Always Everything Baton Life

[ykspydiefan]

I received an Aebl Mule and have never been so much, "on the fence" about a blade before. By my eye it appeared to be ground a little deep, and the leftover burr is obvious. I did spend a fair week weighing pros and cons of sending it back to Spyderco. Then, I reviewed the advertising material and decided from the photo that Aebl must mean, "Always Everything Baton Life."

So, not much science. In terms of my own personal tests, I like to cut S shapes in paper and gradually test on thinner paper if I have it. Also, placing the edge of the blade on a plastic bread bag, holding the knife for balance only, I pull the plastic away. If the edge is sharp it will cut the plastic under its own weight. I progress to slightly lifting the knife and cutting with less weight. It's all by hand and eye, but it works.

I'm not sure if my loupe and magnification helps or hurts. It helps me see better, but then I see things that I may not agree with, sometimes it is hard to find balance. Like the burr and millimeter or two off the edge, if I was not looking I would not have noticed or cared.

Anyway, what happened to this edge after battoning one piece of willow? The willow was standing dead wood and had been dead for 2 seasons. The edge... I will follow up with some close up pics.

[ykspydiefan]

Close up pics taken with my phone's camera, just like all my photos. The phones magnification sees better than I do, however this edge, a person could easy tell by touch or trying to cut anything, that it is chipped and rolled.

Well, with out putting the cart before the Mule... The test is not done. I have not sharpened, or retested. Maybe, it sharpens in 5 minutes and never chips again. Maybe, I ask too much. Personally, this is my first and only Mule I have "been on the fence," with.

At the end of the day. I am happy to have the chance to run my own little Mule Team and do what I do with them. I will follow up with sharpening response later.

ps funny that bit of burr held on tight.

[sal]

Hi Ykspydiefan,

Thanx for the effort and thanx for sharing.

sal

[Ramonade]

I think sharpening is the first step to learn about a blade. Don't hesitate to update us after that first re-sharpening !

thanks for sharing

[Fireman]

I always sharpen the blade all the way to the finger guard/choil. Diamond bench stones are your friend

[Fireman]

It’s not your knife till you sharpen it and use it. Use gives the knife life and value

[ykspydiefan]

Hi Ykspydiefan,

Thanx for the effort and thanx for sharing.

sal

Thank you,

Your reply means a lot.

[ykspydiefan]

I think sharpening is the first step to learn about a blade. Don't hesitate to update us after that first re-sharpening !

thanks for sharing

I get where you are coming from. Lots of different entry points to understanding steel.

For me, I like to sharpen dull stuff. Out of the box sharpness and performance mean something to me too. I like receiving my consumer discretionary items in a ready state. I do not want to take apart a knife right out of the box, I expect it to work hard for a year at least before I think of messing with it. I want to receive sharp knives and make them dull.

I totally agree there is as much to learn in sharpening as in use. Just different starting points in the cycle of edges.

Thanks for your reply

[ykspydiefan]

I always sharpen the blade all the way to the finger guard/choil. Diamond bench stones are your friend

Hello Fireman,

No problem with the sharpening to the guard/choil/heel. From edge up to spine is what I meant by "ground deep," I do not know better terminology. I imagine the robot holding the edge on the wheel for a couple seconds too long. (If that is how they do them in Maniagio)

Got diamonds. Not great, expensive or fancy but they cut steel and get things sharp enough.

Thanks for your reply

[barnaclesonaboat]

Great practical testing. Thanks for posting up good pics and your opinions - I wouldn't have guessed the AEB-L would succumb to the batoning with chips like that.

[sal]

Hi Barnaclesonaboat,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[weeping minora]

May be the work of a "ghost amongst the ghost", or perhaps, a "cursed edge" (burred or over-heated factory edge) ?

Curious to see if the edge will display this type of behavior post a sharpening, because I've experienced nothing but the exact opposite with my Mule (excellent edge stability/toughness).

[ykspydiefan]

Not much time for the sharping story, or the full story really. I thought this was notaebl. I will say there was no damage after.

[ykspydiefan]

By no means is this a "good" set up, but it is diamond, it works, and it travels easy. What the #'s compare to is random at best, I rarely use 150#. For this job, I stayed on 300# and scrubbed my Mule like a dirty dog for about 5 min. Ok, I honestly followed "good" technique as per good Youtube instruction and 30+ years free hand sharpening. Let the diamonds do the work, be patient, use a sharpie and a loupe....

This is the result. I did alternating sides, 15 sec or so per side. It took about 5 minutes to get to here.

At this point, the blade was sharp, cut paper with barely a hang-up on the leftover chip. At this point it is a totally usable knife and as a rule I will leave steel on and use/sharpen over time to eventually work a chip out.

So, back to the willow pile. I was sure to pick knotty wood. I really wanted a test of this steel as last time was too easy.

This is the pile. Enough to cook food, or get warm.

The birch I used to baton with shows wear. The spine of the Mule shows no wear or injury at all.

The burr at the heel lost it's grip on reality.

Otherwise, the edge shows no real damage, or change after this usage. In the middle close up, it appears as though the edge has remaining burr or wire edge. This may be true as I did not strop after sharpening.

Overall, my Aebl Mule performed well through this round of batoning. Now we move on to harder wood. Willow, schmillow, I use it for a pillow

[ykspydiefan]

Found some harder wood. Old furniture pieces, the thicker piece is pine and the thinner piece is oak

I tried to cut this one right through the core or hardest part possible for a soft wood.

It split easy, 4 good whaps and done.

The oak took 9 good whaps to get all the way through.

The edge showed no discernable change.

So, I found some green poplar and tried against the grain.

Too easy. One and done.

Nasty thumb nail, OK... No new damage. The chip has not changed either.

It still cuts paper and plastic as it did since the last sharpening.

Next Test.

[ykspydiefan]

In my efforts to push the baton aeblity of this Mule, I did go ahead and do some things I know are best not to do. I did not break all the rules, still wore gloves...

Same old baton, the wood is 1 season old pine and well too big.

Going cross grain makes it more challenging, hitting on an angle and some torqueing the blade to pop chunks out.

I had a good start, I tried to stay away from the big silly knots. I was not shy about small knots.

A fair statement would be, "that is not batoning, it's beavering."

attachment=0]IMG_20230522_203200570aebl4finish.jpg[/attachment]

I did break the baton in the near the end and finished with the remainder.