As mentioned above s110v is probably not a beginner steel. But boy it will hold a edge for twice as long as anything else. If I lived in the US it would be a no brainer as plenty of people you could send it to to be sharpened.
Same as maxamet steel. A beautiful steel but a top shelf set of sharpening gear needed to sharpen.


The Cruwear Micarta is a solid choice (may take a while from most places to come in but they do trickle out regularly.) Beautiful knife and am enjoying it at the moment.


I am a M4 steel fanboy…. Love the steel and this is a steel that hods a edge, getting harder to sharpen but not enough to impede a novice or stump up for expensive sharpening systems. And it’s a steel that gains a patina being a tool steel and not as stainless as your s30v s35v or even s45v.
The GB2 comes in M4 (Gayle Bradley)
https://knifeinformer.com/spyderco-gayle-bradley-2-review/

I have the GB1 and rate it as probably the best knife ever made and competes with Chris Reeve knives that are several hundred $$s more.

Here is a great read
https://knifeinformer.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/

 

This reminds me of getting into Speedmasters...

Thanks for the tips and reading aids.

 

Heres a a fun video, dont like all of his techniques but the end product sure looks nice.

 

Question: what do you use for food-grade oil (primarily for an M4 type steel on a folder that will occasionally be used on food)?

I am leaning towards mineral oil due to how cheap and available it is. Camellia sounds interesting but seems expensive for not much benefit over mineral oil, except perhaps avoiding discoloration. But I prefer developing a patina so that isn't a factor.

Synthetics seem to offer longer lasting coverage and they don't make the blade sticky. But which ones, and are they that much better than mineral oil?

 

I use Ballistol on mine, it's a pretty good all around lubricant and protectant for steel. It is also non-toxic and biodegradable.

 

Food grade silicon (spray) is an option, used through-out food prep machinery.

 

Mineral oil. Use it on knives, and my full size butchers block I have as a island in the kitchen.
Pivots I use the Diawa oil for fishing reels that comes in a syringe type tube/pen

 

Good to hear. Read lots of forums and good reviews of mineral oil but also said not great for pivots. I think I will try the mineral oil.

Well, that was quite a rabbit hole you sent me on. Turns out I live in the knife capital of the USA. Right under my nose. There's knife shops less than two miles from me that sharpen anything and even teach classes. I never thought about it being unusual.

My mini-Osborne (from above) just needed a little breaking in. It's quite the fidget friendly knife, so much so that my wife wanted it. So that is a good excuse for another knife.

Read up on the M4 and it sounds good. I don't mind having to care for it as it reminds me of the pre-computer age. I like the idea of patina too, like making something special all your own

So I was ready to buy a Super Freek and on the phone with BM. Found out their veterans discount is only 15%, so that made the knife about 220. The Spyderco discount is 50%, which meant the Gayle Bradley 2 was 141 USD. So I went with the GB2.

The Super Freek vs GB2 reminded me of a regular speedy vs an Apollo 8 DSOTM, at least looks wise. I liked the handle of the the SF but hard to justify the extra cost.



The GB2 arrived yesterday and is a gorgeous blade. Haven't tred it out but I like the idea of a hollow blade. It's so sweet looking. Really balanced looking.

A lot bigger knife than I am used to carrying. I could carry it as an EDC but it seems big, although it doesn't take up too much pocket space. It seems like it'd have to be a construction, project, yard knife. But it's so nice I'll probably baby it for awhile. It opens very easily. I don't know what people were saying about the hole or being any harder to open. But it is hard to close one handed with just a thumb. Still, it's not hard to close, just not as fidgity. But who cares, as it's a knife not a toy. Plus it opens easily, which is when you need to use it. I can spare an extra second to close it with two hands.

I still have my eyes on a 940-1 Osborne with S90V. Because I live 20 mins from the factory, i can get them to sharpen it anytime. That seems worth the extra cost. It was also why I was considering the Super Freek. Plus I really liked my mini Osborne, both the axis movement and the blade. It was a little small in my hand so the full Osborne should be great. With tge S90V metal, I can also justify another knife than the GB2.

My situation is unusual being here in Portland. I can learn to sharpen the M4 and have access to BM for the S90V. It kindof makes sense.

Like I said, quite a rabbit hole, but I can see the attraction. Oh, and the Osborne was designed by an Aussie and Crucible is from Syracuse, NY, which is the region my Dad's family settled. So it feels very connected.

But that's it. No more knives after this.

That's for the help and advice.

 

How nice is the GB2….it’s hard to get people to pull the trigger on one but everyone that does raves…pretty hard to find a GB1 as people just don’t sell them. Know people that have been looking for years for one.

Use M4 for a while before you get another steel.

Magnacut is the buzz steel at the moment and in a while a lot more will be made with it.
S110V is the pick of it and S90V


PS…Try the GB2 without a clip……

 

This thing will literally take off a layer of paint.



Does well with bagels too.

 

I have a can on hand that I lube knives with if they are going to touch food. Basically all my fixed blades that I EDC for fruit and what not.

 

I use bees wax.

 

Seems like that would make the blade harder to slide through cuts?

 

It’s OK you only need a super thin layer. I use it on all my knife handles and knives. If I am using a knife it’s mineral oil. Storing for a while it’s bees wax. Many knife makers of fixed blades throw a small amount in with each knife in a little tin

 

Makes sense if a knife will be sitting. I'm familiar with bees wax from maxing bronze sculptures. It softens in the warmth of your hands but seemed like it would be sticky. I guess if it's cut it would be a little less so.

I typically use butchers wax to protect and shine bronze, as well as wood, although I don't have a lot of wood work.

Bronze (made for American Chesapeake Bay Retriever club)


Oak (closed eyes idea stolen from Mapplethorpe and rest from my Army bunk mate)

 

What STANDY said and that my knifes are all scandi grinds, I havnt noticed any drawbacks to using beeswax.

Very nice art, pdxleaf!

 

I don’t and never have used anything except pivot oil on folding knives




You can force a bit of patina on a knife (here is my maxamet with a bit of forced patina with cranberry juice)


Got a bit bored in 10 days hotel isolation in Hawaii in 2021

 

Pretty interesting day. I have probably reached my allotment of monthly posts but hopefully this one will still interest some.

So I haven't been to the Benchmade factory store and have wanted to see it. Had some time and decided to go see what they had, with no intention of buying. The GB2 is really satisfying and i was even able to sharpen it a bit but I still wanted to see the BM factory. I was interested in two knives in particular, the Osborne 940-1 S90v and the super freek M4.

Here's what you see on entering. It felt a little like Disneyland for adults:


The counter guys didn't rush me and were very knowledgeable and glad to talk knives.

The guy helping me notices my watch and asks if it's a 321. So I take it off and hand it to him, explaining the features of the 145.022-68 and why it looks like a 321. The guy is in his mid twenties, very knowledgeable but doesn't have a Speedy yet. Says he really likes the new 321. Then he pulls up a picture of a JLC on his phone that he's interested in and even pronounces the full name of the brand correctly. He's wearing a cool G-Shock that has a barometer as well as compass and other features, which he uses a lot for camping. I told him I bought a G-Shock when I was heading over to Desert Storm. I asked about the Vet discount and if he could match the base exchange pricing. After looking up the online price he says "tell you what, you seem like a nice guy so you can use this." It's a 50% friends and family card. So now i'm feeling faint and giddy. After thanking him heartily we start getting serious.

I really thought I wanted the Osborne. The sharpness is great and BM will sharpen it for life. But he explains that it can chip with rough use. (As an aside, you used to be able to wait while they sharpened and adjusted your knife but now it's a drop off. They had 8 sharpeners but are down to one guy. They have some guys in training now, but it takes 6 months to finish training.)

We looked at a Cruwear Ademas, which was comfortable feeling. It looked too aggressive for me though. I had my GB2 with me and there was no problem with another brand, as he said he had a few Spydercos himself. I told him I was originally looking at the Super Freek, which is when he said a lot of linemen buy that knife because it takes a lot of abuse. Well, with my 50% off card, suddenly the Freek was looking pretty good. Handling the Osborne in person, it didn't feel as good in my hand. So we went over to the Super Freek counter.

Short story, i picked up the Freek. It had been sharpened by the in-house guy. The counter guy loosened up the pivot just a bit, oiled the hinge and put on a deep pocket clip for me. I like how the blade hinge snaps shut and stays shut. The GB2 has a tendency to flip open easily, which isn't that big a deal but something to be conscious of in your pocket.

So I liked the suggestion to take the clip off the GB2. I'll try using the GB2 for projects and carry the Freek. They're close in size but the clip on the BM fits in my pocket better. The rounder handle sort of sits better too. ( EDIT: I'm wrong. The BM is discrete in the pocket but harder to get my hand in as it's bulkier than tge GB2.)

Last thing. I asked him why he liked Omega and he mentioned he had visited Kennedy Space Center but missed a launch that happened while he was there. Turmed out he had gone to KSC a week after I had. I went down to see the SpaceX NASA crew launch but missed it because it was delayed several times. They finally launched around 330 am when he was in Florida but he didn't know about it. Small world.

Knives and watches belong on the same forum. Like I said, it was a good day. But no more new knives for me for awhile.

The knife after the watches pictures is his personal custom.

 

Nice knife, and I love the knife / watch tie in and as an added bonus for my voyeuristic quality tool edification I see they used a Wiha Soft Finish screw driver to add to the perfect circularity of it all.

 

Here’s some of the ones I have and use. I definitely try to get my money’s worth out them. The lone knife is a CRKT and then the two others, the smaller being a Spyderco and the larger is a Gerber which is my favorite. It’s a spring assisted or semi automatic and keeps its edge.