Cleaved!

 

I just got CRKT’s newest Minimalist, the Cleaver.

CTKT's newest Minimalist, the Cleaver

You might think of it as a neck axe, but I think of it as a planing edge.  It weighs only 1.7 ounces.  Too light to actually chop, too small to generate swinging energy, but the 2.3 inch long edge can make clean slices and the cleaver head allows you grasp the handle front end for….

Okay, it’s a bit of a toy.  But it is still a very icey toy.  CRKT makes quality knives.  They are, dollar for dollar the best buy in any price range.  As with the other six Minimalist the finger grooves fit a surprisingly wide range of hands.

The blade is made from 5Cr15MOV and the elemental break down is:

Carbon - 0.45-0.50%

Chromium – 14.75%

Molybdenum – 0.68%

Vanadium – 0.10%

Manganese – 0.45%

This China’s equivalent of the German X50CrMoV15 steel, one of the most popular kitchen knife steels in mainstream German knives.  I’ve got to admit the sprinkle of vanadium, which forms very fine and hard carbides, ups the quality of this steel.

It has a Rockwell ‘C’ hardness of 55 to 57.  This should be relatively easy to resharpen on an ordinary stone and still hold an edge.  I will not be the first to tell you, always resharpen when you think it is getting dull, not when it is dull.

Like All Minimalist it comes with a neck sheath

CRKT calls this Minimalist “…high-carbon stainless steel cleaver (that) … safely rips through food packets or clothing thanks to the false front edge. The hole in the blade pays homage to the hanging hold on the old style kitchen cleavers.”  Well, they have to say something!

It is clear that CRKT and my definition of high carbon steel are different.  440A contains 1.1% carbon.  That’s in the high carbon steel range.

It’s made in China and as I said before it’s almost a toy, unless you need an edge.  When you need an edge, well, you work with what you have.  With the sheath you can drop the Cleaver in a pocket, duct tape inside your first aid kit, wear it under your shirt and it will be available if you need it.

Back Side

It would not be my first choice going off the pavement, but I always remember the end of the Tom Hanks movie “Cast Away” when he holds up a Swiss army key chain knife and mutters that everything would have been so much simpler with that knife.

You can find one for yourself under $40 at:  https://www.crkt.com/minimalist-cleaver.html

 

 

 

 

Figuring The Angles!

If you use a knife there comes a time, regardless of the steel, that the edge needs touching up.  Many of us return our knives the company for resharpening or take them to a professional sharpener.

Even thinking of this brings to mind a childhood memory of an itinerant knife sharpener on the south side of Chicago.

He had a push cart that he walked behind and sang out “knife … scissor sharpening” as he traveled down the street.  It had little bells that tinkled and jingled as the cart rolled.  He would sit at the stone which was powered by a foot treadle and sharpen.  I remember my mother with a pair of scissors that needed sharpening as well as all the women in the neighborhood coming out to see this old man and his grind stone.

Not the same one, but similar

I always wondered where he came from and how he got into the business. 

Companies make all kind of sharpening aids.  I had a guide that clipped on the blade of a Buck knife and held it at constant angle.  I didn’t say correct, just constant.  Both sides are worn down from years of use.  I have a Lansky that also clips on the blade and lets you select one of several predetermined angles.  The Spyderco Sharpmaker currently has two predetermined angles, one for back beveling the blade (30 degrees) as you sharpen into thicker and thicker steel and their standard (40 degrees) for sharpening.  Of course you can use either angle for your sharpening your knife.

Some of us can hold a constant angle on a flat stone and simply select an angle based on their experience.  I’m not one of those, but I can free-hand a dull edge into something significantly less dull.

The Work Sharp sharpener comes with several different grit belts but the really attractive part is the dial-an-angle feature.  Simply turn a knob to a predetermined value and you have your angle.  It’s up to you to hold the knife against the supports to get that angle, but it’s not that hard.

The numbers are the angle and you can swap different grit belts.  The system produces what people call an appleseed or hamaguri grind

Sharpening connoisseurs claim you should find a specific angle for the steel and hardness of your blade and your applications.  I remember a fellow collector, who had the resources of a world class lab at his bidding who addressed this question.  He purchased throwing knives from a single vendor to get the same steel and hardness, and sharpened them with many different angles and types of abrasive grits to determine the “best” angle and method.  Then he had to establish a reproducible cutting test that measured the friction through leather.  Scanning electron photomicrographs were taken of edges before and after testing.

 

I suspect he determined the best way to sharpen that particular knife and not the one in your or my pocket.

Still it’s the angle you need to know.  Audacious Concept, located in Lappeenranta, Finland has the solution for you.  It’s a little dog tag that has precision cut angles from 5 to 45 degrees by fives.  Simply slip your edge into each slit until you find the best fit.  Best fit seems to be when the edge wiggles the least in an angle.

And you get a beer bottle opener!

You can estimate values in between if two adjacent angles both seem to have the same wiggle.

This lets you set your sharpening system to the factory angle or what you have discovered for your knife and use. 

Sure, you could just select any angle, or you could engrave the factory angle somewhere on each blade.  You could keep a notebook with the name and description of each knife with the factory angle and your sharpening angle.  You could do a lot of things.

Or you could just buy one of these little dog tags and keep it with your sharpening supplies.