening) followed by applying a convex microbevel using 16 micron CBN emulsion on a suede bench strop (despite the grit rating, it actually leaves an apex finish akin to an ~6-8k waterstone).
Tdog wrote:That's a beautiful edge on an incredible knife. :spyder:
Thank you very much.
The 16 micron CBN emulsion on suede leaves a semi-mirrored finish on the edge bevel without having to put any special effort towards it. I used to take my edge bevels to a 13k grit bright mirror finish, but I don't bother now since the CBN emulsion on suede would almost immediately return it to a semi-mirrored finish.
Thanks to some amazing forumites, I managed to end up getting my grail (this knife) at the original price even though I was backpacking in the Wind Rivers for 26 days. You know who you are--thanks guys, you rock!
GoldenSpydie wrote:Thanks to some amazing forumites, I managed to end up getting my grail (this knife) at the original price even though I was backpacking in the Wind Rivers for 26 days. You know who you are--thanks guys, you rock!
I've been eyeing a Wind River trip for several years, and I think that it will finally happen in the next year or two. My understanding is that it's quite an epic place. Can't wait. Welcome back!
Been using mine daily since getting it last week. Initial impressions are that the steel is much harder than I anticipated, kinda chippy even. Reminds me of a hard drill bit or something similar. I got a few small chips in the blade, but thats with the factory edge and no micro bevel. Yesterday though while working I chipped of the very tip so a little reprofiling is on deck this weekend. Probably put a substantially lower angle on it and see how it goes. Seems to hold its edge sharpness very well. Its reminding me more of steels like S110V than cruwear/PD1/z-wear, which is what I was anticipating. but my guess is the chips im seeing are having a lot to do with the edge geometry. Heres a few rushed work pics. You can see (I live on an island in maine/salty air)some rust starting to come in, but I'm just going with it at this point, seeing if a patina will form.
Thanks Palonej! The neatest pex job cant hold a candle to a decent copper job IMO
WCC - They are Ripps Garage copper scales that I filed down for a while till I got the contour I liked and then sanded through 2500. I carry left handed and got him to only drill it out for that carry, leaving my show side real clean.
Osprey - Ill tell you his work (at least in my example) is fantastic. Really tight tolerances. But in my opinion, the copper scales are too heavy( part of the reason behind filing them down) but you do get used to the weight pretty quickly. If I had the extra cash I'd go for the Ti scales and get the best of everything. But copper is pretty BA
I don't mind the weight- carrying the PM2 after carrying a GB2 had me double checking to make sure I had my knife in my pocket. I will probably get the pyramid textured ones to go on an S110V model. Though I did get two of the jade/M4 so I could always keep one "stock"... Not a bad problem to have.
I picked one up today 2nd hand, NIB. I'll admit, I didn't get enthused about this one based on pics. But my opinion really changed after getting it in person. It really is a neat knife (and I have the CF M4). I think I might make this one a user.
