First impressions on new blue Delica and Native

The General

The General

Joined
Jun 6, 2000
Messages
3,625
1st allow me to talk about the new Native model. I say new, because it has the cut out on the lockback release. It works very well. I had my doubts when I first saw pics of this feature. I thought it would make the lockback difficult to unlock. Well I was wrong, sure it takes a little more pressure but it works very well, and if it helps prevent and accidental release thats cool as well.

The fit and finish on the Native quite surprised me! Very little blade play (this is a FRN rivited model so some is bound to be apparent), and its rock soldid up and down. The FRN handle is very comfortable in the grip and the clip works well as ever. I am surprised at the blade length. In the UK an edge or blade length is measured by the actual edge not the total length of the blade. Thus I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Native is slightly shorter in actual cutting edge than my new Delica. This puts it under 3". Now I know in the UK if it has a lock the size does not matter by the letter of the law. But let me tell you this, if it is less than 3" you get a lot less grief over any knife.

The edge is very sharp (as ever) and is that rather nifty CPM440V, which I am sure you may have heard about
wink.gif
. On this steel, I resharpened one of my Military blades using the Spyderco Ultra Fine Benchstone to 15deg per side and found some interesting things. Firstly CPM440V takes a very different feeling edge, it is very very sharp but strangly not as sharp as my CRK&T Kasper in 6m (same angle same stone). The Military shaves nicely, yet the 6m Kasper pops hair! This made me think I was doing something wrong, but I think it has something to do with the fact that the Vanadium carbides are not being cut well by the ceramic stone. The Military is still down right scary sharp, but not quite what I expected. I did spend a good hour making sure the edge was symetrical. It is one of the few knives, that when I test the edge with my thumb, removes a layer of skin with the slightest touch! Strangly the edge feels a lot sharper after testing it on some free hanging paper? Weird but wonderfull stuff this CPM440V!

On sharpness, let me talk about the Blue Delica, OMFG! This is the SHARPEST knife I have ever seen out of a box! Even my Sebenza can't match this baby. It is hair popping sharp out of the box, the grind lines are perfection and the blade has a very nice high polished finish. I never seemed to find a reason in the past to get a Delica, I owned the Endura 98 (serrated) and always went for a non-FRN model. However the Blue colour is very very nice, it really does make this look less threatening. Which is just as well when you see how sharp this baby is! The tip is hypodermic needle fine and sharp. I would advise potential owners of this knife to be careful with the tip, on testing the tip by pressing with a TINY amount of pressure into my open palm (I always do this to test sharpness of tip) i pricked myself right away! This is the first knife to EVER do this! However as the tip is very very fine and sharp I would not use it for prying as it looks like it would break very easily. I notice that the clip well is deeper on this knife as well, probably to stop it slipping, though I have not had this problem before. The lock up of this knife, like the Native is rock solid, unlike the Native, the Delica is very smooth, the Native feels a little tight. This does not worry me however as experience with my Endura shows the FRN does give a little after a fair bit of use.

All in all I expected the Native FRN to leave the Blue Delica in the shade after all I prefer the blade steel, shape, style and handle of the Native. However for some wierd reason the Blue Delica has a strange draw that I have not had with a knife for a long long time. I can't stop playig with it! I am very pleased with both, oh and the Starmate I have just got is quite nice as well
wink.gif


A word on the Starmate, nice knife but... I don't know why, but I expected more for some reason. Nothing wrong with it (appart from a vertical scratch near the tip), it just did not set me on fire. I think I am so pleased with the two FRN models I have not had time to give the Starmate a good playing with!

All the Spyderco blades are perfectly centred and sharp as heck, the Delica being stupidly sharp. I would like to know what grit or ceramic type grit these blades are finished on, they feel more grabby than a Ultra stone polished edge, but seem to shave just as well.

All in all, typical Spyderco knives. Well made, great value and desirable as hell.

All I need now is... Well you know I want a mini Military, but how about a Blue Endura?

Thanks Sal!

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
Hmm... I'm going to have to get me one of them Blue Delicas. They sound pretty cool.
smile.gif


About the 440V, I'd have to agree that the edge it takes is very strange. I just sharpened my Military on a hard, black Arkansas stone. That thing is like glass; very non-abrasive. It gave the Military a polished edge, but the edge still feels very "toothy". It can slice, but it just can't push cut well.

I like to test push cutting by whittling toothpicks and trying to cut off thin layers of wood. Carbon steel seems to work best at this, but most stainless steels don't do a bad job. 440V, even with a fine edge, doesn't work well for whittling though. There's not a huge difference, but it's noticeable.

But 440V's great for slicing! I guess that if you get the blade in motion, you can take advange of those little carbide teeth.

------------------
Cerulean

"The hairy-armed person who figured out how to put an edge on a suitable rock made it possible for us to be recognizably human in the first place." - J.K.M.

[This message has been edited by cerulean (edited 05-10-2001).]
 
I have the FRN native, which was my EDC until yesterday, when my new blue delica arrived. Wayne, you are right, it is the sharpest knife I have ever held, although I do still prefer the ergonomics of the native (just). It's actually a bit odd - the delica has the same handle as my merlin, but for some reason feels a lot more comfortable to hold. The blue colour definitely looks less threatening as well. As a test I opened a letter with it in the middle of our department foyer and not a strange look in sight. They might have acted differently if I had started slicing through the free hanging paper with it though
wink.gif
.

All in all they are both great knives.

Andy
 
I have to agree with you cerulean, what you describe is perfectly what is happening with me. CPM440V has a weird grain quality to it as well, it just feels very different to normal steel
biggrin.gif
. I think the Vanadium carbides are acting like little teeth and as they are so hard and there is so many of them in the matrix, then I need to start using a diamond hone to get that popping edge back! Still like you said, its a bit like having a chainsaw! Cool! I don't think the hair popping quality is something to worry about though, I think as this kind of edge is dependent on a type of 'wire' edge forming (which confuses me a little as a wire edge is a bad thing? Perhaps we are confusing wire with burr?)well I just don't think it is possible to form this wire edge as well with this steel. My uneducated and probably dumb thinking is that with a plain old carbon steel, the matrix is the edge (by matrix I refer to the material that carries the Vanadium or Tungsten carbides etc) There is not complex make up or special carbides in a plain old carbon steel, not even Chromiuim carbides! Thus all you have is the steel and it wears at a prety uniform rate. However with a material like CPM 440V I think the steel part of the blade wears more than the Vanadium carbides, and what we are seeing is the Vanadium carbides sticking up and out of the steel. This gives a micro serration effect, even when sharpened on a very very fine stone. I found that with a little cutting work on mear paper (say 20 slices) the edge felt FAR more grabby and sharp. Yet it had lost a fair bit of its super shaving edge, it still wouls shave, but not as well. I think the Spyderco 204 and Ultra stone are polishing the Vanadium carbides, and after a little use they are rough and acting like a mini chainsaw! Now I am probably wrong on this, but I have noticed in the past that CPM 440V holds a great toothy edge a massive length of time, it cuts and cuts and well cuts! It also feels a lot sharper to the thumb on edge test, but wont shave very well at all. As I said above I thought it was my sharpening skills at fault, and lets be honest, CPM440V does take a bit of practice to get a perfect edge on it! It is so wear resistant it is unreal, must be a total bear to grind. I own 4 blades now in CPM 440V all from spyderco. The other thought was that the relativly low Rc level on these blades (55-57?) might move the very fragile wire edge back and forth, thus stopping it being a great push shaver/hair popping steel? But then again I am probable wrong here as well.

As a final test, last night I held up a free hanging bit of A4 paper that I use at Uni for my work. I then cut 705 of a perfect circle in the paper and only had to stop as the thick spine of the blade got in the way as I turned the knife through the material. Now correct me if I am wrong, but any knife that can cut through paper this cleanly with almost no pressure is a sick and frightening edge?
wink.gif
One of these days, I will slip with a knife like this and cut my hand off! Scary sharp!
biggrin.gif


Spadeworx, the Blue Delica is indeed a very fine knife. I don't know what it is about the colour, but it does seem far less threatening. I asked some friends a day ago to look at three small pocket knives I had on me, they were

1. Blue Delica plain edge ploished blade ATS-55
2. Mini AFCK plain edge, black blade M2 steel
3. Camillus EDC DDR 154CM Stone wash plain edge.

Now to be honest, the lads all went right for the EDC and the AFCK, the little blue Delica was picked up by one lad with a look of 'ah so I get stuck with this one?'. Simple fact was most looked at the blue Delica and then put it down to see when the could have a go with one of the others. Only one person tested the edge on the Delica, while everyone else was running about looking for things to cut!
wink.gif
(well not quite that bad, but I brought some paper and bits for them to cut up). When my friend saw the edge on the Delica, the look on his face was a picture! His eyes bugged right out of his face and he gave me a look as if to say 'you bastard!' He put it down and spent a couple of mins playing with his finger waiting to see if it would start bleeding... It did not as it happens, but it gave him a shock! I must note I did warn everyone before I started that the blades were near enough razor sharp and be careful!

The general consensus was that the AFCK was the one they most wanted to buy. They said it looked the most high tech and cool. The EDC came a fairly close second. Half of the group did not like the cut out hole design or the thumb stud (all prefered the Spyderhole on the other blades). They also thought the blade finish on the EDC looked crap and the blade was too heavy for its size! Just goes to show what non-knifenuts know
wink.gif


The Delica was described as nice and sharp, they liked the edge and the hole, but saw the blue colour as a turn off. Now, remember these are all youngish lads (all 18 and above, but students
wink.gif
) and they wanted the most macho blade I had. However this highly scientific test shows to me that the Delica does what it does, perfectly! It is a tactical blade, that does not LOOK tactical, it is the right size and that blue makes it look like a fun/womans knife! Sorry Sal! Now I personly dissagree with the colour looking 'girlish' as one of my friends said, but if that makes this deadly sharp knife an accepable thing for most sheeple, then how about a blue handled Civilian Sal?
biggrin.gif


God, I love that little knife!

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
Hi General!

Very interesting report on the blue Delica. I gotta git me one someday. I like my pink one an awful lot. Innocent looking on the outside, but when I showed it to a secretary at my school, she drew in her breath at opening up the fully serrated blade! (I'd have preferred a plain or combi edge, but I felt lucky just to get a pink one from Ayoob's store.) Mine is probably a '98, as it has the metal clip, but no cutout on the lock button area. Am I right? BTW, it seems to cut bagels better than anything else I've tried.

A blue Endura would be great!

(I love colored FRN!!)
smile.gif


Yers,
Karl
 
You got a pink one? Wow! thats way cool! I dare anyone to be frightened with that colour! Just a quick question though... why pink?
wink.gif


Get the blue Delica! It is a great little knife! I can't recommend it enough.

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
My black handled Delica '98 has always impressed me with its physics defying edge- it's incredibly easy to sharpen to a razor's edge, yet it seems to stay sharp forever. Its easily the sharpest, best blade I own. I'm glad to hear about the deeper clip well on the blue handled one. Is the blue one a regular Spyderco production item? I sure hope so! The Delica kicks major ass.

JK
 
BTW, what shade of blue is the Delica? (Not sky blue, not sky blue, not sky blue...)


JK
 
Medium Blue? Imperial Blue? NICE BLUE!

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
General,

Why pink? Because it allows me to keep in touch with my feminine side, which is on the left, where I wear it.

(I'm wearing my new Sifu on the right.)

With both of them, plus little blue LadyBug on my keychain, I now feel refreshingly self-actualized.
smile.gif


Hopefully, no LEO who questions my Sifu would see me as a serious threat while I am also equipped with pink Delica. No menace to society would carry a LITTLE PINK KNIFE!

Or maybe I just bought it because...
IT WAS THERE!
biggrin.gif


Karl
 
I just caught a picture of it online- it looks great! I already own 2 Delicas, and I'm planning for the blue one to be my third. Great knife.

JK
 
Wayne- Do you have the plain or serrated edge delica? I recently picked up both black and pink delicas, with fully serrated edges. I've been happy with both of them, although the pink is more to be looked at then used- maybe I'll pick up a little display case for it, sometime. It's quite an intense shade of pink,too. :D
Perhaps a blue one w/serrations is in my future?

Frank
 
CPM440V is weird stuff. My Military dosn't shave as well as a lot of my knives. It just dosn't feel quite right. However, when I test my Military against some of my knives that seem to be sharper, the Military out cuts them every time. CPM44V gets just as sharp as any other steel, you just can't tell it by touching it for some reason.
 
CPM 440V is VERY weird stuff. With all that Carbon it aught to rust a lot. It does not seem to! I find it an awkward steel to get a shaving edge, yes I can get a shaving edge when I try. This knife steel acts in quite a strange way with different levels of polish. The 'feel' of how sharp it is when tested with thumb, tends to feel 'quite' rather than 'razor' sharp. Then I slice some paper and the hairs on my neck stand up. Oh and it holds its edge a long long time.

This is one steel I don't think I will EVER understand, but it works for me.

There are 2 schools of thought on this steel (well several in fact)

1. That the steel will take a very vorpal edge as its fine grained, high in Vanadium and very constant.
2. That the steel takes an agressive 'toothy' edge and does not shave as well as other steels at the same angle/grit. However it cuts most things like the Devil.

I am subscribed to the second school, but still can get it to shave with ease, just not as well as an 8a or 154CM steel knife can:eek:

I LOVE IT!!!!!:cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top