Cheapskate Heros

I bought this knife mainly because of the sheath, it is thick smelly genuine leather, but the knife itself has also given me some pleasant moments. The lanyard is also leather, but I took it from another knife that I don't like and attached it to this one, which I like.
And of course it's cheap!

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not so dull said:
Tramontina! I've never been interested in kitchen knives (maybe it's time to start now?), but I discovered a couple of old Tramontinas. I bought four of them ~20 years ago for ~$1 apiece. Only two have survived, one of them has a tiop broken off. But I swear, it was around $1 apiece! I think this is too cheap even for his thread ;)
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No, the exquisite craftsmanship of el-cheapo Tramontina bladeware shouldn't feel at all out of place in the possession of perennial cheapskates. 😉
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IIRC these were both under a buck apiece at an inventory closeout warehouse joint.
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This collection of 5 Henckels & 2 Philippe Richard paring knives at $5.99 for the bunch was one of my better thrift store scores. However, the Henckels are China made, not German. Still seemed a good deal to me.
 
I bought it quite cheap, and it turned out to be quite cheaply made: the blade got rolled after I chopped wood. Is it my fault? The blade is hollow ground to a very thin edge, and probably it is designed for chopping vines, saplings and thin green branches rather than dry hardwood. Anyway, I still use this blade..... to post pictures on BF)))

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not so dull said:
I bought this knife mainly because of the sheath, it is thick smelly genuine leather, but the knife itself has also given me some pleasant moments. The lanyard is also leather, but I took it from another knife that I don't like and attached it to this one, which I like.
And of course it's cheap!

Zdm4FYo.png


QoXgr6x.png


g2ygiNF.png
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Any good steel? Or is it Pakistani tourist fodder?
 
I got an unexpected surprise yesterday in the form of a late birthday gift from my sister in law. I haven't bought a CRKT in years, for a multitude of reasons, but darn if this thing isn't nifty. It's even cooler because it was FREE (at least to me).

https://imgur.com/qeJMSNS

It's got a strong leaf spring keeping tension on the hidden flipper tab when closed. The knife is kept shut by an unusually strong detent ball on the liner lock that fits into a groove in the tang. The thumb stud doubles as a pin that depresses the liner lock enough to disengage the detent and release the blade. You still have to nudge the thumb stud slightly forward, it doesn't just fire automatically. When it does, the spring fires the blade better than most conventional automatics. Neat concept, although the rough edges on the thumb stud and liners chew up your thumb pretty quickly.

#10

ETA: WValtakis WValtakis have you ever seen something like this? It's new to me.
 
This is far from a budget knife, but I landed it during a respectable sale and it's actually in my top three liner locks ever. Absolutely perfect in every way, if it isn't for you it's not because of any fault with the design or execution, it's just taste.

The action is nutty, the grind is frightening for a production folder, at least compared to what was on the market six to ten years ago


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Tomodachi 8" santoku'ish chef's knife by Hampton Forge. Well under $10 retail new. I inevitably found this one at a thrift store. So price was very likely $3 tops.

But it can be honed to stupid sharp. Steel feels soft (no surprise) on diamond plates & a worn old Dexter diamond sharpening rod. A few licks on a fat ceramic rod refines the edge even more.

Handle is ergo enough to be comfortable in hand. The hard plastic has just a touch of satin finish, so hopefully avoids slipperiness. Downside is that the 0.072" (1.8mm) at ricasso blade has very sharp square spine edges. It does have distal taper down to 0.012" (0.3mm) at the tip.
 
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not so dull said:
I bought this knife mainly because of the sheath, it is thick smelly genuine leather, but the knife itself has also given me some pleasant moments. The lanyard is also leather, but I took it from another knife that I don't like and attached it to this one, which I like.
And of course it's cheap!

Zdm4FYo.png


QoXgr6x.png


g2ygiNF.png
Click to expand...
Do those snaps say something like the seal of the great state of Oklahoma? If they do, it’s made in Pakistan. A good ol boy I know imports leather vests from there and all the snaps look like that. They’re good quality.
 
Here is a low price marble, Bahco 2446. 12C27 Sandvik steel.
Got it in our local hardware store. Less then 10 euros.
I'm impressed. Very nice knife. Very ergonomic handle.
Took it to work and measured the hardness. First I tested the device with 60.1HRc lab sample. It measured 0.5HRc lower. Didn't have time to go through calibration process so just add 0.5HRc to the value I measure on the blade (second link below). It's sure way above the hardness I expected.
This knife is not sharpened true scandi but comes from the factory with a micro bevel, the same as majority of Mora knives.

Les then 10 euros, 12c27 steel, very ergonomic, good heat treat, it holds the edge after testing it on spruce and oak wood .... it's a win in all aspects.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DKdGBS4h4ivG2gqDUr7ob0bVOI351ObK/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12PNQZolIhiPvN8-ZytcPIn0fWUUhQ_zg/view?usp=drivesdk

Just for comparison, my Mora Companion measures 56HRc.
 
AntDog said:
Do those snaps say something like the seal of the great state of Oklahoma? If they do, it’s made in Pakistan. A good ol boy I know imports leather vests from there and all the snaps look like that. They’re good quality.
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Should say "GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA 1907" around the edge.
Sure sign of Pakistan / India origin.
 
TheOne45 said:
Here is a low price marble, Bahco 2446. 12C27 Sandvik steel.
Got it in our local hardware store. Less then 10 euros.
I'm impressed. Very nice knife. Very ergonomic handle.
Took it to work and measured the hardness. First I tested the device with 60.1HRc lab sample. It measured 0.5HRc lower. Didn't have time to go through calibration process so just add 0.5HRc to the value I measure on the blade (second link below). It's sure way above the hardness I expected.
This knife is not sharpened true scandi but comes from the factory with a micro bevel, the same as majority of Mora knives.

Les then 10 euros, 12c27 steel, very ergonomic, good heat treat, it holds the edge after testing it on spruce and oak wood .... it's a win in all aspects.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DKdGBS4h4ivG2gqDUr7ob0bVOI351ObK/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12PNQZolIhiPvN8-ZytcPIn0fWUUhQ_zg/view?usp=drivesdk

Just for comparison, my Mora Companion measures 56HRc.
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Bahco do a couple of cool ones. A floating knife and a rock solid wrecking knife as well
 
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