Why? Because I have nothing better to do with myself lol. I plan to do a series of these "tests" for nothing more than entertainment value, while at the same time maybe giving some real world evaluation to different knives and steels. Obviously, some steels and edges are going to last longer than others, so some EDC periods may be shorter than others.
Also, I'm not always able to pull out my phone and take a pic of what I cut, so I'll simply try to keep record of what and how much I cut when I can't take a pic. Also, keep in mind that I'll be using a cell phone, so the pics may not be calander quality
I also plan to detail how each knife is sharpened before the period begins, and I'll be testing the life of the edge at the end of each day by slicing various materials to test resistance (such as can it still push cut phone book paper, etc). Depending on how this thread is received, I may even revisit different knives with different edge finishes and give them another round of EDC'ing to see how the results differ. Lastly, I'll provide some kind of review of the overall knife and how it performs during the testing period. So...here we go!
CTS-20CP Para 2:
The knife I'm starting out with is my CTS-20CP Para 2. This knife is simply superb. It is in a constant battle with my M4 Manix 2 and Yojimbo 2 for pocket time, but lately it has won the battle so it gets the first EDC period. It has a 20 degrees inclusive bevel with a so-so polish job, which then has what I like to call an "Edge Pro convex" at the edge. What this means is, When I put on my initial micro bevel, I then go back over it at a slightly higher degree and make a couple passes, then raise the degree again and make a couple passes, so on and so on until I get the final degree where I want it. This edge in particular Is 36 degrees at the apex. This convexing was done with a 16k grit Shapton glass stone. It can be seen clearly in pics because it's much more polished than the rest of the bevel.
What's the point of all that? Well, I've found that when you take a bevel down to 10 degrees per side, giving it a ~30 degree micro bevel is such an extreme increase in angle difference that it instantly burrs the edge no matter what I do, so the "convexing" of the edge is a way to sort of sneak up on the final edge angle, and the resulting edge seems to be much more chip resistant and durable, while at the same time staying really thin and slicing aggressively.
Mods:
This knife only has one simple mod done to it. The infamous "Paramilitary pinky bump" has been smoothed out as low as it can go before hitting the liners (in fact I went too far and you can actually see the liner through the G10 because it's so thin). Other than that this baby is all stock...it's hard to improve perfection :D
The EDC Period:
03-28-13
Started today by cutting up some cardboard at work. Wasn't able to get a pic, but I made about a dozen or so ~2 feet cuts through average size corrugated. This really didn't have any effect on the edge at all, it still easily popped hair off my arm.
Lunch time, trying to have an apple with some peanut butter, but I can't reach my plastic spoon into the container, soooo...
Then cut up my apple...
Again, very little perceivable difference in sharpness. Still shaves easily, still slices phone book paper quite easily but will only push cut once the cut has been started, or in other words if I stab a page and pull straight down it will push clean through.
Today also happens to be my girlfriend's birthday, so I had a few leftover gifts to get wrapped. This is also a great test of sharpness since gift wrap paper is pretty thin stuff and rips easy. It sailed clean through every cut.
(the blade isn't that badly scratched, a lot of that is just smudges on the blade)
So far so good, pretty light day of use. Some days at work I do a LOT of cardboard cutting, other days I never even pull my knife out. I also carry a standard razor blade style box knife for opening boxes because I don't like pulling the knife out around strangers, so a lot of my random use goes to that little knife, but it's mostly just cutting tape which has little effect on an edge anyway.
