- Joined
- Feb 27, 2005
- Messages
- 8,233
Not a lot of talk about this company, so I wanted to get some discussion going.
Picked this up after having them come across my Facebook feed in some of the knife groups there. I thought it was really intriguing, but the ~$700-800 price point put me off for a bit. However, last week they put a 20% off coupon for early Black Friday for all in-stock Sonoras, and in the $500-600 range with the discount, I went for it. If anyone is interested, the code is MWEARLYBF and is good for 20% off their current stock of Sonoras. At the time of this writing, there were four in stock. They may get more finished, they restocked once this past week with a few more and kept the discount code active for the restock as well as what they had on-hand when the code first went out.
Too long; didn't read: I not only went for it, but the day after my first one arrived, I went back and bought another, so that's how much I liked it. If you're on the fence, I'd buy one now before they go all Koenig and jack the price up $200.
MachineWise is big on balisongs and newer social media. Having seen them in multiple YouTube reviewers' videos meeting them at Blade Show, they are, and I do not mean this unkindly, kinda dweeb-ish in a charming manner. They're younger and look like maybe they go to anime conventions when they come out of the basement. But, they're very passionate about balisongs and have made several models that seem to have a lot of respect in that niche of the knife community. As a company they seem to fit right in with the very small shop (I believe it's five guys right now), made-in-the-USA maker brands of premium titanium-handled knives like Koenig, Grimsmo, and Holt. They make their small parts in-house as well, and launched a pen design to help offset the cost of the machinery they bought to make screws.
The Sonora is their first regular folder, and it's a doozy. It is a button-lock flipper with a titanium integral handle and reversible machined deep-carry clip that screws onto the end of the knife with a T15 screw. The pivot screw is also a T15, and because it's an integral, those are the only two screws on the knife. They are available in several handle micro-milled patterns and various combinations of anodizing colors. The bolster that allows access to the lock small parts is mainly brass, but some are titanium. The design ouevre does sort of fall into the genre of titanium-handled, high-quality knives from their peer companies, so if that's not your thing, well, that's not your thing. There are a lot of these companies, and personally I am glad to have them as a sort of counterweight of consumer choices against the top-end made-in-PRC knives. No disrespect to Reate's quality, but with luxury purchases, I'd rather buy made in the USA, and I know I'm not the only one.
One distinct carryover from their balisong experience is that this knife rides on bushings rather than bearings or washers. This gives a bit of a unique feel to the action. It is smooth and flips open well in response to slow pressure, unlike some other variants (just a matter of taste) that requires a more forceful flick. The action is excellent to me, and I consider it the equal of any other similar peer knife, such as the Arius. It drops shut cleanly with gravity. I consider the Sonora a better deal than many others, as for a similar quality knife, the price is about $100-$200 less than competitors at this point in time.
Dimensions:
Blade: 3.35" (sharpened arc length 3.5"), 0.125" at the spine, 0.011-0.015" behind the edge.
Length: 4.4" closed, 7.95" open.
Width: 0.44" at the bolster, 0.4" at the frame, 0.56" at the clip.
Weight: 3.5 oz.
Materials: Blade is currently 20CV at RC61 +/- 1 (Each blade is tested and the RC is marked on the birthday card). Previously MachineWise has also used MagnaCut at RC63 +/-1 and S35VN at RC62 +/- 1. Handle is 6AL 4V / Grade 5 titanium.
MachineWise also specifies the torque at 3 N-m for the pivot screw.
This knife is raw finish titanium with the diamond milling pattern. Note how everything is milled and French bordered. All the sharp edges on the handle are broken by slight chamfering, including the back of the spine of the blade. Spartan Blades, pay attention here. You can run your hand over this whole knife, and the only sharp edge is the cutting edge.
The brass bolster piece.
The blades are available in several finishes. The base is stonewashed, but there are several I believe lasered patterns such as this pattern of circles that resembles that Japanese seigaha 'wave' pattern.
Speaking of the blade, the tip is ground symmetrically and deliberately, and it comes from the shop with a mirror edge, which I have not seen on any other production knife.
The clip, as I mentioned, is reversible right-to-left by unscrewing the tail T15 and flipping the clip around. It is also micro-milled and French bordered.
One thing I super love about it as a matter of taste is how slim it is. The whole knife is just 0.4" thick at the frame and just 0.56" including the clip. There are a lot of other knives that are thicker at the frame than this one is at the clip. It rides very nicely in the pocket. I compare this favorably against Spyderco or Koenig, where the knife is very tall in the pocket. The clip offers the right amount of retention and looks good while riding deeply without being hard to take out.
The box is a 3-D print round plastic container that screws together and has a slot which the knife clicks firmly into along with a small lube container, a Wiha T15 bit, and a 'coin' that consists of the piece of brass from which the bolster was machined (not sure if this applies to ones with a ti bolster). Additionally, a birthday card sits in the lid, which details the model, serial number, date and time of manufacture, steel and HRC, handle texture milling pattern, bolster material, handle finish, clip finish, and the QC person's initials.
Picked this up after having them come across my Facebook feed in some of the knife groups there. I thought it was really intriguing, but the ~$700-800 price point put me off for a bit. However, last week they put a 20% off coupon for early Black Friday for all in-stock Sonoras, and in the $500-600 range with the discount, I went for it. If anyone is interested, the code is MWEARLYBF and is good for 20% off their current stock of Sonoras. At the time of this writing, there were four in stock. They may get more finished, they restocked once this past week with a few more and kept the discount code active for the restock as well as what they had on-hand when the code first went out.
Too long; didn't read: I not only went for it, but the day after my first one arrived, I went back and bought another, so that's how much I liked it. If you're on the fence, I'd buy one now before they go all Koenig and jack the price up $200.
MachineWise is big on balisongs and newer social media. Having seen them in multiple YouTube reviewers' videos meeting them at Blade Show, they are, and I do not mean this unkindly, kinda dweeb-ish in a charming manner. They're younger and look like maybe they go to anime conventions when they come out of the basement. But, they're very passionate about balisongs and have made several models that seem to have a lot of respect in that niche of the knife community. As a company they seem to fit right in with the very small shop (I believe it's five guys right now), made-in-the-USA maker brands of premium titanium-handled knives like Koenig, Grimsmo, and Holt. They make their small parts in-house as well, and launched a pen design to help offset the cost of the machinery they bought to make screws.
The Sonora is their first regular folder, and it's a doozy. It is a button-lock flipper with a titanium integral handle and reversible machined deep-carry clip that screws onto the end of the knife with a T15 screw. The pivot screw is also a T15, and because it's an integral, those are the only two screws on the knife. They are available in several handle micro-milled patterns and various combinations of anodizing colors. The bolster that allows access to the lock small parts is mainly brass, but some are titanium. The design ouevre does sort of fall into the genre of titanium-handled, high-quality knives from their peer companies, so if that's not your thing, well, that's not your thing. There are a lot of these companies, and personally I am glad to have them as a sort of counterweight of consumer choices against the top-end made-in-PRC knives. No disrespect to Reate's quality, but with luxury purchases, I'd rather buy made in the USA, and I know I'm not the only one.
One distinct carryover from their balisong experience is that this knife rides on bushings rather than bearings or washers. This gives a bit of a unique feel to the action. It is smooth and flips open well in response to slow pressure, unlike some other variants (just a matter of taste) that requires a more forceful flick. The action is excellent to me, and I consider it the equal of any other similar peer knife, such as the Arius. It drops shut cleanly with gravity. I consider the Sonora a better deal than many others, as for a similar quality knife, the price is about $100-$200 less than competitors at this point in time.
Dimensions:
Blade: 3.35" (sharpened arc length 3.5"), 0.125" at the spine, 0.011-0.015" behind the edge.
Length: 4.4" closed, 7.95" open.
Width: 0.44" at the bolster, 0.4" at the frame, 0.56" at the clip.
Weight: 3.5 oz.
Materials: Blade is currently 20CV at RC61 +/- 1 (Each blade is tested and the RC is marked on the birthday card). Previously MachineWise has also used MagnaCut at RC63 +/-1 and S35VN at RC62 +/- 1. Handle is 6AL 4V / Grade 5 titanium.
MachineWise also specifies the torque at 3 N-m for the pivot screw.
This knife is raw finish titanium with the diamond milling pattern. Note how everything is milled and French bordered. All the sharp edges on the handle are broken by slight chamfering, including the back of the spine of the blade. Spartan Blades, pay attention here. You can run your hand over this whole knife, and the only sharp edge is the cutting edge.
The brass bolster piece.
The blades are available in several finishes. The base is stonewashed, but there are several I believe lasered patterns such as this pattern of circles that resembles that Japanese seigaha 'wave' pattern.
Speaking of the blade, the tip is ground symmetrically and deliberately, and it comes from the shop with a mirror edge, which I have not seen on any other production knife.
The clip, as I mentioned, is reversible right-to-left by unscrewing the tail T15 and flipping the clip around. It is also micro-milled and French bordered.
One thing I super love about it as a matter of taste is how slim it is. The whole knife is just 0.4" thick at the frame and just 0.56" including the clip. There are a lot of other knives that are thicker at the frame than this one is at the clip. It rides very nicely in the pocket. I compare this favorably against Spyderco or Koenig, where the knife is very tall in the pocket. The clip offers the right amount of retention and looks good while riding deeply without being hard to take out.
The box is a 3-D print round plastic container that screws together and has a slot which the knife clicks firmly into along with a small lube container, a Wiha T15 bit, and a 'coin' that consists of the piece of brass from which the bolster was machined (not sure if this applies to ones with a ti bolster). Additionally, a birthday card sits in the lid, which details the model, serial number, date and time of manufacture, steel and HRC, handle texture milling pattern, bolster material, handle finish, clip finish, and the QC person's initials.
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