Guys,
Here are all the FAQs from the Emerson Site. It seems like a lot of questions get asked over and over again, so I hope this can answer some of the more common ones.
FAQ
Emerson Knives
Frequently Asked Questions
Ive noticed some rust spots on my bead-blasted blade. Is this normal?
I guess you could call it normal, although not preferred. There is nothing wrong with your blade steel. Anytime you bead blast a material, you create a rough, pitted surface. Microscopically, it looks like craters on the moon. These craters or pockets, have a tendency to collect and hold dirt, salt, and moisture. This will create rust stains on the knife blade. they wont pit, and should wipe off with an oily rag. We recommend Tuf-Cloth from Sentry Solutions, ltd. as a rust preventative and Miracle Cloth from R&S Industries for removing existing or troublesome rust stains.
Do your knives have pocket clips? If so, where are they mounted?
All of our knives have stainless steel pocket/belt clips. They are mounted with the attachment at the rear of the handle, clip facing toward the front. Experience and feed back from the end users has shown that this is the preferred clip position for easy accessibility and quick opening sequence.
Do you make any left-handed knives?
Yes, we now offer in full left hand versions of the CQC-7 and the Commander Models. The SPECWAR and others soon will follow. However, the Raven cannot be made in a left hand version.
Why do you use the chisel grind?
There are several reasons for the chisel grind. For any of you who have ever used a correctly sharpened wood chisel for woodworking, you know what a chisel can do. Although a knife is not a chisel, those properties, when applied to a knife grind have almost magical effect. A chisel ground knife, being beveled, (ground) on one side only, possesses greater strength, (due to increased cross sectional mass) and they cut with an ease not found on any other type of blade. This is because there is no parasitic drag produced by the flat side when cutting --- no drag points. On top of that, they are much easier to sharpen --- you only have to sharpen one side.
Why do you put the chisel on the front or left side of the blade?
This is an Emerson signature. Being the knifemaker who brought the chisel grind to worldwide recognition, we are often asked; Why do you put the grind on the opposite side of a traditional Japanese Chefs knife? The answer is simple....We are not making chefs knives. Our knives are hard knives meant for hard users. We do not cut many tomatoes. Our tests and those of a major government agency determined that there was no difference between right and left side grinds for use as a tool or weapon. The left side was chosen for purposes of visual cue and reference.
What is Kydron and why did you use it instead of Micarta on the Raven knives?
Kydron is a proprietary formula of a polyester based elastomer, with Kevlar fibers for stiffness and increased strength modulus. It is not plastic, Zytel, or hard and noisy like other manufactured knives. It has a warm feeling and a great physical texture. Kydron was chosen for several reasons; strength, resistance to chemicals and sea water, overall feel, and the ability to reproduce the contours and linear checkering designed for the Raven handles. This would not have been possible with either Micarta, and Kydron is ultimately a much stronger material. You can bend it 90 degrees without breaking, and you can pound it with a ball peen hammer and not break it --- We have done it. Try that with Micarta!
What type of grind should I get?
The reason that we offer both the conventional grind and the chisel grind, is really quite basic; to give you, the user, a choice. What type of grind you want is really up to you. We realize that the chisel grind is not for everyone, and a lot of your choice is based on what you are familiar with, or comfortable with. My recommendation is to go with what you would feel comfortable with. As with any gear that you may use in a high stress situation, it will perform better and you will perform better, if you have confidence in that gear. You will always shoot better with your own gun. I have my personal opinions and preferences, but ultimately the choice must be yours.
What is the difference between the plain finish and the black finish?
The plain finish is the non - treated, stainless steel. The black finish is Black - T, a state of the art coating used by the military on submarine nuclear missile launchers, tank turrets, and a full array of weapons used by various combat dive units, hostage rescue teams and counter terrorist units, around the world. It provides a corrosion resistant coating that exceeds the mil-spec call-out by over 600% and provides lubricity that can not be matched by other coatings. It is very durable and wears as good as any good gun finish, but will scratch if used in abrasive conditions, just like a gun.
How do I clean the knife?
The easiest way is to rinse the knife in clean fresh water after marine or chemical exposure. You can oil the blade and the pivot area from time to time with any good, light oil such as WD-40. If the knife becomes encrusted with dirt or sand, it can be completely disassembled and cleaned out thoroughly.
How will the production knives affect your custom work?
It has had a tremendous effect on my custom work and has tried the patience of everyone who has custom orders with me. Fortunately, the vast majority of my customers have understood the situation and are waiting patiently for their custom orders, and I thank them all for that. Very few people ever get the opportunity to undertake deeds that impact others in a positive way. Emerson Knives was given this opportunity and acted on it. We now employ over 40 people full-time and provide employment for literally hundreds of others in the cutlery industry in an auxiliary manner through licensing, manufacturing, retail sales and distribution of our product. Many, many people now pay their mortgages and put their children through school because of what we have done. Did I know this would affect time of delivery on my customs yes. Did I make a choice yes. Fortunately we have proven this to be the correct choice and our decision now serves a greater good. Starting, growing and managing a major production facility has taken almost 100% of my time for the last 2 ½ years. I now have trusted and loyal personnel in place to do those jobs for me. This has allowed me to get back in to my custom shop and working on chipping away at my custom orders. We are slow, but steady, and will continue to fill the custom orders as fast as we can. Thank you again for your understanding and patience in waiting for an Emerson Custom knife.
-Scott
Here are all the FAQs from the Emerson Site. It seems like a lot of questions get asked over and over again, so I hope this can answer some of the more common ones.
FAQ
Emerson Knives
Frequently Asked Questions
Ive noticed some rust spots on my bead-blasted blade. Is this normal?
I guess you could call it normal, although not preferred. There is nothing wrong with your blade steel. Anytime you bead blast a material, you create a rough, pitted surface. Microscopically, it looks like craters on the moon. These craters or pockets, have a tendency to collect and hold dirt, salt, and moisture. This will create rust stains on the knife blade. they wont pit, and should wipe off with an oily rag. We recommend Tuf-Cloth from Sentry Solutions, ltd. as a rust preventative and Miracle Cloth from R&S Industries for removing existing or troublesome rust stains.
Do your knives have pocket clips? If so, where are they mounted?
All of our knives have stainless steel pocket/belt clips. They are mounted with the attachment at the rear of the handle, clip facing toward the front. Experience and feed back from the end users has shown that this is the preferred clip position for easy accessibility and quick opening sequence.
Do you make any left-handed knives?
Yes, we now offer in full left hand versions of the CQC-7 and the Commander Models. The SPECWAR and others soon will follow. However, the Raven cannot be made in a left hand version.
Why do you use the chisel grind?
There are several reasons for the chisel grind. For any of you who have ever used a correctly sharpened wood chisel for woodworking, you know what a chisel can do. Although a knife is not a chisel, those properties, when applied to a knife grind have almost magical effect. A chisel ground knife, being beveled, (ground) on one side only, possesses greater strength, (due to increased cross sectional mass) and they cut with an ease not found on any other type of blade. This is because there is no parasitic drag produced by the flat side when cutting --- no drag points. On top of that, they are much easier to sharpen --- you only have to sharpen one side.
Why do you put the chisel on the front or left side of the blade?
This is an Emerson signature. Being the knifemaker who brought the chisel grind to worldwide recognition, we are often asked; Why do you put the grind on the opposite side of a traditional Japanese Chefs knife? The answer is simple....We are not making chefs knives. Our knives are hard knives meant for hard users. We do not cut many tomatoes. Our tests and those of a major government agency determined that there was no difference between right and left side grinds for use as a tool or weapon. The left side was chosen for purposes of visual cue and reference.
What is Kydron and why did you use it instead of Micarta on the Raven knives?
Kydron is a proprietary formula of a polyester based elastomer, with Kevlar fibers for stiffness and increased strength modulus. It is not plastic, Zytel, or hard and noisy like other manufactured knives. It has a warm feeling and a great physical texture. Kydron was chosen for several reasons; strength, resistance to chemicals and sea water, overall feel, and the ability to reproduce the contours and linear checkering designed for the Raven handles. This would not have been possible with either Micarta, and Kydron is ultimately a much stronger material. You can bend it 90 degrees without breaking, and you can pound it with a ball peen hammer and not break it --- We have done it. Try that with Micarta!
What type of grind should I get?
The reason that we offer both the conventional grind and the chisel grind, is really quite basic; to give you, the user, a choice. What type of grind you want is really up to you. We realize that the chisel grind is not for everyone, and a lot of your choice is based on what you are familiar with, or comfortable with. My recommendation is to go with what you would feel comfortable with. As with any gear that you may use in a high stress situation, it will perform better and you will perform better, if you have confidence in that gear. You will always shoot better with your own gun. I have my personal opinions and preferences, but ultimately the choice must be yours.
What is the difference between the plain finish and the black finish?
The plain finish is the non - treated, stainless steel. The black finish is Black - T, a state of the art coating used by the military on submarine nuclear missile launchers, tank turrets, and a full array of weapons used by various combat dive units, hostage rescue teams and counter terrorist units, around the world. It provides a corrosion resistant coating that exceeds the mil-spec call-out by over 600% and provides lubricity that can not be matched by other coatings. It is very durable and wears as good as any good gun finish, but will scratch if used in abrasive conditions, just like a gun.
How do I clean the knife?
The easiest way is to rinse the knife in clean fresh water after marine or chemical exposure. You can oil the blade and the pivot area from time to time with any good, light oil such as WD-40. If the knife becomes encrusted with dirt or sand, it can be completely disassembled and cleaned out thoroughly.
How will the production knives affect your custom work?
It has had a tremendous effect on my custom work and has tried the patience of everyone who has custom orders with me. Fortunately, the vast majority of my customers have understood the situation and are waiting patiently for their custom orders, and I thank them all for that. Very few people ever get the opportunity to undertake deeds that impact others in a positive way. Emerson Knives was given this opportunity and acted on it. We now employ over 40 people full-time and provide employment for literally hundreds of others in the cutlery industry in an auxiliary manner through licensing, manufacturing, retail sales and distribution of our product. Many, many people now pay their mortgages and put their children through school because of what we have done. Did I know this would affect time of delivery on my customs yes. Did I make a choice yes. Fortunately we have proven this to be the correct choice and our decision now serves a greater good. Starting, growing and managing a major production facility has taken almost 100% of my time for the last 2 ½ years. I now have trusted and loyal personnel in place to do those jobs for me. This has allowed me to get back in to my custom shop and working on chipping away at my custom orders. We are slow, but steady, and will continue to fill the custom orders as fast as we can. Thank you again for your understanding and patience in waiting for an Emerson Custom knife.
-Scott