I've been EDCing the Kudu for about 2 weeks, along with my Delica as a backup, just in case. I also used the Kudu as a work knife for rough jobs about a year ago.
So far, it has worked quite well. The Krupp stainless sharpens to a very sharp edge on my waterstone and on the leather belt on the 1x30 sander, though I need to do some work to make sure the latter method doesn't cause heat issues. The steel used also takes a very sharp edge off the 220 grit side of the water stone, sharp enough to do some hair whittling on beard hair.
The weight of the knife when carrying is not noticable. The overall length of the closed knife makes it noticable in jeans, but larger pockets or carpenters pants w/ the leg pockets work well. The ring takes some getting used to when cutting. Once I read the instructions, opening and closing were easy. Closing with one hand is pretty easy once the technique is discovered. Opening one handed is all but impossible for me. To close, I put my index finger through the ring and push with my middle finger and thumb to disengage the lock. Then I just fold it against my leg or other hand. The upside to the large size, since it has no pocket clip, is you always know where to find it in the pocket.
The blade is over 4" long, making it too long for some people. To me it also has an odd profile, with a fairly abrupt clip point. It may just be me used to the relatively longer clips on slip joint clip point blades, which I may reprofile the blade to match. This would remove the nail nick, but I don't find it is a requirement to open the blade. The blade tapers from the beginning of the clip to the tip, over a distance of about 1.5 inches. There is some blade play, but it is minor, and has stayed fairly constant since getting the knife. The pivot is adjustable, but I haven't tried it. The lock is sturdy, and the ratchet action is smooth enough that I don't have trouble opening it. The locking hook sticks up beyond the lock bar over 1/32". It will eventually wear down, but I have no idea how long it would take. I have not been able to close the knife without disengaging the lock, using just hand pressure, no whacks, but some twisting during the rough use phase.
I've used the knife for breaking down cardboard boxes, about 1/2 of a kitchen garbage bag full of 4"x4" pieces. The edge still slices paper over the full length of the blade. Over most of the blade, it will shave a few hairs off my knuckles (no jokes please) with some care and effort. It's plenty sharp for kitchen use, and I've used it for a paring knife and steak knife during dinners.
During the rough work, I used it to scrape concrete, and remove epoxy from aluminum dollies. These are small Al cylinders that were epoxied to a concrete topping surface and used to measure the adhesion of the topping to the base material during a dam restoration. While cleaning off the epoxy, I discovered the blade had the ability to take very fine shavings off the dollies, which was actually easier than trying to cut/pry the epoxy off. After cleaning 2 or 3 dollies (2" diameter) I used the edge of my truck window as a steel. This took a pretty mangled edge up to the point it would catch a few hairs, but not really shave.
During the last couple weeks, the blade has been sharpened using a 220/1000 grit water stone at 17 degrees per side (DPS) followed by micro beveling with the Sharpmaker brown stone flats at 20 DPS. During the rough work, it was sharpened on a very worn 180 grit belt and power stropped on the Surgisharp leather belt with white compound on the 1x30 sander. Both methods produce an edge that will catch hair above the skin of my arm.
So far, I'm pleasantly surprised by my $5 knife. The edge is a little thick for a full flat grind, but not too bad. Edge holding is acceptable, and durability during the rough use exceeded my expectations. I solved the lock ring issue by looping my index finger through it. This works especially well when using the knife as a paring knife in the kitchen, and as a steak knife during dinner. Otherwise, it just has to flop around. I have a couple modifications in mind, but may never get around to them. One is to lengthen the clip and make the blade pointier. The other is to convex the blade. This would start with the blade flat to the leather backed sandpaper, followed by rolling the blade up and over the shoulder of the secondary bevel. This may or may not improve cutting, but the mirror finish on it now makes fingerprints shine and the cardboard cutting scratched the finish quite a bit.
The next step will be to lower the edge angle to 12 DPS w/ a 15 DPS Sharpmaker bevel. If it holds this through the same work, I may go so far as to lower it again to 7 DPS, and microbevel at 12.
Also, the knife survived an accidental trip through the washer and dryer last night. Some knives, especially the heavier ones, take an awful beating, and I had one come completely apart during the cycle.
So far, it has worked quite well. The Krupp stainless sharpens to a very sharp edge on my waterstone and on the leather belt on the 1x30 sander, though I need to do some work to make sure the latter method doesn't cause heat issues. The steel used also takes a very sharp edge off the 220 grit side of the water stone, sharp enough to do some hair whittling on beard hair.
The weight of the knife when carrying is not noticable. The overall length of the closed knife makes it noticable in jeans, but larger pockets or carpenters pants w/ the leg pockets work well. The ring takes some getting used to when cutting. Once I read the instructions, opening and closing were easy. Closing with one hand is pretty easy once the technique is discovered. Opening one handed is all but impossible for me. To close, I put my index finger through the ring and push with my middle finger and thumb to disengage the lock. Then I just fold it against my leg or other hand. The upside to the large size, since it has no pocket clip, is you always know where to find it in the pocket.
The blade is over 4" long, making it too long for some people. To me it also has an odd profile, with a fairly abrupt clip point. It may just be me used to the relatively longer clips on slip joint clip point blades, which I may reprofile the blade to match. This would remove the nail nick, but I don't find it is a requirement to open the blade. The blade tapers from the beginning of the clip to the tip, over a distance of about 1.5 inches. There is some blade play, but it is minor, and has stayed fairly constant since getting the knife. The pivot is adjustable, but I haven't tried it. The lock is sturdy, and the ratchet action is smooth enough that I don't have trouble opening it. The locking hook sticks up beyond the lock bar over 1/32". It will eventually wear down, but I have no idea how long it would take. I have not been able to close the knife without disengaging the lock, using just hand pressure, no whacks, but some twisting during the rough use phase.
I've used the knife for breaking down cardboard boxes, about 1/2 of a kitchen garbage bag full of 4"x4" pieces. The edge still slices paper over the full length of the blade. Over most of the blade, it will shave a few hairs off my knuckles (no jokes please) with some care and effort. It's plenty sharp for kitchen use, and I've used it for a paring knife and steak knife during dinners.
During the rough work, I used it to scrape concrete, and remove epoxy from aluminum dollies. These are small Al cylinders that were epoxied to a concrete topping surface and used to measure the adhesion of the topping to the base material during a dam restoration. While cleaning off the epoxy, I discovered the blade had the ability to take very fine shavings off the dollies, which was actually easier than trying to cut/pry the epoxy off. After cleaning 2 or 3 dollies (2" diameter) I used the edge of my truck window as a steel. This took a pretty mangled edge up to the point it would catch a few hairs, but not really shave.
During the last couple weeks, the blade has been sharpened using a 220/1000 grit water stone at 17 degrees per side (DPS) followed by micro beveling with the Sharpmaker brown stone flats at 20 DPS. During the rough work, it was sharpened on a very worn 180 grit belt and power stropped on the Surgisharp leather belt with white compound on the 1x30 sander. Both methods produce an edge that will catch hair above the skin of my arm.
So far, I'm pleasantly surprised by my $5 knife. The edge is a little thick for a full flat grind, but not too bad. Edge holding is acceptable, and durability during the rough use exceeded my expectations. I solved the lock ring issue by looping my index finger through it. This works especially well when using the knife as a paring knife in the kitchen, and as a steak knife during dinner. Otherwise, it just has to flop around. I have a couple modifications in mind, but may never get around to them. One is to lengthen the clip and make the blade pointier. The other is to convex the blade. This would start with the blade flat to the leather backed sandpaper, followed by rolling the blade up and over the shoulder of the secondary bevel. This may or may not improve cutting, but the mirror finish on it now makes fingerprints shine and the cardboard cutting scratched the finish quite a bit.
The next step will be to lower the edge angle to 12 DPS w/ a 15 DPS Sharpmaker bevel. If it holds this through the same work, I may go so far as to lower it again to 7 DPS, and microbevel at 12.
Also, the knife survived an accidental trip through the washer and dryer last night. Some knives, especially the heavier ones, take an awful beating, and I had one come completely apart during the cycle.
Fact is, it does almost anything you can want or expect from a folder, and it does all those things well. I have thousands of dollars worth of folders, and this one is all I've ever needed so far in life. It's a fair bet I'll never need more.
What sane reason is there to want a Yuna or a custom Demko if I already own a Kudu?
