Post by Pete1977 on Mar 2, 2009 11:46:01 GMT -5
It is a PE Atlantic salt, with black FRN handle- I was going to get yellow, but most of our traps are yellow wire, so when I put the knife on one of the pots, I'll see the black handle before the knife goes in the drink
I cut a few pieces of line first thing in the morning, while roping out a 10 pot trawl. I was pretty happy with the performance of H-1, and the sheepsfoot blade cuts rope much better than the pacific blade. With the belly, the rope tends to slip off the point. I trimmed up my gloves by cutting the cuffs off so I wouldn't have a tan line half way up my arm. The gloves are rubber, PVC coated canvas, and I cut them on top of the wooden lobster tank. This dulled the tip noticeably. I cut a piece of 5/8" whale safe sinking rope later in the afternoon, and it took a few cuts, but I think that was more because there wasn't too much tension on the rope. the sheepsfoot blade holds the rope to it's edge, where on a more curved cutting edge, I find the rope slips off, when making an upwards pulling cut, with the edge up.
The knife got wet, and there isn't any sign of corrosion yet. I haven't cleaned it today, and I probably won't for a while. I did touch it up with about 20 passes on the sharpmaker, I used the corners of the medium grit stones, 10 per side, more to get a toothier edge on the blade, than to actually sharpen it. it was still a very useable edge, but was too fine for my liking.
We all know the merits of H-1 and it's corrosion resistance, edge retention and work hardening properties, so I'll save myself some time and leave that info to the search function
The handle is very ergonomic, especially while wearing gloves. The knife feels blade-heavy but the balance point is around the pivot pin. The hole is large, to facilitate opening with gloves, although I haven't tried this yet. I opened it two handed IIRC today, except once, when I wasn't wearing gloves. My hands were wet, and slick with herring oil all day, and I always had a very secure grip on the knife's handle. I keep the knife clipped inside My oilskins, to the hem under the right arm. it is around elbow high. The clip is tight, tight enough to be very secure. I have no fear of losing the knife wearing it like that, and I can access it almost immediately from there. It is very easy to draw, even given the secure hold of the clip. It opens smoothly, with little effort, and locks up tight with a very satisfying click.
H-1 DOES scratch! so be prepared if you want a knife that is going to stay "pretty". Mine scratched just from looking at it wrong! j/k
I'm going to take this knife to work for a while, and put it to some good hard use and abuse. I'll update pretty regularly if I can.
with the atlantic salt. Last night as I mentioned I sharpened it on the corner of the medium grit sharpmaker stones at 30 degrees for a toothier edge, and what a difference from out of box sharpness. I only cut a few pieces of rope today, and it didn't take much effort (read: 1 pulling cut, edge down) to part 1/2" and 3/8" sinking rope. I made I think 4 cuts. I also cut some thin netting or nylon fibrous material entangled with one of our buoy lines. What impressed me most was cutting the bottom off an empty clorox bottle to make a bailer for the skiff. I thought there would be a problem with having no point, as I usually just stab the bottle and start cutting. not so. I just press the tip of the sheepsfoot to the bottle and presto, it cut like butter. The blade got salty, briny, and wet with seawater, and I haven't cleaned it yet. no rust spots.
so far so good. I'm still kind of getting used to the sheepsfoot, because I've always liked a point on my knives. I don't think I'll be wharncliffing this blade, instead I'll let it grow on me. however a flat ground wharncliffe, or even a saber ground wharncliffe in H-1 would be nice. hint. hint.
Day 4- I didn't use it yesterday.
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First thing this morning we roped out a trawl of ten lobster pots, and the line had a bunch of knots that needed to be cut out and spliced. The atlantic salt got the job. it was sharp, but not scary sharp like I like my knives, but I managed to dull it I got 4 or 5 knots, 2 cuts per knot, and I made a lot of sawing cuts. The edge was restored to a useable one with a few quick stropping passes on the leg of my oilskins. I noticed at the end of the day the words "Atlantic Salt" have started to rust, and it has spread into the metal between them. The edge has about 15 chips, some visible to the naked eye, but all tangible to my thumb nail. 20 passes on the corners of the grey stones at 30 degrees sharpened it right up.
I've left the knife wet every day after use, without rinsing with fresh water, or drying after use. whatever is inside the etched words "atlantic salt" has rusted and the rust is spreading onto the steel between the letters. some rubbing with my thumb removes most of this. It seems that whatever is inside the etched letters is what is rusting, but the letters on the ricasso haven't rusted yet. only the letters on the blade. Other than that, the knife is rust free, and the edge is noticeably better at remaining sharp after a few days of use, and a daily touch up on the sharpmaker's medium stones. The plain edge H-1 takes a very toothy edge, and the straight blade makes upwards pulling cuts on rope easy.
I cut a few pieces of line first thing in the morning, while roping out a 10 pot trawl. I was pretty happy with the performance of H-1, and the sheepsfoot blade cuts rope much better than the pacific blade. With the belly, the rope tends to slip off the point. I trimmed up my gloves by cutting the cuffs off so I wouldn't have a tan line half way up my arm. The gloves are rubber, PVC coated canvas, and I cut them on top of the wooden lobster tank. This dulled the tip noticeably. I cut a piece of 5/8" whale safe sinking rope later in the afternoon, and it took a few cuts, but I think that was more because there wasn't too much tension on the rope. the sheepsfoot blade holds the rope to it's edge, where on a more curved cutting edge, I find the rope slips off, when making an upwards pulling cut, with the edge up.
The knife got wet, and there isn't any sign of corrosion yet. I haven't cleaned it today, and I probably won't for a while. I did touch it up with about 20 passes on the sharpmaker, I used the corners of the medium grit stones, 10 per side, more to get a toothier edge on the blade, than to actually sharpen it. it was still a very useable edge, but was too fine for my liking.
We all know the merits of H-1 and it's corrosion resistance, edge retention and work hardening properties, so I'll save myself some time and leave that info to the search function
The handle is very ergonomic, especially while wearing gloves. The knife feels blade-heavy but the balance point is around the pivot pin. The hole is large, to facilitate opening with gloves, although I haven't tried this yet. I opened it two handed IIRC today, except once, when I wasn't wearing gloves. My hands were wet, and slick with herring oil all day, and I always had a very secure grip on the knife's handle. I keep the knife clipped inside My oilskins, to the hem under the right arm. it is around elbow high. The clip is tight, tight enough to be very secure. I have no fear of losing the knife wearing it like that, and I can access it almost immediately from there. It is very easy to draw, even given the secure hold of the clip. It opens smoothly, with little effort, and locks up tight with a very satisfying click.
H-1 DOES scratch! so be prepared if you want a knife that is going to stay "pretty". Mine scratched just from looking at it wrong! j/k
I'm going to take this knife to work for a while, and put it to some good hard use and abuse. I'll update pretty regularly if I can.
with the atlantic salt. Last night as I mentioned I sharpened it on the corner of the medium grit sharpmaker stones at 30 degrees for a toothier edge, and what a difference from out of box sharpness. I only cut a few pieces of rope today, and it didn't take much effort (read: 1 pulling cut, edge down) to part 1/2" and 3/8" sinking rope. I made I think 4 cuts. I also cut some thin netting or nylon fibrous material entangled with one of our buoy lines. What impressed me most was cutting the bottom off an empty clorox bottle to make a bailer for the skiff. I thought there would be a problem with having no point, as I usually just stab the bottle and start cutting. not so. I just press the tip of the sheepsfoot to the bottle and presto, it cut like butter. The blade got salty, briny, and wet with seawater, and I haven't cleaned it yet. no rust spots.
so far so good. I'm still kind of getting used to the sheepsfoot, because I've always liked a point on my knives. I don't think I'll be wharncliffing this blade, instead I'll let it grow on me. however a flat ground wharncliffe, or even a saber ground wharncliffe in H-1 would be nice. hint. hint.
Day 4- I didn't use it yesterday.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First thing this morning we roped out a trawl of ten lobster pots, and the line had a bunch of knots that needed to be cut out and spliced. The atlantic salt got the job. it was sharp, but not scary sharp like I like my knives, but I managed to dull it I got 4 or 5 knots, 2 cuts per knot, and I made a lot of sawing cuts. The edge was restored to a useable one with a few quick stropping passes on the leg of my oilskins. I noticed at the end of the day the words "Atlantic Salt" have started to rust, and it has spread into the metal between them. The edge has about 15 chips, some visible to the naked eye, but all tangible to my thumb nail. 20 passes on the corners of the grey stones at 30 degrees sharpened it right up.
I've left the knife wet every day after use, without rinsing with fresh water, or drying after use. whatever is inside the etched words "atlantic salt" has rusted and the rust is spreading onto the steel between the letters. some rubbing with my thumb removes most of this. It seems that whatever is inside the etched letters is what is rusting, but the letters on the ricasso haven't rusted yet. only the letters on the blade. Other than that, the knife is rust free, and the edge is noticeably better at remaining sharp after a few days of use, and a daily touch up on the sharpmaker's medium stones. The plain edge H-1 takes a very toothy edge, and the straight blade makes upwards pulling cuts on rope easy.