Mcusta Tsuchi Small (MC-0113D) Quick Review (With Photos)

[evilgreg]

I've had this knife since Christmas and I thought I'd take a few photos and put up a short review here.

First, here are the basics:

[table="width: 500, class: grid, align: left"]
[tr]
[td]Manufacturer:[/td]
[td]Mcusta[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Model:[/td]
[td]MC-0113D[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Overall Length:[/td]
[td]6.50"[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Blade Length:[/td]
[td]2.75"[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Closed Length:[/td]
[td]3.62"[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Blade Material:[/td]
[td]33-layer nickel damascus over VG-10 core[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Handle Material:[/td]
[td]420j2 steel with indentations and mirror finish[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Lock Type:[/td]
[td]Frame Lock[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Weight:[/td]
[td]2.60 oz.[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

It's slim and lightweight, and right off the bat you notice that it's a very pretty little knife:

When I took it out of the box, it suffered from an overly strong frame lock bend that made it impossible to open with one hand. I eased that up a little and after tightening everything back down the knife feels very solid. There is no blade play, even when significant torque is applied. It feels well built, small but solid. The knife was also extremely sharp out of the box.

The lock-up is a bit early, but not so much that it doesn't lock-up well. This picture isn't the best (my apologies, I'm new to taking knife photos), the slight angle makes it look like it's locking up earlier than it really does:

The knife is really, really slender. The handle feels fine for the light duty tasks I've used, but this thing is actually skinnier than a CRKT Ripple. Here is a shot with it next to a Benchmade 707 for comparison:

While I'm at it, here are a couple more side by sides with the 707 to give you an idea of the basic dimensions open and closed:

In handling it, it feels like a nice, solid little knife. The top of the scales by the blade had sharpish inside edges that I smoothed down a hair. With the knife tuned to the point that flicking it open from a close position isn't possible (due to my having seen Wisconsin LEOs flap people's folders around like they're having seizure until they open, at which point they say "ah ha, deadly gravity knife" even if it took them forty tries) thumbing it open with the thumbstuds is a little more work than would be perfect. I think the high, tight positioning of the studs makes for a short radius that causes extra work. Also, there is only the tiniest of cut-outs on the non-lock side of the frame, so I found it a bit fiddly to close one-handed at first.

Those minor niggles aside, once I had it working the way I wanted I found I really like the knife. With its light weight and thin profile, it's very pocket-friendly. It's also a really dressy looking little knife. The shiny damascus nickel over VG-10 looks really nice:

To sum it up in conclusion, based on my experience so far:

Pros

• Very pretty
• Slim, light, generally pocket friendly
• Frame lock
• Did I mention pretty?

Cons

• Tip down carry (boo)
• Out of the box, frame lock needed minor fine tuning
• Edge of scales by the blade end were a bit sharp on the interior edge
• Indent to give thumb access to frame lock is tiny

Finally, this thing was heck to take pictures of. The reflective scales look dark in some photos and light in others, making the knife look different shot to shot. Speaking of which, let me close this out with one final photo of this very attractive little knife:

 

[eschwebach]

Thanks for the review, if I buy this knife it will be solely because of you posting pics of it everywhere!

 

[untamed]

Nice-looking knife! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Professor]

Aluminum lockbar on the frame lock with no steel insert?

 

[Locutus D'Borg]

Beautiful knife. I've actually been considering that very model for my collection of damascus blades. Excellent review.

 

[evilgreg]

Aluminum lockbar on the frame lock with no steel insert?

Yes, the frame lock is integral to the frame in the usual style. Each side is one solid aluminum piece, with the frame lock cut out and milled to bend on the one side.

 

[evilgreg]

Thanks for the review, if I buy this knife it will be solely because of you posting pics of it everywhere!

Nice-looking knife! Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful knife. I've actually been considering that very model for my collection of damascus blades. Excellent review.

Thanks--I thought it was worth doing because I hadn't seen or heard much about it until I stumbled across it myself. Also, I haven't really taken pictures of any of my knives before (surprising, considering I'm a photography buff) and it was an excuse to grab the camera.

 

[arty]

How did you go about "tuning" it to get it to work? I got a small Nami, which has a stainless steel frame. The lock is so stiff that I can't open it with one hand, no matter how hard I try.
This is the only stud bladed knife that I can't use with one-hand opening. What do you recommend?
The only reason I kept the knife is that it is so nice to look at. It is not nice to open if you use one hand, however.

 

[evilgreg]

How did you go about "tuning" it to get it to work? I got a small Nami, which has a stainless steel frame. The lock is so stiff that I can't open it with one hand, no matter how hard I try.
This is the only stud bladed knife that I can't use with one-hand opening. What do you recommend?
The only reason I kept the knife is that it is so nice to look at. It is not nice to open if you use one hand, however.

Out of the box this one had way, way too much push against the blade from the lock bar. Not only was it really tough to open, in combination with a loose pivot it caused the blade to be off center when closed as well.

To fix this I disassembled it and bent the lock bar back just a touch. After reassembling it and tightening everything down, the blade is centered nicely and the level of effort required to open it has been significantly reduced. Of course, the key concern if you reduce how hard the lock bar pushes against the blade is to make sure it still locks up properly, and it does. It snaps in deep enough to be solid, and does it easily when opened, every time.

 

[goldie]

I have the larger version of this knife, as well as the nami,with the wave pattern. the handles on all these knives are Not aluminum, they are 420j2 steel. i just put a magnet to mine & it sticks hard.I have no issues with mine, they have early lockup, centered blade. i was worried too,that there wasnt enough room for the thumb lug area, but on mine, there is no problem either.maybe because there is more purchase on the larger versions.The larger versions have 3 1/4" blades,& handles just under 4 1/2" long.

 

[evilgreg]

I have the larger version of this knife, as well as the nami,with the wave pattern. the handles on all these knives are Not aluminum, they are 420j2 steel. i just put a magnet to mine & it sticks hard.I have no issues with mine, they have early lockup, centered blade. i was worried too,that there wasnt enough room for the thumb lug area, but on mine, there is no problem either.maybe because there is more purchase on the larger versions.The larger versions have 3 1/4" blades,& handles just under 4 1/2" long.

Thanks for the correction. I'll fix the top post. That was what was listed on the site I pulled some of the basic info from, and I was too lazy to check (couldn't find my little scale, so I had to go someplace to get the weight).

 

[goldie]

No big deal,at first i was thinking,maybe i was wrong,but these knives have a little weight to them,didnt think aluminum would be heavy.....