Spyderco Forums

sal wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:22 pm

Hey PStone,

Thanx much for doing this. We are all (at least Steel Junky's ) interested to learn from first hand honest using and testing. SPY27 was intended to be an all around USA made high performance blade steel and anything that we can learn from Real World Testing (RWT) benefits all of us.

sal

Very much welcome! Thanks for the encouragement. I’m very excited to be part of the Mule Team. Thank you for bringing it back! And I’ll do my best to show more of the random tasks too. :spyder:

Yeaaa, I think I'm likely going to be a part of the mule team moving forward as well. I was tinkering around a bit with the sheaths Larry provided me with that PMA11 Mule last night, perfect fit at the hip and ready for work today. I'm already beginning to understand the desire for these Mules! Now to try to find one of these Spy27's! Great feedback so far PStone!

I sharpened my spy27 mule out of the box( I always take new knives to the stones until belt lines are gone). I had to cut a bunch of carpet yesterday, so I used the spy27 mule and a pm2 in s30v to compare. the damage to both edges looks very similar but I'll have to look at both edges with magnification to get a better idea.

8LegLover wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 25, 2021 12:34 pm

I sharpened my spy27 mule out of the box( I always take new knives to the stones until belt lines are gone). I had to cut a bunch of carpet yesterday, so I used the spy27 mule and a pm2 in s30v to compare. the damage to both edges looks very similar but I'll have to look at both edges with magnification to get a better idea.

Thanks for the test, 8Leg. Waiting patiently for your final report... (and welcome to the forum BTW!)

Hi 8LegLover,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

Checking in after a long weekend. Haven’t touched up my edge at all since I last posted. Still have a “usable” working edge today, but just barely. Lotta glare coming off that edge. But it’s still sawing through cardboard. Won’t cut paper though. Over the last week I have used it a ton. Cut a bunch of zip ties holding old garden hoses together, and then cut the hoses down. Trimmed some rough cuts on about 30 pieces of pvc. A butt load of cardboard, and encountered a couple staples. It pulled yard duty as well. Used it for some food prep and to eat dinner Saturday night.

I do have a ton of wear and deformation on the edge from some of the rougher tasks. And I did scrape the concrete on accident.





I can’t detect any chipping. Just some small rolls. It’s overall just very dull. Which is very nice considering what all I’ve done and has happened to it. Loving this stuff. :spyder:

Tried getting some better pics using my loupe that show exactly what is happening. It seems to be mostly a flattening deformation with some small areas rolling to one side or the other. No real chipping at all. Just one spot. I’m assuming it’s all mostly damage from when I encountered the staples and some when I hit the sidewalk.
Hard to focus the edge itself using the loupe and phone:


Right side:


Left side:




Going to finish it all the way down through the fine ceramic and strop this time. I want to see if takes the same amount and kind of damage as the coarser edge did. :spyder:

Great pictures!

PStone wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 01, 2021 9:06 pm

Tried getting some better pics using my loupe that show exactly what is happening. It seems to be mostly a flattening deformation with some small areas rolling to one side or the other. No real chipping at all. Just one spot. I’m assuming it’s all mostly damage from when I encountered the staples and some when I hit the sidewalk.
Hard to focus the edge itself using the loupe and phone:


Right side:


Left side:




Going to finish it all the way down through the fine ceramic and strop this time. I want to see if takes the same amount and kind of damage as the coarser edge did. :spyder:

Try a quick steel in between sharpening (if you have one) Be surprised what a few swipes of a butchers steel can do to bring a edge back in between sharpening

Bemo wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:04 pm

Great pictures!

Thanks Bemo!

standy99 wrote:
Try a quick steel in between sharpening (if you have one) Be surprised what a few swipes of a butchers steel can do to bring a edge back in between sharpening

That’s a good idea. I will try that. I have a cheap one that came with some cheap kitchen knifes.

Starting with a new edge. Used the Sharpmaker down to fine and stropped on black and green bark river compound.
Start today:


A dozen boxes first. No real change in sharpness. Not popping hairs, but still shaving.


Then I carved into some pvc. A lot of pushing cuts and twisting. Sounded horrible.


Then I whittled and chopped on a 2x4.


There are a few very very tiny nicks. I can’t tell if it’s microchips or rolling with my naked eye. About 3 spots all together where I was making the most contact chipping. I will get my loupe out tonight. Here’s how she is now.

You can see the 3 spots in question. :spyder:

Cutting up pvc counts as taking one for the team. I appreciate the chopping too. Nice to see this steel performing.

Hope that wasn't a load bearing board :p

Great work PStone!

Yes PVC is harsh, thanks for your efforts!

Thanks for reading y’all! I couldn’t get a pic worth a darn with my loupe last night. But they are definitely dents and not chips. I’m trying to hunt down a cheap usb microscope. Will keep updating as I can.

Hey, I really appreciate each of everyone's tests and pics. Has anyone used it in hunting yet. My LC200N will skin, gut, and quarter 3 pigs before I to start touching it up as I go. My PD1 will make it through two. LC200N will do the same with 2 Nilgai and the PD1 is dull by the end of the first one. Given all these critters are full of sand that dulls blades pretty quickly, the knives performed beyond expectations. I would like to hear ya'lls feed back on the bloody side of the SPY27.

$chmitty wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:53 pm

Hey, I really appreciate each of everyone's tests and pics. Has anyone used it in hunting yet. My LC200N will skin, gut, and quarter 3 pigs before I to start touching it up as I go. My PD1 will make it through two. LC200N will do the same with 2 Nilgai and the PD1 is dull by the end of the first one. Given all these critters are full of sand that dulls blades pretty quickly, the knives performed beyond expectations. I would like to hear ya'lls feed back on the bloody side of the SPY27.

Someone get this man a SPY27 blade so he can test it!! Talk about 'external validity' in an experiment... Schmitty wins! (Welcome to the forum Schmitty)

I'll provide feedback, but please understand that my methodology is in no way scientific, my opinions are entirely subjective, and they will surely evolve over time. This is what I think TODAY.

My plan was to slap together the mule and use it around the house as a beater. I like my edge a little more acute than factory, and I put this one at about 26 degrees. The first time I put a good edge on it, it was somewhere under 4k, with a bit of stropping with 1 micron. I did some light, general purpose tasks with the knife, including pruning a few bushes. Afterward, I examined the edge under the 'scope. The takeaway was that there was microscopic chipping at the apex and no rolling. The SPY27 held up well.

That was boring, and I wanted an edge that might be more appropriate for the knife's intended tasks. I sharpened again, but this time to an 80 grit edge. Yes, eight-zero. It just seemed like a fun thing to do. So with the 80 grit edge, I pruned some bigger bushes. Some of the twigs were large enough diameter that I had to whittle them down a bit before I could hack through them. That involves a little twisting of the blade, so I would expect some damage at the edge. After the bushes, I harvested some herbs for dinner, then used the knife for preparation. Surprisingly, even after the bush hacking, the edge was still good for making dinner.

Subsequent examination under the scope didn't show any substantial damage. After this preliminary playing, I'm happy the way this slab of metal performed. I like it better than some other steels. Despite not being a big fan of carrying a fixed blade, I'll continue to carry this just so I can cut stuff and see how the SPY27 performs.

eonbluemantra wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:16 pm

Well I got mine tonight. Sharpened it up for about an hour. All to have the Boltaron sheath destroy my edge. It rolled/chipped my edge at the tip area. So just an fyi. Anyone else experience this?

My Boltaron sheath is scuffing up my PD-1 Mule along the spine, right near the tip.