Comp Finish Question

I don't remember which, but there was one finish that left more marks and was almost just a stripping and light grind than anything else There was visible grooves and machine marks. Not sure if it was BIG or the old CF finish. The current finish is much better.
 
The latest iteration of Competition Finish is great...

but for my $$$, the TGLB-era CF reached the highest pinnacle of the art form. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Jerry really got the process dialed in with this batch-- the residual DECARB problem that plagued the initial batches of CF was eradicated...leaving behind only platinum INFI with all those subtle machining marks that CF fans love. :cool:

Ironically, this version of CF was what caused all the uproar from the Zomby killer peanut gallery and got CF shelved for a while. :thumbsdown:

This is not only a great blade, it's freaking art!

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Think that was the first CF. Best I remember from seeing them in real life there was a lot of marks,dimples and decarb on them. I think I got really lucky on my CF TGLB. IMO it looks better than a satin finish. The flats look satin the fuller looks DC and the edge grind is a well cleaned up machining marks.
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I love CF. I love the fact I can beat on my blades a bit and the steel finish hides a lot of wear and tear- like a good stonewash.

I never expected satin but was happy that what comes as CF is exactly what Jerry described.
 
Cobalt said:
I think this is why there was complaints. But I would still rather have this than a coating.

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I still don’t understand why that is even acceptable on a $400.00 knife. A $20.00 frost cutlery Bowie has a better finish.
 
Cobalt said:
I think this is why there was complaints. But I would still rather have this than a coating.

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Sometimes even Busse enthusiasts have a hard time getting behind the more "irregular" marks sometimes randomly left behind in the CF process...like that subtle wormgroove above.

If I could have my "druthers," I also prefer to have more uniform and regular crosshatching on the flats of my CF models.

I am particularly fond of the vertical striations left behind in the primary grind behind the edge. :)

Still, IIRC at the time Jerry said he was dealing with <mostly> irate semi-pro zomby assassins who expected Competition Finish <despite the description> to be full-on high polish or satin finished blades. It wasn't only the irregular machining marks, but any marks in general on their blade faces that they weren't happy with. :confused:o_O

I'm just tickled piglet pink :p that Competition Finish has been resurrected-- even with the machining marks, regular or not! :D
 
for posterity-- at the inception of our beloved Competition Finish...
Jerry Busse said:
Did I scare you with that one boys??? :eek:. . . . I know I sceeeaart myself !

So, what exactly is a Competition Blade Finish you may ask???. . . Purty darned ugly my friends. . . purty darned ugly!

When we run new designs for our destructive testing we don't worry too much about the finish. . . but boy can those puppies cut!!!. . . We put a zero convex bevel along the edge that screams!!!!. . .

We don't worry a bit about finish, since the name of the game is performance. . . We usually take a blade straight from the furnace and do a light pass on a wheel and then it's all about the edge. . . .

It is difficult to put this type of edge on a regularly finished knife since the edge finishing process usually rides up fairly high on the bevel. :eek: . . .Very cool!!! :cool:

We leave behind all of the peen marks, INFI dimples, and anything else that might be there. Sometimes we double cut them before edging. . .sometimes we don't. There is no set criteria as to how ugly these blades can get. . . .

Handles can be a bit rough as well. . . .fit and finish? . . . Uh, probably not gonna find it here kids.

These are beaters of the first degree. . . You'll never have to worry about marring up the finish. . . because we've already done that for you!

So, I guess the question is. . . If we priced these near the regular combat grade price point, would you be interested in buying one?

Here's a pic of the Jack Hammer with the Competition Finish:

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Well, all I know is I would rather have those ugly marks on bare steel than it be coated. Yes, I would prefer finished but hey there is something special about a steel that requires a lot more work to get there. I think that there is a lot more to this story than any of us know. I remember a custom knife maker making a blade of INFI and he said it was a PITA. INFI may be a lot harder to machine that we know hence the cost.
 
even more posterity, here's the thread along with the initial post in the thread documenting that date of infamy...

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the-competition-finish-is-gone.1103682/page-10

Jerry Busse said:
The Competition Finish was meant to be just what it said it was, a "competition grade finish".

It was not supposed to be "pretty" or "perfect" and although I believe we had made that quite clear, there seemed to be way too much confusion.

We received so many returns for machine marks and other marks left behind during the production process that the added time in refinishing the blades to meet the customer's expectations made it way too costly to continue.

Hope that helps,

Jerry :D




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jeepin said:
I still don’t understand why that is even acceptable on a $400.00 knife. A $20.00 frost cutlery Bowie has a better finish.
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Because it would be a 600.00 knife if it were finished. Frost knives are made of crap in factories paying 3.00 a day per person labor.
 
I recently picked up this ASH2 with factory comp or big or whatever finish. It was factory. It has a rather large blemish but I would rather have this than coated. Worth more to me.

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That looks to be CF. The big finish I have seen pics of have kind of cross cut grinding marks. This may be changing some,I noticed the flats of many of the CF NFSHs had the big finish type pattern on them.
 
Cobalt said:
I recently picked up this ASH2 with factory comp or big or whatever finish. It was factory. It has a rather large blemish but I would rather have this than coated. Worth more to me.
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you're not gonna get any objection from this piglet, only affirmation...:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

plus another side benefit...you at least have a very identifiable "birth mark" in case your INFI ever goes missing.

these random peen and chattermarks always give me that "fly on the wall" type feeling when I see them. That is, I'd love to pull back the curtain and see the process these INFI blades go thru from formulation to forging to HT to finishing...you know, to really see what causes these marks in the process. Cool.....:cool:
 
Funny thing is that from 5 ft away you cannot see the marks. lol.
 
Like lots of others here - I'm fine with it. FOr the last 18 months everything I get is completely new to me so I don't have any standards to judge against. I think this go around, wasn't the SK one of the first to be offered once again with the CF? Remember the first one posted up? pics weren't so hot- I happened to get mine on that or the nest day - When I pulled it out I was all grins, it was nothing like I saw in the pictures. What it was though, was exactly how Jerry described it in the initial posting of the options.
With the risk of sounding stupid, what it looks like to me is cross hatch from surface grinding for flatness and tooling marks - As a noob, I know the difference from that as what is marketed as satin as I have some satins in the pile and yes, those are cherry finishes, all of them. I am completely happy there's a step down level that's going to look 100% better than anything I'm going to strip - 1 knife I stripped had been Cerakote, might as well have been a satin finish it was so nice. The coated onces I've stiripped, I'll pay the $40 or whatever it is for CF because there's been a lot of work done to get them to that point. I think it's a crying shame to cover up these beautiful pieces of steel in plastic paint - so I'll strip em and do the hard work if I can't buy it that way.
My very first Busse was the Burp, wasn't offered in CF, only coated. I think I spent 100 hours *just a guess, no idea but many evenings for 6 months* That's what it took to come out looking like polished chrome - I couldn't afford these if they were all finished to that degree. `So that's from a noob -
Now as for that old CF, all those dimples and pits - in all honest, those were rough looking, but it's way before my time so I can only look at the latest stuff and compare - those look fresh out of the "Busse Secret Special Oven" where it seems he cooked all available carbon out of them LOL ~ I think some of the first ones I saw of those, they had that brick pattern in the handles, what wasn't ground was all dimples and pits - If I'm taking my choice? I'll take the cross hatch and machine marks every day!

Bottom line for me asa customer- I like having the choices and like I said, I'll pay the $40 or whatever to not have to strip it and have grinder gremlins everytime!
 
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