SRM, Bee, Enlan, Navy and knives Fan post

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New Enlan-family member arrived home end of the last year - the fulltactical-mallninja edition EL-06PF. :D
(It' equal to the EL-02 modell in size, but with liner lock.)

Cons:
-:

-Scott Cook Lochsa (2002-2010) "reimage" :rolleyes:
-rather hard linerlock
-mirror polished clip
-only right hand opening
-painted desert digi camo :D on the black G10 handle :)
-roughly cut brass bearings :eek: (needed some polishing job)
-little hard to open (needed some dremelling in the lock ball's nest)
-little pricy modell

Pro:
-correct, symmetric blade grind
-TiNi coating :thumbup:
-usual bomb proof design :cool:

Don't drop down in the forest! :D

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Enlan family meeting... :)

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The slow boat has finally come in... Here is my haul, and my initial impressions of each knife. I will upload a few pictures when I have time, possibly next week sometime.

SRM B4-710 - Black version of the vaunted model 710. Steel is 8cr13mov. My first impressions are very favorable, blade is centered, lock up is solid, action is tight but smooth. There are a few finish issues on the scales but this is superb value for a small folding knife. Best $10 you can spend.

SRM LB-763 - Aluminum version of the 763. Steel is 8cr13mov. The G10 version was not available when I made my order. Again, SRM does an excellent job with these small folders. Centering is perfect, lockup is solid, it opens smoothly and the axis lock works flawlessly. Another GREAT budget folder.

SRM - 738 - Small folder, liner lock, steel is 8cr13mov, with blue liners and silver aluminum scales with carbon fiber inlays. This is my favorite of the bunch, very nice fit and finish. Again, blade centering is ok, lockup is very solid and it has very smooth action. No issues with the finish on this one. LOVE IT

Enlan M025 - Small folder, G10 scales, liner lock, steel is 8cr13mov. Blade is slightly off centered, action is smooth and lockup is solid. This one has a unique blade shape, almost like a wharncliff with a slight belly. Finish is good on the G10, I can recommend.

Enlan EL-06 - Large folder, liner lock, G10 scales and stonewashed 9cr18mov blade. Blade is slightly off centered, action is tight and a little gritty and there is side-to-side blade play. Finish on the G10 is good.

Enlan EL-04 - Large folder, axis lock, with black G10 scales and 8cr13mov steel. Very handsome looking knife. Blade is slightly off centered and action is tight. The axis lock is very tight but from what I hear this eases a bit. I might have to take this one apart and clean and lube it good.

Enlan EL-01D - Large Folder, liner lock, flipper, with rosewood handle scales and 8cr13mov steel. Beast of a knife, blade is perfectly centered, lockup is solid and the action is tight but I think will smooth out. The knife came with many grease spots and totally smells like gasoline. Needs a good cleaning.

Ganzo 704 - Large folder, axis lock, with black G10 scales and 440C steel. Finish on the G10 is good, the lock up is very solid, action is very gritty and the axis lock is very hard to engage and is gritty. I will have to take apart and clean and lube.

All in all I am VERY pleased. The only ones I don't really care for are the Enlan EL-06 and the EL-01. The only ones with quality issues are Ganzo 704 and Enlan EL-06 although they both might be easily rectified. My favorites are the SRM's they are amazing quality knives for the price.
 
eschwebach said:
The slow boat has finally come in... Here is my haul, and my initial impressions of each knife. I will upload a few pictures when I have time, possibly next week sometime.
Click to expand...

Hey, my slow boat showed up yesterday as well.

I'll post about my set when I get time. I was surprised to find that I really like some of them. I'm carrying a chunky but light little wood-handled Enlan M011 today just to try it out, and I really like it.

The M011 showed up shaving sharp, incidentally. Sharper than any of my beloved Benchmades have ever been out of the box.
 
I took apart the Ganzo, cleaned and lubed it with some Nano-Oil. All of the grittiness in the action is gone, the axis lock is still hard to actuate although better. They must have a higher tensile rating than Benchmades Omega Springs. :D
 
Reprofiled my EL08. The recurve is one problem as I don't have low grit sandpaper nor rods sharpener. The biggest issue is the uneven factory primary bevel and grind.

The area near the tip on right side (Enlan logo) has too deep gouge from factory, and I have not able yet to fully apexed the recurve. Left side is ok, all fully apexed. For now though, it cuts well.

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First post!

Received my package of four knives this past Friday. Here's a micro-review:

SRM 710: Great fit and finish, blade is very sharp and well centered with no play, the action is very smooth and the knife locks very solid, size and shape are nice, the weight is more than other knives of this size, but I like it. Very happy with this knife!

SRM 763: Great fit and finish, blade is very sharp and well centered with no play, the action is very smooth and locks nice and solid, the Axis Lock has a little more tension than a Benchmade and works great, I like how small the knife is, but the handle is to small, imo(was working the knife with one hand and noticed that the blade was cutting my hand when pulling the Axis Lock and letting gravity pull the blade down), the weight is very minimal and the knife disappears in my pocket. Very happy with this knife, but have to be careful how I hold and actuate the lock.

Bee EL02B: Great fit and finish, blade is sharp and centering is a little off with no play, the action was tight and locks very solid, the Axis Lock is very stiff and this makes the knife hard to open with one hand, the size is large and fits my hand(average size) nicely, the weight is average for this size knife, it fits nice in my pocket and I never noticed it(carried for about 10 hours. Happy with this knife. It's already loosening up a little and should be smooth after more use. I haven't figured out a suitable tool for adjusting the blade tension and will buy the proper tool in my next order.

Bee EL04: Great fit and finish, blade has a decent edge and the centering is a little off with no play, the action was very tight as well as the Axis Lock, the knife could not be worked with one hand, the blade locks up very solid, the size is large and fit my average sized hand well, the weight is average for this size knife and I don't notice it in my pocket. Very happy with this knife. I was able to adjust the blade tension with snap ring pliers. This is my favorite of the four. It's buttery smooth and can be flicked open or shut very easily with one hand and there is still no blade play. Very happy with this knife!

I read this entire thread and took a chance knowing of the problems associated with these knives. I'm glad that I pulled the trigger. It feels great knowing that I can actually use these knives with zero guilt because of the minimal investment! I would like to thank everyone that has contributed to this thread!
 
An unusual update from my part. I've received an e-mail from a well known seller 'that was located on a large, virtual bay:)' of which I have bought SRM and Enlan knives in the past. He stated he had to close his shop on the bay because of "problems with axis lock knives", so I assume there was some kind of legal complaint?
They have shut down their account on the bay and opened a new regular webshop.
Seems like benchmade is stepping up their game in a "patent war"?
 
Rare he said that. Probably he open a website to avoid paying the high commission that Ebay takes from every single sell.

I think that the market of these Chinese made knife is not relevant enough to bother Benchmade

But everything is possible. Greetings from Argentina.
 
Getting back to the steel of this wonderful knives i discover that the steel performs better and the edge last longer when you sharp it coarse to medium grits. I use to sharp my blades using the Lansky sharpener and the finer stones leave the edge perfect, then I stropp with green compound. But when I make this procedure my edge don't last, just a few cuts on the meat when eating asado, the Argentine barbecue the edge don't make clean paper cuts anymore. That happens both with the 440C and 8cr13mov steel. The factory edge medium grit as they come last twice as long as my edges.


How you people sharpen your Chinese blades?

Greetings from South America
 
I might give your method a try. My SRM763 though is fully polished at thin angle (25-30 inclusive) and is my shaving knife. The edge holds up ok with my EfC use and still shaves. I guess it takes few sharpening sessions to get past the 'burnt' edge (weakened) by factory sharpening.

The k611, however much care is given, the edge doesn't last shredding one page A4 copier paper. The only knife I have that failed. It'd start fine, until about 3/4 page, where it starts tearing. :(

Another point down for Navy.
 
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A friend recommended to me to try a micro bevel. That way the edge becomes stronger and doesn't loose cutting performance so fast.

Maybe with the 440C of Navy worth trying
 
Just received my first Enlan, M025, from ebay. For $8.79 + $1.50 shipping I'm very impressed. Perfect blade centering, zero play in any direction, liner locks up fairly early and cannot be forced any farther over, opening and closing are smooth, and overall F&F are excellent. I'm going to try out a tan EL01 next. :thumbup:

edit: Tan EL01 ordered! $16 and change shipped. My knife spending so far for the new year is outta control...:D
 
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I ordered an enlan,or bee? El-02b and a navy k-507,thanks to this thread...I feel bad about it though,the whole Chinese axis lock doesn't sit we'll with me,but the stonewashing looks too good to pass up for 10 bucks.
 
I got a EL 02, and a ganzo 710 and 704 on the way. Been eager to try out the axis lock and these knives forever. All the srms are too small for my liking.
 
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