EDC XIII Which knife or knives are you carrying today?

D2 patina coming along nicely;)

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~Chip
 
Edgeoflife said:
Is that an m4 mantra ti? If so How do you like it? I've read really good things about it and i think its on bearings? I have found I do not care for flippers on washers after owning several and I believe it's a little bit larger than the sage 2 So I think it would fit the bill for me.
Click to expand...
It is mantra m4 but a bit moded.
It feels very smooth when I clean it once in a while. The bearings are tiny and they come with thin washers that dish a little so don't overtighten it. The handle is slick, but with the lanyard on its all good. It's rounded everywhere and the slippery feeling is almost luxurious. Otherwise, it excels in this size category. Very ergonomic like a delica, but with a lot of cutting edge that starts right away. Delica with pm2 size blade.

Here some comparisons with other relatives.
Xd9lc8R.jpg

For comfort it's best out of all 3. You get a lot of room for front two fingers on the mantra and its a bit thicker than Delica.
hJxj1R7.jpg

Here is Delica which is pretty comfortable.
1vBzzuM.jpg

The mantra 3 has the least space for your fingers and on top of it all the flipper, which I removed, also takes up precious space.
cYIXKVD.jpg

I like all 3.

Here how it compares to sage.(not my pic)
a77a42b8b8b4ce5281dce2bbc9443c55.jpg
 
Edgeoflife said:
Im digging that screw upgrade in the Lw. I have that knife also and would like to do the same. Did you just drill out the rivets and use screws from the G 10 one? Great job!
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I have access to a milling machine and the rivets were machined off using an end mill but there have been other here who have successfully drilled out the rivets.For my experience the rivets are not rock and will spin when drilled

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...what-to-do-with-the-blue-frn-handles.1258078/
 
Edgeoflife said:
Nice piece. Ive been waiting for the TRM atom to become available myself.
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Thanks, brother. The quality on this one is outstanding and it has lots of little details that make it special from the hollow thinning of the tip beyond the Spanto-style shoulder to the RJ-hand-sharpened convex edge to the contour swells in the handle slabs, just to name a few. I really prefer the MEFP slabs over the TRM longitudinally fluted version.

The Atom looks interesting with its nested liners--makes the Micarta on the knife shown on the TRM site look really sweet.
 
Fullflat said:
Nice looking work on the clip! It really does fit in great with that Fradon Manix
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I started with 400 grit wet/dry thinking I'd take it down to bare metal but when the edges popped through first I went with the theme and buffed it up with a Scotchbrite pad.
Also the 4V blade is amazing, I took it down 1dps at a time until it performed how I like.
It's just under 17dps and is a razor. Have 2 slices on my palm from the tip just touching while doing some one handed closing today.
I think it's ready to carry.:)
 
Barman1 said:
I started with 400 grit wet/dry thinking I'd take it down to bare metal but when the edges popped through first I went with the theme and buffed it up with a Scotchbrite pad.
Also the 4V blade is amazing, I took it down 1dps at a time until it performed how I like.
It's just under 17dps and is a razor. Have 2 slices on my palm from the tip just touching while doing some one handed closing today.
I think it's ready to carry.:)
Click to expand...

Once it bites you that means it was meant to be.

It tends to mean you liked it so much you were playing with it while you should have been paying attention, thus it is true love.
 
Sergeua said:
It is mantra m4 but a bit moded.
It feels very smooth when I clean it once in a while. The bearings are tiny and they come with thin washers that dish a little so don't overtighten it. The handle is slick, but with the lanyard on its all good. It's rounded everywhere and the slippery feeling is almost luxurious. Otherwise, it excels in this size category. Very ergonomic like a delica, but with a lot of cutting edge that starts right away. Delica with pm2 size blade.

Here some comparisons with other relatives.
Xd9lc8R.jpg

For comfort it's best out of all 3. You get a lot of room for front two fingers on the mantra and its a bit thicker than Delica.
hJxj1R7.jpg

Here is Delica which is pretty comfortable.
1vBzzuM.jpg

The mantra 3 has the least space for your fingers and on top of it all the flipper, which I removed, also takes up precious space.
cYIXKVD.jpg

I like all 3.

Here how it compares to sage.(not my pic)
a77a42b8b8b4ce5281dce2bbc9443c55.jpg
Click to expand...

Wow thanks for the detailed mini review...Very helpful and I think im now sold on the mantra, its definitely on my list.

I have a Spyderco Domino that has those little washers between the titanium and the bearings also but for some reason I just can't get a smooth ball bearing flipper action out of this knife even after taking it all the way down, cleaning it thoroughly, and relubing with 10 weight nano oil. I'm wondering now if the bearings were crushed at some point as I did buy it used but the bearings were rolling for sure after cleaning. I noticed the bearings are rather on the small side (small balls lol) and fit very tight in the scales whereas all of my other bearing knives The entire bearing spins freely with the action as opposed to the Domino where I guess just the balls spin. I'm thinking maybe this is the problem. I know I'm kinda getting off topic now but the reason I bring it up is im suspecting the mantra has a similar bearing setup from what you described.
 
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