CRK Slipjoint.....!!!

[BeaverTail_Hunter]

BeaverTail_Hunter , can it be taken apart ?, did it come with tools for take down ????

I opened mine and put the box up so fast that I cannot remember if it came with a tool or not to be honest. Tim stated that it could be taken apart but I have also seen where Bill Harsey highly suggested for most people to not attempt this due to the pressure/tightness of the spring? So, the short answer is yes, it can be disassembled, but be careful and do not expect it to be as easy as the other folders.

 

[bvo85]

On another note, I did drop by the shop for a bit to pick up the Damasteel Inkosi today and had some time to talk to Tim Reeve about the Impinda.
He states that the UK laws are based on edge length, which the Impinda is at 2.95in.

It's fascinating that the website said 3.123" and was then changed to 3.00" and now changed back to 3.123" but Tim is stating it's 2.95"

In any other knife, it wouldn't be a big deal. Who cares about 1/8" ? But since this a slip joint and the 99.99% reason to own a slip joint in the year 2018 is to conform with legal silliness, that 1/8" is a huge deal. And it's still unclear to me what size the blade is because the website currently says 3.123"

 

[Ernie1980]

I opened mine and put the box up so fast that I cannot remember if it came with a tool or not to be honest. Tim stated that it could be taken apart but I have also seen where Bill Harsey highly suggested for most people to not attempt this due to the pressure/tightness of the spring? So, the short answer is yes, it can be disassembled, but be careful and do not expect it to be as easy as the other folders.

I have been looking for information about this, where did you see it? Most slipjoints are not just put together like a regular locking folder, you have to compress the backspring using a jig or vice to get the pins in place. This is done so that as the spring and tang wears you don’t get lazy closing or blade play.

 

[bhyde]

It's fascinating that the website said 3.123" and was then changed to 3.00" and now changed back to 3.123" but Tim is stating it's 2.95"

In any other knife, it wouldn't be a big deal. Who cares about 1/8" ? But since this a slip joint and the 99.99% reason to own a slip joint in the year 2018 is to conform with legal silliness, that 1/8" is a huge deal. And it's still unclear to me what size the blade is because the website currently says 3.123"

According to Tim, UK knife laws relate directly to the edge length and not from tip to scale.
I am not sure why the number is changing and it should be clarified on the website in respect to edge length and blade length so people can make an informed decision. It's altogether possible, that US and UK laws have differing points to measure from. Being a US based company, I can see why it would be 3.125, but like I previously stated,..I would have both measurements on the site. I will ask about that come Monday.

 

[bhyde]

I have been looking for information about this, where did you see it? Most slipjoints are not just put together like a regular locking folder, you have to compress the backspring using a jig or vice to get the pins in place. This is done so that as the spring and tang wears you don’t get lazy closing or blade play.

It was on facebook

 

[Ernie1980]

I don’t have Facebook, can you post it here please?

 

[bonzodog]

I’m in the uk,to err on the side of caution I don’t carry a blade over three inches tip to bolster.If I get one of these it’s off to the grinder .

 

[Murphjd25]

So who’s been using their Impinda? Look forward to some real world use feedback!!

 

[PiterM]

By the campfire...

 

[hiptinite]

I contacted CR Knives over the weekend about the Impinda asking if they could grind the tip off, so it would be UK legal and this morning I received a very informative and well written email from a gentleman named Matt .

I will paste full email below :

It's tough to design a knife that will fit the restrictions of every law in the EU, but we did try to appease as many as possible. Where this will come to play is how the measurement is done, the cutting edge of an Impinda(from choil to tip) is 2.94", but the length if measured from bolster to tip comes in at just under 3.1", we round up to 3.1" for the specs. We won't grind one of these down to under 3.1", although we did entertain the idea of trying to do this but ultimately getting the blade length under 3" makes the geometry of the knife not work within what Bill Harsey wanted for the knife. Most of the laws we referenced did specifically call out the cutting edge, hopefully that's the case in your country. Let me know if I can do anything else for you.

Thank You Matt.


So what can we take from Matt’s email ?

Firstly and lucky for me CR Knives WONT remove the tip from the blade ( well it was a stupid request ) and spoil a very aesthetically pleasing knife which in all fairness would have been an insult to CRK and Bill Harsey

Secondly and the most interesting from the U.K. Perspective is below -
Paragraph two :
( taken from the gov.uk )

Basic laws on knives
It’s illegal to:

• sell a knife to anyone under 18, unless it has a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62 cm) or less
• carry a knife in public without good reason, unless it has a folding blade with a cutting edge 3 inches long or less
• carry, buy or sell any type of banned knife
• use any knife in a threatening way (even a legal knife)

So Impinda UK Legal ..I would say Yes !
Impinda (from choil to tip) is 2.94 that’s under 3” in my Book


Thanks Matt
for clearing this mess up

 

[PiterM]

That sounds very clear to me. Enjoy your Impinda!

 

[tdkfm]

They are not as simple to make as they look to make.
Depending on your end goal, you choose the machining technology that makes the most sense. In this case, the backspring and the mating part of the blade are made with a wire EDM. This is one of the machines I have personal experience with and one of the most accurate. It removes some of the issues associated with normal milling technologies that impart stresses into the part that cause warp, twist, etc. The EDM is capable of taking the tolerances normally associated with CRK to another level. Sub .0001in
More or less, it's the properties of the technology used than the tolerances it's capable of and it isn't cheap.

It astounds me that people are capable of looking at any manufactured item and are instantly capable of telling what it should be worth based on the looks alone.

On another note, I did drop by the shop for a bit to pick up the Damasteel Inkosi today and had some time to talk to Tim Reeve about the Impinda.
He states that the UK laws are based on edge length, which the Impinda is at 2.95in.
Also, I will likely get an Impinda for a passaround out of the next batch.
Stay tuned.

This is the first I've seen of these (no tapatalk killed this place for me). I have to agree with the guy you replied to though, that's overpriced. I love my CRK knives and carry one of several daily, but it's going to be hard to compete with the lion steel slip joints collector knives is doing at around 30% of that price.

As to your point about people judging knives and their price off looks, I personally don't think this knife looks very good. However, the price of the knife will ultimately have to be set somewhat based on people looking at pictures online or it won't sell. Most people nowadays are buying purely off that and never handle the knife first. you can talk as much as you want about what it costs to make, but that is fairly irrelevant to buyers in the end.

 

[bhyde]

This is the first I've seen of these (no tapatalk killed this place for me). I have to agree with the guy you replied to though, that's overpriced. I love my CRK knives and carry one of several daily, but it's going to be hard to compete with the lion steel slip joints collector knives is doing at around 30% of that price.

As to your point about people judging knives and their price off looks, I personally don't think this knife looks very good. However, the price of the knife will ultimately have to be set somewhat based on people looking at pictures online or it won't sell. Most people nowadays are buying purely off that and never handle the knife first. you can talk as much as you want about what it costs to make, but that is fairly irrelevant to buyers in the end.

That's why there are a number of choices to choose from- Different manufacturers, makers etc. The fact of the matter is, I don't like every product that CRK puts out. Mnandi being one that I have mentioned in the past. Not for me.
I can talk about what it costs to make because I have the manufacturing knowledge to do so- My point with the quote was to educate, but you are right- It's up to the end consumer to decide what the widgets they buy are ultimately worth..ignorance in manufacturing notwithstanding. if that's the case, it's simpler to just move on to what you do like.. I did the same with the roundhead I had..not even sure how that was even a comparison that came to mind. You don't want my critique of that particular knife.

 

[bvo85]

This is the first I've seen of these (no tapatalk killed this place for me).

Tapatalk is aweful. It ruined so many forums for me because I didn't want to install their app, and anytime I went to a forum that used tapatalk on my iPad, it was a series of popup notifications asking me if I wanted to install the tapatalk app. I literally stopped going to several forums because of it.

 

[bvo85]

We won't grind one of these down to under 3.1", although we did entertain the idea of trying to do this but ultimately getting the blade length under 3" makes the geometry of the knife not work within what Bill Harsey wanted for the knife.

They won't grind the knife down 1/8", but if you broke 1/8 off the tip, perhaps by rubbing it against a coarse diamond stone for a minute or two, and send the knife in for sharpening service, they would reprofile it for you.

What are they going to do when you send it in for spa service? "No sorry, we can't sharpen your knife because of the 1/8" tip damage, any sharpening would not meet the stringent demands Bill Harsey has for this knife, and therefore we also cannot return it."

If I lived in England, that's what I would do.

 

[Peter Hartwig]

They won't grind the knife down 1/8", but if you broke 1/8 off the tip, perhaps by rubbing it against a coarse diamond stone for a minute or two, and send the knife in for sharpening service, they would reprofile it for you.

What are they going to do when you send it in for spa service? "No sorry, we can't sharpen your knife because of the 1/8" tip damage, any sharpening would not meet the stringent demands Bill Harsey has for this knife, and therefore we also cannot return it."

If I lived in England, that's what I would do.

I am pretty sure if you damaged the tip they would do what they could to help, but in this case you get what you get. If they grind a tip off a new and perfectly good knife, you could then say, I don't like it take it back. Or you screwed it up take it back.
Different obligations on their part. Much less they don't want to start getting into modification-where would it stop.
They feel they have designed the knife the way it should be, and are not looking for someone to redesign it
That's how I see it

 

[tdkfm]

Tapatalk is aweful. It ruined so many forums for me because I didn't want to install their app, and anytime I went to a forum that used tapatalk on my iPad, it was a series of popup notifications asking me if I wanted to install the tapatalk app. I literally stopped going to several forums because of it.

Funny that this is pretty much the only major forum I've been on that doesn't use tapatalk. I'm not sure I understand how tapatalk is terrible if you didn't install it? Why not just use it?

 

[tdkfm]

That's why there are a number of choices to choose from- Different manufacturers, makers etc. The fact of the matter is, I don't like every product that CRK puts out. Mnandi being one that I have mentioned in the past. Not for me.
I can talk about what it costs to make because I have the manufacturing knowledge to do so- My point with the quote was to educate, but you are right- It's up to the end consumer to decide what the widgets they buy are ultimately worth..ignorance in manufacturing notwithstanding. if that's the case, it's simpler to just move on to what you do like.. I did the same with the roundhead I had..not even sure how that was even a comparison that came to mind. You don't want my critique of that particular knife.

Round head is a production slipjoint with premium steel. I actually am curious to hear what got don't like about it. You can move it to PM if you don't think that fits here. I have two and they both seem really nice.

 

[bhyde]

Round head is a production slipjoint with premium steel. I actually am curious to hear what got don't like about it. You can move it to PM if you don't think that fits here. I have two and they both seem really nice.

The Impinda is also a production slipjoint so that really isn't the point. First run was pretty small, but the numbers will increase.
My issues with the roundhead are not really a fair comparison because they are not even in the same realm of comparability. It's a ~$130.00 knife aimed at the traditional base whereas the Impinda is more transitional to those that want an updated slipjoint that crosses over between two folder worlds.

As far as my issues with the Lionsteel roundhead; this isn't the place and I am not really about to get into a debate on what I found wrong with the roundhead I owned.

At the end of the day, my thoughts on the justification really aren't all that pertinent..I'm not the owner of the design, the knife or the company that made it, so that would be up to CRK to go forward with that or they could just continue on and let the economics work it out. If it doesn't pay for it's place on the lineup, it will change in price or it will be short lived.

 

[tdkfm]

The Impinda is also a production slipjoint so that really isn't the point.

That's exactly the point. You asked why I would compare the two. Because they are both production slip joints with high end steel (more so with the lionsteel). I understand that they are different knives, but I really cant imagine what you found wrong with the lionsteel. I could see maybe not liking the screws on the bolsters, but beyond that I'd imagine it stacks up pretty well against this CRK slippy, especially considering the price. That was all I was trying to say.