Hey All,
I took the bait and bought a Tactana at pre-release price figuring that if it was a crowbar with an edge I'd be able to sell it at the discounted price I paid. WRONG, it was a crow bar with a very dull edge and I quickly listed it on E-Bay for a few bucks more than I paid to cover shipping and within hours 3 others were selling it for less than the Knifeworks pre release price. So here I was stuck holding the piece.
So what you got was a piece of 1075 steel 5mm thick, 1.5-1.75" wide that was the full 5mm to about a half inch from the edge then hollow ground to the edge leaving it 2 mm and a micro bevel of 40-50 degree to a point. I really liked the length and the size and feel of the handle.
Anyways, I couldn't unload it without a loss and I did like the general feel so I decided to fix it. I am on my 5th Harbor Freight 12" double cut file as I re profile the blade and I still haven't gotten to the edge yet. It does have a very nice shape now however and the edge is within a mm or 2, maybe another week of an hour a night filing. It will then be just what I wanted it to be I believe. By the way, as I started to file off the black coating I found 2-3 areas where rust was already quite advanced under the coating. QC QA was not good on this model. On the good side this baby is hard steel. I went to Home Depot for the first few files I used, $5 apiece, and they were flat within 15 minutes. I figured that if it was going to eat files that fast I'd get cheaper ones at Harbor Freight, $1.50, and they have been incredible. But they are still shot at a few hours. Hitting the edge now with my finger nail sounds like glass almost, and even those it doesn't feel 'sharp it does trim the shrubs very well.
If anyone has any specific questions on the Tactana I'll be glad to answer them but you'd probably do better thinking about something else unless you want a great project sword. I'll post pictures if anyone is interested.