Tag Archives: Diamonds

Benchmade BM275 Adamas part 2: Reprofiling – From Puff Daddy to Daddy Cool !

It’s time to de-shoulder that Benchmade Adamas‘s edge and to convex it a little to my own taste.
My tools are Spyderco Stuff 2 with diamonds, Fallkniven DC4 and leather strop.

First thing I will do is remove the stud which are in the way. I have found/learned that the hard way just by testing the angle, I have scratched them.

Two T6 torxs are necessary. One on each side.

Cerakote protection is found even inside the stub hole. In fact I was really tempted to remove it for good as the Adamas is so easy to open and close just by manipulating the Axis Lock button. But sometimes I need to be able to open it one hand and slowly too…

Next step is to protect each side of the blade, as I don’t want cerakote to be scratched… yet. I use white gaffer for that.

Slowly the edge is convexed and thinned. CPM Cruwear at 64 HRC is hard and diamonds are mandatory. It is a slow process all made by free hand.

Leather stropping is apply next. Again this is made slowly.

Soon this is a razorblade popping hairs just in one caress.

The Soda Bottle Butt Test was not passed in my previous test.
This is the reason I have decided to thin the edge of the Adamas in the first place.
Now it goes steady in like in butter.

The center of the butt is much thicker and harder to pass as the bottom can collapse. This is really my geometry test and many famous knives were not able to pass it.

The Adamas is now much better in terms of pushcutting and its steel (CPM Cruwear) is perfect for a thinner edge.
The stud has been put back and the big folder is ready !
Easy peazy lemon squizzy. It took me 1 hour.

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The Spyderco PPT Round 2 — The Son of Anarchy.

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Strangely I am coming back often to the PPT when I first thought it would be a collection and a safe queen. Safe queen my a$$ ! Pardon my French but there is something quite sensual when holding this knife, something which makes the other feel “hollow” in comparaison. The PPT got that heavy butt “anchoring” it to the palm but also the toxicated finish of the handle’s slab is a delight under the thumb.
There is something almost “paleo” in the finish. Something primal in the mechanical way it feels. It’s dense but is designed to be heavy metal. It’s a knife Opie could have admire…

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On the performance side, I have decided to get a convexed edge. Diamonds are the only language stubborn S90V seems to understand and scratches on the blade side are, well especially for the clumsy sharpener, something hard to avoid especially when using the stone at a 10° angle to get rid of that secondary bevel. The performance in pushcutting are really enhanced now. I can measure it to the Manly Peak and its thin S90V blade.

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I use white ceramic to make the steel shiny but S90V is really a tough cookie in the kindergarden of alloys: it’s a game of patience to obtain a nice finish.

But now on plastic I can enjoy the enhancement of that already very thin edge. It goes easy through.

Someone asked me why using a workhorse knife on tomatoes ? Tomatoes may look like some fragile fruits but they are not: their skin got no pity for any dull knife and their flesh will give in under any pressure. The best tools for tomatoes are serrated and micro serrated knives.

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Hence that test on my polished edges. You need a very keen blade to push cut in a tomato and make thin loaves. Plastic and bambou can be used to test the edge stability which often is only due to thermic treatment of steel.

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The alignement of the point on the PPT is very different from my Millie and is very close to the experience of the YO2: its makes powerful cuts.
Also the handle makes Icepick/reverse grip very confortable, knowing this is the favorite grip of Philippe Perroti on La Griffe, a grip I have found handy in forcing a door. Just kidding but the confortable reverse grip (à la “griffe de chat” in French) is not a joke.

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You get also an excellent blade/handle ratio for a choiled knife compared to my Para3 for example.

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And as good as the non-choiled Sliverax !!

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My PPT has been used in the kitchen is not easy to clean because the way the hole in the liners are not accessible. This is serious issue if, for example, a piece of raw meat get stuck there and could contaminated the blade. The full Reeve Integral Locks are the best lock for checking your folding for any debris. I would have preferred solid titanium liners without that hidden cheese holes which ask for special maintenance starting by unscrewing the slabs to get full access and complete cleaning.

So in a wrap, the PPT is a compact hard user with very high performances featured by great ergos. It has a really strong character (it feels like it has been done for some Hell’s Angel fan) but once deployed it will pierce and cut with high reliability. Once the PPT is entering the game: this is serious business. For the record being represented to bikers gathering, bikers love La Griffe and various neckknife which are handy on a ride. So it’s easy to understand some DNA in the PPT design.

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SLIVERAX — ELEGANT DREAMED ENGINEERED KNIFE – ACT II: Convexing.

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Many times, people asked me how I was honing my knives to my taste.
I love thin edges and I love edges which can be maintain by stropping on leather.
For that any sharp angle but the edge itself need to removed.

So my first step on the Sliverax full flat ground blade is to remove the shoulder on the secondary bevel. For that I use Fallkniven FB04 diamonds or Spyderco Double Stuff II.

As I don’t want recreate two other angles, I do it free hand creating a gentle natural convexed medium between the grind and the edge.

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Soo some dark dust of removed metal appears. The edge of the blade is untouched as after some initial testing I do trust it.

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I need that convexed edge on the belly of my blade, I don’t minde about the tip and the choil which are not where I do apply the most force to push cut through wood for example. It takes 30 minutes to get where I want without to make a mess by scratching the blade finish. It means each pass on the diamond is check with my finger before, sto be certain to focus on that edge shoulder. To obtuse it will scratch the edge and to acute it would scratch the blade finish. So it takes time to be certain for each stroke.

Luckily the manufacturing lines on the blade exactly follow my pass and some miss strokes were not visible.  It takes around 500 passes on each side on S30V.
Then I switch to white ceramic directly.

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White ceramic brings some mirror polish on the convexed edge and also hone it to razor.
Here I can go much faster as I won’t ruin my blade if I’m clumsy. White ceramic are very forgiving…
Soon I got a very nice mirror on both side and I can go to leather.

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I use a century old barber accessories I have found in a garage sale in Italy. With some white compound, it has honed my blade for 15 years.
Time to test the blade on a chesnut road.
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The thinner edge goes much more deeper and with more control and more ease.
Eventually after playing with the knife for 5 minutes on various material, I inspect the edge and there is no chipping or rolling.
It takes me around 45 minutes.
That’s how I proceed to get an edge which suits my need. 🙂
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