Post by Pete1977 on Mar 2, 2009 11:31:07 GMT -5
Spyderco Dragonfly PE/FRN Aus-8
length overall 5 7/16" (138 mm)
blade length 2 5/16" (58 mm)
blade steel AUS-8
length closed 3 7/32" (82 mm)
cutting edge 1 7/8" (48 mm)
weight 1.2 oz (33 g)
hole diameter 7/16" (11 mm)
blade thickness 3/32" (2.5 mm)
handle material FRN
(specs from Spyderco.com)
While waiting for my pacific salt to arrive (it will be here on tuesday yay!) I decided to do a little review of the
dragonfly, a venerable favorite of spyderco lovers and knife nuts in general. I have 2. one has been modified by my brother
by cutting away a portion of the blade spine, creating a "wave" feature, and jimping on the blade's thumb ramp and choil. The
other is in NIB condition.
The ergonomics of this knife have been covered elsewhere, and in a nutshell, this is one of the first "little big knives"
that spyderco fans know and revere. The handle, for such a small knife, fills the hand and gives amazing control over the
blade. The full flat grind makes an amazing slicer, and AUS-8 is not a steel to poo-poo, especially spyderco's aus-8.
The FRN dragonfly is a very very light knife that is barely noticable in day to day carry, but when used, it makes its
presence felt. It is a small package that offers amazing cutting power and potential. This knife is very useful in a variety
of applications, whether it be to peel an apple, open a letter, cut twine, open a box, cut up cardboard, etc. the day to day
uses are infinate, given the number of mundane cutting chores even a non knife person encounters every day.
My NIB dragonfly opens smoothly, locks up tight, with no blade play in either the up/down, or side to side directions. It is
tip up carry which I like, and the clip is molded frn, which cuts down on the overall weight of the knife. There is a lanyard
hole for those who prefer a lanyard on a smaller knife, in order to find easily in the bottom of a pocket full of keys, etc,
and to increase the grip of the knife. This is a very comfortably carried in many places, and is a very useful knife in a
small convenient package.
A while back, my brother bought a dragonfly and made the modifications described above, namely a "wave" and some jimping. We
played around with it for a while, but eventually it found its way to the bottom of a box in the cupboard. I recently fished
it out to carry as a small edc for a while. This knife had its original factory edge, and the wave feature opens it swiftly
when drawn from clipped carry. It opens with an authoritative snap, but has developed some side to side, and up and down play
in the blade, most likely, if not definately, due to the modification. The jimping on the hump and choil of the blade give an
even more positive grip, if this is at all possible.
For its intended use as a daily edc/beater, I don't forsee a problem with the blade play as of yet, and although I don't wave
it often, it is still easily opened using the remainder of the thumb hole.
After the cutting tests, I was impressed with the aus-8 blade to say the least. with the advent of better edge holding
steels like vg-10 and cpm-s30v, the "lesser" steels are occasionally overlooked altogether, or at least passed by as cheap.
not so with this little dragonfly.
My first cutting tests were done on some approximately 1-1.5 mm thick cardboard, parts of a shirt box left over from
christmas. I made a twelve (12) inch cuts, and the blade was still shaving sharp afterwards. I stropped it on a piece of
scrap upholstery leather anyways, with 2 passes per side of the blade.
I then made thirty five (35) 2 inch cuts on the strips of cardboard left over, and following this, the blade was still very
very sharp, but would not shave hair. I made six more passes on the leather 3 per side, bringing the edge back to shaving.
impressive so far
The cardboard used was abraisive enough to scratch the flat of the blade, and I wasn't surprised, given the softer nature of
AUS-8 compared to some of the harder steels.
I made 23 more 2 inch cuts on the cardboard and then sharpened the blade on the sharpmaker, using the corners of the fine
ceramic rods (white), with 5 passes per side of the blade at 40 degrees. I then swiped once per side on the leather, and had
an edge almost back to its factory sharpness. and this knife was SHARP out of the box.
I made 100 more 2 inch cuts, effectively whittling 2x12 inch pieces of cardboard into shavings. towards the end of the
cutting the edge began to hang up and tear at the cardboard however it is by no means dull. It doesn't take much to bring
aus-8 back to a scary edge. I made 15 passes per side on the white corners at 40 degrees, and there it was, shaving hair once
again.
My next test was to try to dull the knife. I began with 4 two-ply 2x12 inch pieces of cardboard about 1/2 cm thick, and made
70 2 inch long cuts. when finished, I could still shave a patch of hair from my forearm.
Then I pared a .5 ml plastic diet coke bottle into coils. The cut is approximately a single eight foot continuous cut. As I
neared the end of the cut, I felt a portion of the blade near the choil hanging up, and had to apply a little more pressure.
I cut a second bottle again into an approximately 8 foot coil, and this took LESS effort than the first, almost as if by
cutting, the knife had sharpened itself.
following the bottle, I made 100 whittling cuts on a branch of 1 inch thick seasoned maple, 8 cuts of 1/4 inch polyester 3
strand rope and 61 cuts on 1/4 inch strands of polyester/polypropylene sinking rope. At the 54th cut of the sinking rope,
the blade started to fail at parting the piece with one cut. All of the cuts were edge up pull cuts on the rope. I then made
1 cut on a 3 strand piece of sinking rope 3/8 inches in diameter, and almost severed it with one stroke. It took 3 cuts with
a 440V military to do this. Cuts 55-61 on the strands of sinking rope for the most part were made with one pull, some did
leave a fraction of the rope joined. I was impressed though, with the actual performance of this knife.
The blade was scratched by the rope especially, and would not easily cut thick newsprint without tearing. I made 40 passes on
the sharpmaker, using the corners of the white rods, and 20 passes on the leather scrap. The knife was easily restored to an
edge sharper than out of the box.
I then took the dragonfly into the kitchen and cut up some small potatoes. The length of the blade 2 5/16 inches, and cutting
edge 1 7/8 inches made slicing even small potatoes difficult, but it pared them into small pieces with ease. These potatos
were soft as well, but the sharp edge made fast work out of this chore.
I am impressed with this little knife and it is in my pocket now, left front, where I think it is going to stay for a while
as my light edc. another fine job from spyderco
Most of that was cutting tests, and I did it over the course of a snowy
afternoon. By the time I was done with all the cutting, and the
writing on my legal tablet, I had carpal tunnel, and completely forgot
to include a lot of what I thought of the handling and ergonomics.
I'll add a little post script now.
The different types of cuts made used different grips. with each one,
the handle shape of the dragonfly was very comfortable, and effective.
I was more tired from writing my review than from the actual cutting of
the media.
The dragonfly's handle lends itself to a comfortable grip in the saber
grip, with the index finger BEHIND the choil, and the thumb along the
hump, with the index finger IN the choil and the thumb along the ramp,
in the hammer grip with the edge downwards for a pushing style or
whittling style cut, and with the edge up for a pulling style cut. It
was also, as previously mentioned, extremely efficient in precise
cutting chores, with the index finger along the spine of the blade, and
with whittling style cuts with the thumb along the blade spine, and the
index finger in the choil. The FRN handle gives an amazingly secure
grip, and the integrated clip does not really intrude when holding this
little guy.
Also, with some one hand opening knives of small size, it can be
difficult to get actual purchase on the hole/stud/disc and easily
deploy the blade. Not with the dragonfly. There is enough handle to
offer a secure purchase on the knife as you roll the blade open with
your thumb or ring finger (for reverse grip openings).
The dragonfly is small enough and light enough to sit unobtrusively in the bottom of a pants pocket, clipped to a shirt pocket or even be used as a key fob.
With an MSRP of just under $50 dollars, and easily found for half that
in retail stores and on the internet, this knife is suited for a wide
variety of cutting chores, including delicate use, mundane cutting, and
hard use.
some photos of the modified dragonfly used for this review
enjoy.
pete
length overall 5 7/16" (138 mm)
blade length 2 5/16" (58 mm)
blade steel AUS-8
length closed 3 7/32" (82 mm)
cutting edge 1 7/8" (48 mm)
weight 1.2 oz (33 g)
hole diameter 7/16" (11 mm)
blade thickness 3/32" (2.5 mm)
handle material FRN
(specs from Spyderco.com)
While waiting for my pacific salt to arrive (it will be here on tuesday yay!) I decided to do a little review of the
dragonfly, a venerable favorite of spyderco lovers and knife nuts in general. I have 2. one has been modified by my brother
by cutting away a portion of the blade spine, creating a "wave" feature, and jimping on the blade's thumb ramp and choil. The
other is in NIB condition.
The ergonomics of this knife have been covered elsewhere, and in a nutshell, this is one of the first "little big knives"
that spyderco fans know and revere. The handle, for such a small knife, fills the hand and gives amazing control over the
blade. The full flat grind makes an amazing slicer, and AUS-8 is not a steel to poo-poo, especially spyderco's aus-8.
The FRN dragonfly is a very very light knife that is barely noticable in day to day carry, but when used, it makes its
presence felt. It is a small package that offers amazing cutting power and potential. This knife is very useful in a variety
of applications, whether it be to peel an apple, open a letter, cut twine, open a box, cut up cardboard, etc. the day to day
uses are infinate, given the number of mundane cutting chores even a non knife person encounters every day.
My NIB dragonfly opens smoothly, locks up tight, with no blade play in either the up/down, or side to side directions. It is
tip up carry which I like, and the clip is molded frn, which cuts down on the overall weight of the knife. There is a lanyard
hole for those who prefer a lanyard on a smaller knife, in order to find easily in the bottom of a pocket full of keys, etc,
and to increase the grip of the knife. This is a very comfortably carried in many places, and is a very useful knife in a
small convenient package.
A while back, my brother bought a dragonfly and made the modifications described above, namely a "wave" and some jimping. We
played around with it for a while, but eventually it found its way to the bottom of a box in the cupboard. I recently fished
it out to carry as a small edc for a while. This knife had its original factory edge, and the wave feature opens it swiftly
when drawn from clipped carry. It opens with an authoritative snap, but has developed some side to side, and up and down play
in the blade, most likely, if not definately, due to the modification. The jimping on the hump and choil of the blade give an
even more positive grip, if this is at all possible.
For its intended use as a daily edc/beater, I don't forsee a problem with the blade play as of yet, and although I don't wave
it often, it is still easily opened using the remainder of the thumb hole.
After the cutting tests, I was impressed with the aus-8 blade to say the least. with the advent of better edge holding
steels like vg-10 and cpm-s30v, the "lesser" steels are occasionally overlooked altogether, or at least passed by as cheap.
not so with this little dragonfly.
My first cutting tests were done on some approximately 1-1.5 mm thick cardboard, parts of a shirt box left over from
christmas. I made a twelve (12) inch cuts, and the blade was still shaving sharp afterwards. I stropped it on a piece of
scrap upholstery leather anyways, with 2 passes per side of the blade.
I then made thirty five (35) 2 inch cuts on the strips of cardboard left over, and following this, the blade was still very
very sharp, but would not shave hair. I made six more passes on the leather 3 per side, bringing the edge back to shaving.
impressive so far
The cardboard used was abraisive enough to scratch the flat of the blade, and I wasn't surprised, given the softer nature of
AUS-8 compared to some of the harder steels.
I made 23 more 2 inch cuts on the cardboard and then sharpened the blade on the sharpmaker, using the corners of the fine
ceramic rods (white), with 5 passes per side of the blade at 40 degrees. I then swiped once per side on the leather, and had
an edge almost back to its factory sharpness. and this knife was SHARP out of the box.
I made 100 more 2 inch cuts, effectively whittling 2x12 inch pieces of cardboard into shavings. towards the end of the
cutting the edge began to hang up and tear at the cardboard however it is by no means dull. It doesn't take much to bring
aus-8 back to a scary edge. I made 15 passes per side on the white corners at 40 degrees, and there it was, shaving hair once
again.
My next test was to try to dull the knife. I began with 4 two-ply 2x12 inch pieces of cardboard about 1/2 cm thick, and made
70 2 inch long cuts. when finished, I could still shave a patch of hair from my forearm.
Then I pared a .5 ml plastic diet coke bottle into coils. The cut is approximately a single eight foot continuous cut. As I
neared the end of the cut, I felt a portion of the blade near the choil hanging up, and had to apply a little more pressure.
I cut a second bottle again into an approximately 8 foot coil, and this took LESS effort than the first, almost as if by
cutting, the knife had sharpened itself.
following the bottle, I made 100 whittling cuts on a branch of 1 inch thick seasoned maple, 8 cuts of 1/4 inch polyester 3
strand rope and 61 cuts on 1/4 inch strands of polyester/polypropylene sinking rope. At the 54th cut of the sinking rope,
the blade started to fail at parting the piece with one cut. All of the cuts were edge up pull cuts on the rope. I then made
1 cut on a 3 strand piece of sinking rope 3/8 inches in diameter, and almost severed it with one stroke. It took 3 cuts with
a 440V military to do this. Cuts 55-61 on the strands of sinking rope for the most part were made with one pull, some did
leave a fraction of the rope joined. I was impressed though, with the actual performance of this knife.
The blade was scratched by the rope especially, and would not easily cut thick newsprint without tearing. I made 40 passes on
the sharpmaker, using the corners of the white rods, and 20 passes on the leather scrap. The knife was easily restored to an
edge sharper than out of the box.
I then took the dragonfly into the kitchen and cut up some small potatoes. The length of the blade 2 5/16 inches, and cutting
edge 1 7/8 inches made slicing even small potatoes difficult, but it pared them into small pieces with ease. These potatos
were soft as well, but the sharp edge made fast work out of this chore.
I am impressed with this little knife and it is in my pocket now, left front, where I think it is going to stay for a while
as my light edc. another fine job from spyderco
Most of that was cutting tests, and I did it over the course of a snowy
afternoon. By the time I was done with all the cutting, and the
writing on my legal tablet, I had carpal tunnel, and completely forgot
to include a lot of what I thought of the handling and ergonomics.
I'll add a little post script now.
The different types of cuts made used different grips. with each one,
the handle shape of the dragonfly was very comfortable, and effective.
I was more tired from writing my review than from the actual cutting of
the media.
The dragonfly's handle lends itself to a comfortable grip in the saber
grip, with the index finger BEHIND the choil, and the thumb along the
hump, with the index finger IN the choil and the thumb along the ramp,
in the hammer grip with the edge downwards for a pushing style or
whittling style cut, and with the edge up for a pulling style cut. It
was also, as previously mentioned, extremely efficient in precise
cutting chores, with the index finger along the spine of the blade, and
with whittling style cuts with the thumb along the blade spine, and the
index finger in the choil. The FRN handle gives an amazingly secure
grip, and the integrated clip does not really intrude when holding this
little guy.
Also, with some one hand opening knives of small size, it can be
difficult to get actual purchase on the hole/stud/disc and easily
deploy the blade. Not with the dragonfly. There is enough handle to
offer a secure purchase on the knife as you roll the blade open with
your thumb or ring finger (for reverse grip openings).
The dragonfly is small enough and light enough to sit unobtrusively in the bottom of a pants pocket, clipped to a shirt pocket or even be used as a key fob.
With an MSRP of just under $50 dollars, and easily found for half that
in retail stores and on the internet, this knife is suited for a wide
variety of cutting chores, including delicate use, mundane cutting, and
hard use.
some photos of the modified dragonfly used for this review
enjoy.
pete