WARNING: Pekko Nilakka Folder!!!!

H

hollowdweller

Joined
Sep 22, 2003
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I mentioned this in the other thread but I wanted this to be where it would be noticed before anybody else screwed up the edge.

I got mine today and went out and whittled a dried sycamore branch in half and it chipped and bent the edge all to hell.

I'm guessing here, but I'm going to have to take back about. 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch to get past the bends and chips.

Don't use this knife to carve any dry wood! Especially don't exert any sideways pressure carving, which is hard not to do.

I don't know anything about the steel this knife is made of but I don't believe it's improper tempering or anything. Just the blade geometry is way too thin. I mean razor blade knife thin.

I'd highly reccomend breaking out your sandpaper and strop and taking some steel off the edge and putting a convex on it before you cut anything at all with it.


Also because the blade has a distal taper I'd avoid using the tip for drilling or carving. It's just too thin.

Convex this one back a ways folks.

This is an outstanding design I love the knife. But I honestly think Spyderco should make non tapered "scandi grind" replacement blades for these, because I can't see they can be used for anything but very light duty and I know a lot of Bushcraft people have been waiting for them.
 
You didn't read the little warning card about the edge in the box did you.

Dsc00776.jpg
 
Whittling sycamore is certainly not a hard use cutting chore.
 
Any necessary warning like that should effectively preclude the production of the knife. I think it's the most lovely looking Spyderco I've seen yet, but I can't imagine relegating something this cool to letter opener duty.

Especially since all I get is email.

I imagine Sal and company will get it sorted out sooner or later.
 
Maybe if they lower the height of the scandi grind. They will probably need to do something. Although it's surprising that they wouldn't be aware of this before production.
 
I bet Spyderco does a blade/edge change on this one.
I'd like to see if basic cutting damages the edge too.
 
I saw a little bit of this kind of edge ripple on my Spyderco Puukko after using it on my knot infested local ash tree branch, but that is hard wood with crazy grain changes from all the knots. The Puukko measures about 20° included, twice what the Nilakka measures.
 
Guys, you can't expect every single Spyderco knife to be able to handle every single cutting chore equally. Knives are like any other tool. You pick a tool to do a job based on its capabilities and your requirements for that job.

In this case, Spyderco has been extremely forthcoming in the product literature that this knife was DESIGNED for a specific type of task. If you aren't going to be using the Nilakka for those types of tasks - there are plenty of other models to choose from.

Nobody goes around busting Striders' chops because their blades suck at carving detailed ivory figurines. Geeesh.

TedP
 
phillipsted said:
Guys, you can't expect every single Spyderco knife to be able to handle every single cutting chore equally. Knives are like any other tool. You pick a tool to do a job based on its capabilities and your requirements for that job.

In this case, Spyderco has been extremely forthcoming in the product literature that this knife was DESIGNED for a specific type of task. If you aren't going to be using the Nilakka for those types of tasks - there are plenty of other models to choose from.

Nobody goes around busting Striders' chops because their blades suck at carving detailed ivory figurines. Geeesh.

TedP
Click to expand...

Maybe I missed it, but did Spyderco say anything like is on the warning card (a card which no one could see until the knife was purchased)? Their blurb (http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=780) says nothing like that. I'd say that actually implies the opposite, since "Spyderco asked him to express the critical qualities of the classic puukko in a folder", that its 'a true “pocket puukko”'. What does that mean? According to Spyderco (http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=726), a puukko is "A do-everything tool for the hunter and outdoorsman". Surely "do-everything" does not mean does not do most things. Also, you say it shouldn't handle every chore equally, but that quote says that is the puukko's goal, yet this knife is further from that goal than your standard modern folder.


...not that it bothers me. I like better that it's such a nice cutter. If it was more like every other knife, I'd probably not buy it.
 
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