This years projects.

[Dean51]

I hope to own one....or a few  .......some day, but this is the first time I thought to myself "GEC could/should do better" 

GEC could do better but I don't know if it's necessary that they should.
On traditional's the only thing that resembles automation is stamping the tang and liners. The rest of the fit and finish is by hand, thats expensive. To do better would be a lot of added cost, that cost might do more harm than good. They are already the best production knife I've seen and that includes the old brands that are no longer.

Really all I did was break in the knife. I could have just used it and in time it would have smoothed out on it's own.

Knives like the Lionsteel barlow and Maserin plow are built with much newer equipment. There quality relies on precision maching that can just be screwed together, with minimal hand fitting.

Traditional purists tend not to like the aesthetics of a screw.

[Sparky415]

This Guys a barrel of fun but...

[Dean51]

Good video I didn't realize this was a common enough problem to find youtube videos on it.
Find a floor supply and some smooth tile and get them to cut it, a little PC-7 epoxy might be all it takes.

[Sparky415]

 

I spend far too much time on the interweb 

[Dean51]

You found some useful info. Thanks 

[Dean51]

RE ground the Rat 2's this morning, these knives were about .023 Behind The Edge. Well that's not bad for a modern knife but it's not good geometry for a knife used as a knife. With the thin blade stock it could be better.
They're about .015 BTE now and they are excellent cutters.

I tried to as an experiment and ground the R2-D2 to 220 grit but it gets difficult on the harder steels to get the 400 grit marks off. Lesson learned I went back to 400 grit and I think it looks better that way, it is after all a $35 knife.

[comis]

RE ground the Rat 2's this morning, these knives were about .023 Behind The Edge. Well that's not bad for a modern knife but it's not good geometry for a knife used as a knife. With the thin blade stock it could be better.
They're about .015 BTE now and they are excellent cutters.

I tried to as an experiment and ground the R2-D2 to 220 grit but it gets difficult on the harder steels to get the 400 grit marks off. Lesson learned I went back to 400 grit and I think it looks better that way, it is after all a $35 knife.
(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

That's great job!  I just measured my 91mm SAK, and it's about 0.015 BTE.  I could imagine being a much bigger blade, 0.023 BTE probably won't make it as good as a slicer, and improvement should be very noticeable afterwards.     This is a territory I really want to learn more about as a knife enthusiast, I could touchup/sharpen/reprofile a blade edge ok, but making that primary grind is something I totally lack experience of.


Btw, R2-D2, what a cool name for this value knife.

[Dean51]

That's great job!  I just measured my 91mm SAK, and it's about 0.015 BTE.  I could imagine being a much bigger blade, 0.023 BTE probably won't make it as good as a slicer, and improvement should be very noticeable afterwards.     This is a territory I really want to learn more about as a knife enthusiast, I could touchup/sharpen/reprofile a blade edge ok, but making that primary grind is something I totally lack experience of.


Btw, R2-D2, what a cool name for this value knife.

To do it takes nerve, or confidence or a lack of common sense, I have plenty of the last. 

This is my entire modern collection, minus the two Rat's.
The Bugout, Freek & Smith & sons are the thickest BTE at .019, the Mini Barrage & Saibu are .016, the red & black wasp is under .015.
The Bugout has become afraid of grinders and for good reason, it's got a good sized blade and is lighter than many knives half it's size.
It's just asking for a regrind, I do like a knife that cuts well.

 

[comis]

To do it takes nerve, or confidence or a lack of common sense, I have plenty of the last. 

This is my entire modern collection, minus the two Rat's.
The Bugout, Freek & Smith & sons are the thickest BTE at .019, the Mini Barrage & Saibu are .016, the red & black wasp is under .015.
The Bugout has become afraid of grinders and for good reason, it's got a good sized blade and is lighter than many knives half it's size.
It's just asking for a regrind, I do like a knife that cuts well.
(Image removed from quote.)
 

Regardless the formula, look how well it works though! 


These are all pretty good purchase, many of which are classics.    I am just slowly learning how to mod my SAKs, and should I know how to grind, that will probably open so many doors to endless MT modding fun...  

[David]

I see a Cypress in that bunch ol'knives. I didn't know you had one of those. Smith has only done or two    runs of those. Good score. What your assessment of it?

[Dean51]

I see a Cypress in that bunch ol'knives. I didn't know you had one of those. Smith has only done or two    runs of those. Good score. What your assessment of it?

I got this shortly before I swore off new knives for the year, I blame the purchase on all the Buck 110 & 112 chatter here. The moderns get carried as the second knife regularly but I don't post the moderns very often. I was never able to talk my self into a Buck 112, so this is what I decided on instead.

It's 1/8th” longer & 1.5 to 2.0 ounces lighter than a standard 112. It's all steel so it has a very substantial feel to it and all the steel inside and out has a well done stone wash finish. The stone wash gives the liners and back spacer a small radius so there are no sharp edges. The handle is large enough and has a very comfortable feel without any hot spots and the G10 is well executed. No texture is needed on the handle. The tang rides low and mostly hidden with a rediused corner that won't eat pockets.

Blade is .115 at the spine substantial enough to do what knives are made to do with out being a wedge. I never use the pocket clip but it is an excellent clip. There is enough of a rise that it easily slides over  pocket seams, enough tension to hold it and the G10 won't eat your pocket's.

I use mine a lot for recycling cardboard and 2 gal plastic cat litter jugs the D2 seems to hold an edge well.  If sharpening is any indication the heat treat was good.

If you've ever read many knife reviews you'll see a sentence or paragraph on ergo's, steel, materials etc and 3 or 4 paragraphs on deployment. Well I could don't give a smurfs patoot about deployment. Lock up is excellent with the liner stopping just where it should. The liner spring is strong and that's where the whip out and deploy with a resounding clank crowd will not like this knife. The combination of strong liner tension and a light blade do not make for a good whip out and deploy action.

I'm not part of that crowd, I open knives I do not deploy my knives. So this knife suits me perfectly. I'm one of those slowly roll it open and deliberately one hand roll it closed kind of people.

The thumb stud is positioned well back on the tang and not in the way when cutting.

The first complaint I have is the stud should be a bit thicker and longer, it is a bit small. The second complaint is the combination of a strong liner spring and a deep detent and it was hard to open. For a couple weeks I pondered whether to send it back or fix it. You know me I decided to fix it and send a note to Smith and Sons. I used it for a couple weeks to let the detent ball rub the tang and leave a light mark. I used a 600 grit tapered diamond file the ones sold for serrated blades and made 4 light passes followed by 800 wet/dry paper on a toothpick. It's an easy knife to disassemble and put back together.

If you can fix the opening detent it's an excellent knife. If you want a fidget flipper you won't be happy with it.
The more I use it the happier I am with it, this knife will not be sold off.

[Dean51]

A simple project today. I picked this Recruit up for the wife's tackle box but she didn't like it. She said it had to many blades and was fidgety but she wanted the openers.    So my fix was to get her a case sodbuster and make a single layer SAK.

[David]

A simple project today. I picked this Recruit up for the wife's tackle box but she didn't like it. She said it had to many blades and was fidgety but she wanted the openers.    So my fix was to get her a case sodbuster and make a single layer SAK.
(Image removed from quote.)

Good solution!     

[Wspeed]

Cool 

[Dean51]

This is why I did the bullnose differenty.

You can see in the first pic that the tang is longer than the back spring. So when opening the blade the top of the tang would rub the back spring. All I did to the back was polish a portion of the tangs top to smooth out the stamping marks. It would have smoothed out in time anyway I just rushed it.




On your knife you want to concentrate your polishing on that portion of the tang, that rubs the spring first when you start to open the blade.

The first half of the radius will smooth out that initial movement ½ way to the half stop position.
The second half of the radius will smooth out the rest of the movement to the half stop.
It can also soften the closing snap, you may or may not want to do that.

Concentrate most of your polishing on the first half of the radius. That will give you time to get a two finger grip to open the rest of the way.

Again go slowly, remember you can take metal off but you can't put metal back on.

[Sparky415]

Again go slowly, remember you can take metal off but you can't put metal back on.

Very wise words 

 

[comis]

This is why I did the bullnose differenty.
(Image removed from quote.)
You can see in the first pic that the tang is longer than the back spring. So when opening the blade the top of the tang would rub the back spring. All I did to the back was polish a portion of the tangs top to smooth out the stamping marks. It would have smoothed out in time anyway I just rushed it.
(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

On your knife you want to concentrate your polishing on that portion of the tang, that rubs the spring first when you start to open the blade.

The first half of the radius will smooth out that initial movement ½ way to the half stop position.
The second half of the radius will smooth out the rest of the movement to the half stop.
It can also soften the closing snap, you may or may not want to do that.

Concentrate most of your polishing on the first half of the radius. That will give you time to get a two finger grip to open the rest of the way.

Again go slowly, remember you can take metal off but you can't put metal back on.

Thank you Dean!  Very detailed and good illustration! 


What I did to the 54 is to 'scratch/thin out' very, very lightly at the 1st beginning quarter of the tang corner and a tiny bit of side of the tang(using your illustration, the red part).  This indeed is very delicate job, and I have to almost open/close the blade on every 'pass' of the diamond file to be sure I didn't take too much off.


Right now, I was using a small size flat diamond file with it's all four sides taped up, so only the very top of the file is exposed.  And I use to that top side to 'scratch/rub' the tang back and forth to remove material.  Maybe a really fine sandpaper taped onto a popsical stick would do a better job(like you said in another post)?


So far the result is satisfactory, the clip blade on my 54 has a very, very mild laziness when closing, but it is still a firm pull of 8.  Don't want to make it close any lazier, I gonna just leave it at that.  The spear blade is still feel a tad bit stronger, but it is probably a manageable 8.2 pull.  Genuinely,  I think this mod does make the knife a heck lot more usable, and felt safer too(original pull/close was so strong that whenever it 'snap' to the half stop, the force was so strong that the blade would vibrate around the half stop, as if it wants to 'snap' past the half stop and just close itself.)


Thanks again for the post, I definitely learn a lot and felt even a closer bond to the knife.

[Dean51]

One thing that will help a lot is to flush and re oil the joint every time you check your progress.
If you don't the joint will feel dry and gritty and you won't get a good feel of your progress.

[comis]

One thing that will help a lot is to flush and re oil the joint every time you check your progress.
If you don't the joint will feel dry and gritty and you won't get a good feel of your progress.

That's good tip! 

The last mod I used compressed air and clean the debris and it worked well too.

I've also tried using the cotton to fill the openings(so nothing gets in the joint/spring), but it is a hassle to keep stuffing it like a turkey every few passes.

[Greg Jones]

A simple project today. I picked this Recruit up for the wife's tackle box but she didn't like it. She said it had to many blades and was fidgety but she wanted the openers.    So my fix was to get her a case sodbuster and make a single layer SAK.
(Image removed from quote.)

Brilliant, that's the SAK I need to compliment my Grohmann folder 

[Dean51]

I couldn't find the perfect SAK so picked up a hammer and made it myself. This whatever it is and a Yoeman fit my needs.

[SteveC]

Nice job and cool scales ! 

[comis]

Nice job and cool scales ! 

  Looks totally utilitarian!


The same tool with corkscrew is called a "Compact", the closest relative to it is the Duke of Edinburgh Pocket Tool(but that has a rounded blade)...

[Sos24]

Nice mod Dean.

[Wspeed]

Nice job Dean