I'm a new guy and I have a couple of questions...

S

sopmodm4

Joined
May 12, 2000
Messages
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I am on a kick after having notched my Trailmaster on a hidden rock while clearing some brush on a hillside.It is not a bad notch but it's a pain to have to reprofile that part of the edge.I have thought that there might be a few of different ways to go
one of those would be opting for a knife with "stronger"material and better heat treatment and another would be to try a different edge type(saber vs flat ground).I enjoy the Busse concept but worry about a traditional Flat Grind on anything but a kitchen or pocket knife.Is the asymetrical edge a split between the two?Is it similar to what I had on my Emerson Specwar(but not that brittle stainless crap)I would be curious to see an example of a more utility biased Busse knife with this INFI steel that I have heard so much about.Something with excellent cross cut saw teeth on the spine like the Spetznaz machete and a saber ground blade(if it's needed to avoid severe notching,I don't know)Just a thought.Let me know what your thought are on this I'd like to hear the straight truth from some Busse knife owners.

Thanks
 
First of all had you a Battle Mistress the rock wouldn't have stood a chance. plus if you ruin a Cold Steel knife it had better be in the first year or you're screwed. For as long as you have a Busse you're in the good. I'll let the edge experts like cliff stamp give you the truth on edge geometry. But if you want an honest opinion from a Busse owner... They're great. I sold all of my Cold Steel knives to get some Busse's. And trust me... I had a bunch of Cold Steels. Get a Busse man. It's the only knife you'll ever need.
 
Ryu is right. Cliff Stamp is the man to find out some good research, and data on the Busse knives. Andy Prisco is the right man to order them from, once your satisfied from the research. I am also getting rid of my other knives. Good luck with your decision.
Take care.

------------------
"KEEP IT SIMPLE"

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way"
 
The Busses are all flat ground with a "dual ground" edge, convex on one side and V on the other. See Cliff's thread for a pic and explanation:

www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum39/HTML/000317.html

RE sawback spine: I haven't used one but am not keen on the idea. How effective could 1/4" thick teeth be? I cannot recall ever hearing of any such saw that actually worked well. Easier to chop, or to bring along a saw if you really need one.

The sawback spines were originally devised for pilot's knives, I believe, to cut through sheet metal, fiberglass, and such. The Chris Reeve Aviator has a toothed spine which is intended to be fairly versatile. If you're interested in hearing feedback on an existing model, you might drop an inquiry at the CRK forum, too.

Glen
 
Sopmodm4, the Trailmaster's Carbon V is a fairly brittle steel. While the high RC does give it good strength, it does make it prone to fracture. INFI is much tougher and will tend to deform rather than break when it encounters a very hard object. This will greatly reduce the amount of damage the blade will recieve. Not only in terms of what you can see but also in what you can't. if an edge fractures the steel is weakened beyond the depth of the crack. That is just the part that was so badly damaged it broke off.

Anyway, in terms of geometry the Busse Combat blades are actually on the acute side as compared to many blades, with a full flat grind and a rather thin edge. I have had no problems with mine as the steel is very strong and tough compared to a lot of what is being used which allows the geometry to be functional. However if you want to be able to chop full strength into hard rocks you will most likely want a much thicker edge profile than what is standard. I would not change the primary grind from full to sabre, but just reprofile the edge up to a more obtuse angle. This is actually fairly easy to do - it is much more difficult to go the other way.

-Cliff
 
Thanks for the responses.I will start out by saying that I am not in the habit of whacking rocks with cutlery buy it does happen especially when digging fire pits and clearing a path up a hillside.As far as the saw teeth go,I was actually talking about diagonal saw teeth with fine teeth that would be good for a pilots crashknife type
scenario but actually intended for pioneer type activities that go beyond basic short term survival situations.I have worked with the Spetznaz Machete that has the saw teeth I'm talking about(I would find the teeth in a Lile bowie totally useless)but I disliked the lack of a point and the primitive mass produced nature of the beast.I guess the flat grind would not be as much of a problem if the hardness/toughness were more suited to the application at hand so maybe I'll have to get a BattleMistress(more than one of my favorite survival authors swear by them)


BTW could I relieve some of the hardness of these CS knives?I also have a first Gen ATC kukri that I would like to keep the edge from chipping away on.


Thanks

[This message has been edited by sopmodm4 (edited 05-13-2000).]
 
Digging isn't a problem if you just use the blade as a pick to loosen the soil, all that will happen is that the tip gets blunted. In more marshy areas where the soil is very rooty and you have to use the edge to actually cut it apart then the whole blade will get blunted - but not severely. A steel will restore it and make a huge difference. I have gone beyond that and intentionally stressed the edge by doing two handed hard rakes through the soil with my Basic including over rocks scoring them. The edge will get damaged, but some time on a coarse hone will restore it (100 or so strokes per side). The steel is very ductile and tough so it tends to bend rather than break.

As for tempering your CS knives, this is quite possible. You might want to ask about it on the Shop Talk forum.

-Cliff
 
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