Tag Archives: DLC

Spyderco Native Chief: HELLBOY 2 – The Kitchen Army

26/05/2024 nemosandman 5 Comments

Since the reception of my Chief Native I have found that he was a sole survivor from a Xmas Mystery Box bought in Spyderco’s plant in Golden in December.
In that box were different items and a rare Sprint Run Second Factory which was destined to end in my pocket and considered by myself IMHO as the perfect realisation of Sal and Eric ideas about pocket knives. In fact I think it is my favorite Spyderco ever.
I have written a first review here.
And now it is time for a second approach of Hellboy which has succeeded in kicking other knives from my pocket and quench my thirst for novelty.

So why ?

First the Native family feature an absence of hump on the blade making them very slick and beautiful.

Even the Shaman benefits from that.

The Chief is on the left and the Shaman on the right.

As you can notice the design of the Native Chief is really close to one of my favorite design: the AFCK.
Sal Glesser was no stranger in the Benchmade BM800 AFCK back in the 90’s. He helped Les De Asis founder of Benchmade on it. They had both learned how to make Michael Walker’s linerlocks at Bob Terzuola shop.
Both company were accelerating on the tactical lane in close formation.

As you can notice, my AFCKs (Advanced Folding Combat Knife) which was also designed by Chris Caracci a former Navy SEaL have been used a lot. The first version got a Spydiehole and the second version got an oval hole and an axislock.
This design was one of my favorite for a big folding knife as EDC.
And back then I was really in love with concept of tool highspeed steel on a modern plateform.

The same happend with that special Native Chief which got a very special alloy for its blade: CPM-4V.
With that steel, the edge is strong and the thin blade is very solid.
It gives a lot of confidence when cutting on a plate made of ceramic of glass. No chipping can happen.
Hellboy has been used a lot for cutting pies and cake on glass plates and the edge behavior was not disappointing. When I have noticed a little shiny spot, some white ceramic was able to put everything back on line but it was really minor.

Now CPM4V is not stainless. It will form a patina or, worst, rust very quick and easily when used in acidic matters like cutting lemons and being used on a salad with vinegar.
DLC coating is really welcome for that kind of behavior. Back in the 90’s Benchmade was offering only PVD coating which is really inferior to Diamond Like Coating. So far the blade of my Chief is not marked and scar by it various cutting tasks even when cutting.
My previous Chief was a naked Rex45 blade and it was another story told here.

Even strawberries can darken the edge of CPM 4V.

But cheese is a great way to notice how DLC is making the surface of the blade less sticky but more stinky.

The Chief was not always used on gentle medium like wood.

It was also used on plate with vinegar salsa. Here it is basamic vinegar from Modena.

In the kitchen the knife is really behaving like an paring knife. It is really handy on fruits and vegetables. Its very pointy blade is great to carve.
.The mechanism has never suffered from being wet and rinsed under water. The knife was smooth through and through its various wet works.

Now I like to have chamfered and smooth handles and blade spine. The Chief is known to be very square everywhere. The G10 has been easy to smooth with sandpaper used wet to avoid toxical dust.
Now the blade spine is DLC coated and it was my esthetic choice to remove the coating on all the length of its spine.

I love the result.

It has been done with some diamond rods.
Now the spine is much more confortable for my thumb in case of push cuts.

CPM 4V on that Native Chief platform is really the bread and butter for a strong thin folder. I’m not afraid to use hard on wood and plastic.
And it is a must in the kitchen various missions.
It has been also test on different hard wood and compared (geometry speaking) with many other knives I got.
One of my champion is the Swayback in term of smooth pushcuts.
But also the Wolfspyder and the Yojimbo.

My Chief needed more convexing and thinning to go to the level I was expecting. Again diamonds has been used handfree to remove the shoulder of the edge.
CPM 4V keeps a very very crispy edge and bites in the wood very aggressively.

CPM M4 is a stunning alloy which is prefered on fixed blade but it is a gem on a long and thin folder. It makes it super solid with a very permissive edge.

Quoting Larrin Thomas Phd:

Some will argue that toughness is not important in folders or fine slicing knives and feel that only edge retention matters in that case because they don’t use their knives in aggressive ways which are likely to lead to chipping. However, broken tips are still common on small knives and kitchen knives. And with higher toughness, the knives are better able to handle thin, low angle edges without chipping. And they can be heat treated to higher hardness to help prevent edge rolling and deformation, while still maintaining good toughness. This means that, indirectly, higher toughness can lead to better cutting performance because of the possibility of thinner edges.

The good news is that CPM Magnacut has been copied on CPM 4V behavior.

Review

Deadpool’s choice: the C244GRDBK Spyderco Native Chief in CPM 4V.

12/04/2024 nemosandman 5 Comments

This is my second Native Chief and this is a Factory Second bought in a Mystery Box of 2023:
“This limited-edition Exclusive version of the Native Chief™ was specially manufactured for St. Nick’s Knife Factory (stnicksknives.com) and is only offered through their sales channels.…
…Our Red & Black Holiday Sale starts December 1st at 9:00AM MST! This online-only event will feature deep discounts on select factory-second knives, two different Mystery Boxes containing seconds of special high-value models, Sprint Runs, and Exclusives.“
Red and Black ? This one was made to go in that Box ! 🙂

Which means it has some cosmetic flaw I was not able to spot.
The action is rock solid. I mean it is much more solid than my previous Chief the Mighty Rex45 Orange Sprint Run: the Joker.

I have heard that CPM Magnacut could be a stainless CPM 4V.
What I have heard through the years is how CPM 4V was tough and strong. The tougher used in Spyderco was CPM 3V used in the Tuff by Ed Schempp.
4V is used in cutting competition with CPM M4. It is tougher than A2 or D2 and tougher than M4.
What is avantage in a folder like the Chief ?
Simply look at the blade shape:

The Chief’s blade is more pointy than the PM2.
To quote Spyderco:
“This advanced alloy was specifically developed for demanding industrial applications requiring high degrees of both toughness and wear resistance. The PlainEdge™ blade is full-flat ground for a superior balance of strength, edge geometry, and point utility and features a stealthy black Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating that also helps protect it from corrosion.”

Yes this is a good thing because with 5% of chromium, CPM 4V can rust.
DLC is really clearing one issue for this folder.
Actually there si some reminiscence of the Benchmade AFCK in M2HSS.
It was 25 years ago that this co-designed with Chris Caracci and Sal Glesser folder propose a rusting tool steel on a modern “tactical” folder.
And it also was protected under a black coating to prevent rust.

So ease in mind is a good point in a workhorse.
In the signature theme of St. Nick’s Exclusives, the linerless handle of this knife is constructed with vibrant red peel-ply-textured G-10 scales. To complement the blade’s low-profile DLC coating, the four-position pocket clip, lock bar, and all other handle hardware also have durable black coatings.

So what do we got with this Hellboy’s blade of choice ?
A long folder with no hump on its blade. Very slick !
A tough blade on a pointy design that you can use hard !
A very strong lock as Backlock are one of the stronger locks around.
Quoting Sal in my previous Chief review:
“Actually Eric and Tom went over this model with the engineers for quite a while before making the decision to make it liner-less. We’ve done a lot of experimenting lately and you can see a lot in the many different designs and options. It surprises me that some would think to make decisions on values without any experience. if we screwed it up, we’ll fix it, but we don’t screw up often considering the many envelopes we’re willing to push.”

Now that Spyderco is promoting a lightweight FRN version of the Chief in CPM Magnacut, this is good occasion to step back in time and enjoy this incredibly slick and tough piece of equipment of some years ago.

Now for my own adjustement, I have sand the G10 to a point my trouser will less suffer.

The edge is already deshouldered with diamond and now I will tune the edge to my suits as CPM 4V is not only tough it is also strong.

Also I have changed the classic clip for a deep carry cheap chinese clone.
And hope we go !

Edit: I’m back on the OEM black matte clip which gives me less knife into the pocket. Deep carry is not mandatory on this one.
The Chief needs to be proud to be red !

Folders, Review

Spyderco PARA 3 G-10 Black on Black C223GBK — The Black Panther Cub

05/03/2018 nemosandman 2 Comments

This is my first Para 3 and also my first black coated Spyderco blade.
According to Spyderco:

“For tactical end users who are concerned about light discipline or those who just prefer the look of a black blade, the Para 3 is now available with a tough Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) blade coating. This low-profile coating is permanently bonded to the premium CPM® S30V® stainless steel blade…”

Cool I do really love DLC as it’s really scratch resistant. The primary reason for blade coatings is to reduce the reflective properties of the steel. Shiny things draw the wrong kind of attention and in a military environment, can tend to get people shot. However, like anything else intended to be used in a military environment, coated blades are not immune to wearing off but DLC is really strong.

I also specifically love DLC for adding corrosion resistance. The area which normally rusts on an EDC is in the pivot area. No worries about that with a DLC coated blade!

The new Golden Co. factory is bringing some of the best quality in manufacturing to date. My Para3 is absolutely flawless: perfectly centered, perfect smooth action… I had noticed that rise in quality on my last sprint run Para2 in 52100 too. Now Golden is as good as Taichung in quality control – if not better. So kuddos Colorado! Also Eric told us during the last Minimeet that they have just hired two new engineers who will make a real difference. Spyderco has developed a speed training of their own engineers as no school had prepared them for the knife industry.

Like the Paramillie 2 was a son of the Millie, the Para 3 is really Millie’s grandson. Same “cockpit”, stout hardchore 3 inches blade, smooth Compression Lock.

My all black version is very discreet and the the short blade makes it even less threatening. A black “commando” feel on such a short folder is almost like an tribute to military blades. On a short knife like this baby millie the “cute” factor is very strong.

My hand fits perfectly on that handle. That infact was a big question mark prior to holding the Para 3. You feel this short version of the Millie is ready for any task.

The DLC coating is absolutely stunning. I have sanded the G10 and put a great deal of care so to not scratch the steel hardware.

Here after some plastic cutting which scratched some of my other blades, there were no marks on the diamond hard coating. Let see how it will age.

At first I had mounted the clip for tip down carry (left pic) and experienced great spyderdrops. The Para3 is so smooth in its action, a middle finger is sufficient for opening.
As I got the opportunity to get a titanium clip from Massdrop (right pic), after transformation it’s now a tip up solution and a middle finger opening work best for me. After all, a black knife, even of that size, needs to be as discreet as possible.