Bear & Son’s Mini Rancor IX and 778SR Sideliner come in at the right price for EDC performance.
Look at the calendar and it’s apparent the year is dwindling down to its final days. Yet, there are some knifemakers still as busy as ever, squeezing new models into the final days of 2023. Among these is Bear & Son Cutlery.
Earlier this month, the Jacksonville, Ala., manufacturer unveiled two new folders, each with the trappings of solid EDC options. The OPS Mini Rancor IX and 778SR Sideliner are both designed to provide everyday, at-hand performance. However, the knives go about offering this up in slightly different ways.
OPS Mini Rancor IX
Mini Rancor IX
No bigger than a minute, the drop point flipper is the smallest option in Bear & Son’s growing Rancor line. While its predecessors weren’t gargantuan by any stretch of the imagination, the Mini Rancor IX is sized much more practically for a day-to-day option and for lighter duty.
Bear outfits the knife with a 2.5-inch blade, for a package that measures in at a very nimble and usable 6 inches in overall length when deployed. The manufacturer opted for D2 stainless steel—a high carbon, high chromium alloy—a common option for higher-end production knives. The steel gives the blade excellent edge retention and wear resistance, plus the ability to easily get touched up when resharpening is required. Giving the stainless steel an extra layer of corrosion and stain resistance, Bear & Son applies a black finish.
The handle of the knife is Zytel—a thermoplastic from the nylon family—with jimping along the spine and along the lower front. Further enhancing the hold of the knife, Bear textures the grip with significant milling, which in the sand-colored handle gives it a dynamic look. The ergonomics appear comfortable and the tapered profile of the handle should give the user a supreme purchase on the knife.
Rounding the knife off is a slide lock—similar to an axis—with offers strong lockup, as well as a fast and safe ability to put the blade away. Also, with familiarity, the lock can also make deployment lightning fast. Adding to getting the blade into action are ambidextrous thumb studs and a kicker. The knife boasts a stainless steel insert to provide backbone and it comes outfitted with a deep carry, tip-up pocket clip.
Bear OPS Mini Rancor IX Specs: Model Number: MC-900-DS7-B Blade Material: D2 Tool Steel Handle Material: Tan Zytel Rockwell: 58-60 Closed Length: 3.62 inches Locking Type: Slide Lock Open Length: 6 inches Edge Length: 2.30 inches Weight: 1.60 ounces Extras: Thumb Studs, pocket clip, stainless steel inserts, Lifetime Warranty Origin: Jacksonville, Alabama MSRP: $91
778SR Sideliner
A slightly larger option, the 778SR Sideliner nevertheless offers up a fairly tidy package for those looking for a budget knife. Catching the eye right off is the high-polished 3.25-inch, 440 stainless steel blade with a drop point profile. A quick note on the steel choice, it is softer than many other alloys but does—in general—provide a balanced package of edge retention and corrosion resistance. The tip comes to a very fine point, not only making it dexterous on fine-cutting jobs but also making it great at puncturing. Adding to its cutting prowess are aggressive serrations at the hind of the edge and terminating before the belly.
Again, Bear & Son opts for Zytel for the handle and gives it a pebble finish with some milling down the midline. Given its long and tapered shape, the thermoplastic should provide a comfortable grip and fit most hands fairly well. In its core, the liner lock has a stainless-steel liner, giving the knife a measure of overall ruggedness. Rounding out the package are both thumb studs and a kicker for deployment.
778SR Specs: Model Number: 778SR Blade Material: 440 Stainless Steel Blade Shape: Drop Point Handle Material: Black Zytel Lock Type: Linerlock Overall Length: 7-1/4 in. Edge Length: 3-1/4 in. Weight: 2.9 ounces Extras: Stainless Steel Pocketknife, Thumb Studs, Torx Screws, Lifetime Warranty Origin: Jacksonville, Alabama MSRP: $45
More than mere knife sharpeners, these options are complete honing systems that keep your blades razor-sharp.
Many of you probably learned to sharpen knives freestyle on a carbide, ceramic or diamond stone that required setting the proper angle by guesswork. The problem with sharpening a knife freehand is that no matter how good you are, the angle can vary with each stroke.
Fortunately, knife sharpening systems these days are so advanced they can virtually eliminate human error. Among other features, the systems allow the user to preset the blade angle and lock it in so it never varies throughout the sharpening process. Of course, systems that “lock in” sharpening angles are nothing new. However, the ways today’s angle-guide models do it not only are especially creative and user friendly, the best of them offer many other highly useful functions as well.
Before reviewing four of the latest examples, a word of advice when sharpening a knife: stop and gauge your progress as you go. It will help ensure you don’t miss a dull spot and also keep you from over sharpening/abrading, thus preserving the life of your blade.
Smith’s Edge Pro Electric Sharpener
The Smith’s Edge Pro Electric Sharpener provides a competent edge in a minimum amount of time. It has angled, electric-powered left- and right-side coarse grinding slots (right), and a vertical manual ceramic rod slot (left) for fine honing. The knife is a Boker paring model.
Smith’s has gotten more into electric sharpeners lately and the Edge Pro Electric Sharpener is one of the company’s latest. It is a countertop unit with a 3-foot-tall main housing rounded at the top for gripping. It is a three-stage pull-through sharpener—right side blade, left side blade and vertical hone. The right and left side pull-through slots access coarse diamond wheels that sharpen each side of the blade via a motor turning the wheels, the end result being an angle of approximately 22 degrees. The non-electric third slot houses two crossed ceramic rods to hone and de-burr the edge. A detachable electrical cord with adapter plug is included and a rocker switch on the base cuts the unit on and off.
Sharpening with the Edge Pro is simple but some tips will make its use more efficient and hazard free. First, this is a pull-through sharpener, so do not try to push the blade through. Second, for the best edge keep the blade as close to level as possible. Last, don’t apply too much downward force—you can bog down the motor. Steady, moderate pressure works best. The hone slot removes any rough burrs and sharpens the edge. I finished the blade with a leather strop and the edge was shaving sharp.
Smith’s Edge Pro Electric Sharpener Specs Type: Benchtop electric, slotted Dimensions: 8.5” long, 3” wide, 3.5” tall Main body material: Plastic Sharpening slots: Two coarse, one fine Grit types: Diamond coarse and ceramic fine Carry: None; tabletop design Weight: 1 lb., 4 ozs. Country of origin: U.S.A. MSRP: $32.99
Cold Steel Benchtop Knife Sharpener
The rod angle of the Cold Steel Benchtop Knife Sharpener is adjustable from 15 to 30 degrees and is locked in by a thumbscrew on a sliding mount. To reverse the blade for sharpening the opposite edge, remove a thumbscrew from the base and rotate the tower 180 degrees.
The Cold Steel Benchtop Knife Sharpener is an affordable version of the variable fixed-angle sharpeners folks like to demonstrate on Instagram and Facebook. The knife is mounted blade-up* in the jaws of a clamp and the grit block sweeps across the edge horizontally. The blade is mounted at the top of the unit upside down, and the rod that holds the grit block is mounted on one long end of the base. The rod angle is adjustable from 15 to 30 degrees and is locked in by a thumbscrew on a sliding mount. To reverse the blade for sharpening the opposite edge you must remove a thumbscrew from the base and rotate the “tower” 180 degrees. There are two grit blocks, each with different diamond-coated surfaces: 300 and 600 on the coarse block, 800 and 1,000 on the fine one.
There’s a good reason for watching videos on complicated sharpeners such as these. I noticed the tower (my jargon for the sharpener’s tall main component) where it mates to the base had slack in it, allowing it to rock when sharpening. I watched two videos and saw why. When sharpening the edge with a grit block, the loose base allows you to follow the edge of the blade as the block traverses from base to tip. To hold the tower stable, use your free hand to keep the tower from tipping backward while your other hand sweeps the blade edge with the grit block. This is a bit awkward until you get the hang of it. When you finish one side of the blade, undo a thumb screw and rotate the knife 180 degrees to do the other side. Then start over again with the next finest grit until you finish with the 1,000 grit.
It seems time consuming but remember, this is a budget fixed-angle sharpener that costs less than many diamond bench stones. If you want to learn the basics, this compact sharpener is a good one. (Author’s note: The clamp jaws are wider than on the other fixed-angle sharpeners, which means it will not work with as narrow of a blade width as the others reviewed.)
Cold Steel Benchtop Knife Sharpener Specs Type: Fixed angle, horizontal swing Dimensions: 8” long, 5” wide, 9.75” tall Main body material: Steel Grit types: 300, 600, 800 and 1,000, diamond coated Carry: Hard-shell thermoplastic case Weight: 2 lbs. Country of origin: China MSRP: $129.99
Work Sharp Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener Elite
The Work Sharp Elite with the guide rod and a Tri-Brasive block is ready for action. According to the author, he snuck the Elite’s instruction pamphlet into the photo because Work Sharp does an outstanding job of providing set-up and use instructions, which is not always the case with some sharpeners.
The Work Sharp Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener Elite is an affordable, sophisticated sharpening system. It is a fixed-angle unit that operates using rods with an array of grit blocks that would make the pickiest sharpening aficionado drool: 220, 320, 400, 600 and 800, a ceramic rod for serrations, and a leather strop. That’s right, you can even strop with it. The tower clamps the blade, sets the angle of the edge you prefer, and holds the rod and grit block. It is the only sideways/horizontal blade mount of the test bunch. The Tri-Brasive grits are held in a special housing with a finger grip, three to a block—two total except for the ceramic rod and strop, which have their own smaller housings. Each housing has its own rod, making it easy to install and use. The clamp holds the knife with the blade edge facing the user. (Author’s note: This is the budget version of the Work Sharp Professional Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener, the BLADE Magazine 2023 Accessory Of The Year [page 16, September BLADE®], which has grit widths of approximately 3/4 inch like the other fixed-angle sharpeners reviewed. The Elite model has 3/8-inch-wide grit slabs that may wear out faster.)
Assembly is shockingly easy—no tools required. Once the blade is mounted in the clamp, the grit housing/rod locks into place with a magnet located under the degree-setting brace on the tower, and that sets your blade angle. The edge faces you horizontally, making it easy to gauge your progress. Simply work your way up the consecutively finer diamond grits until it’s fine ceramic and strop time, which gives the razor-sharp edge a blazing shine. The ceramic rod for serrations is a nice addition. The only thing that might give you trouble is the base can tip forward if you put too much pressure on the blade. Easy does it is the byword here. All in all, the Work Sharp Precision Knife Sharpener Elite is a breeze to set up, easy to use for blisteringly sharp results, and packs up nicely when it comes time to stow. It is a tremendous value.
Work Sharp Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener Elite Specs Type: Fixed angle, horizontal swing Dimensions: 5” long, 4.5” wide, 7.25” tall Main body material: Steel Grit types: 220, 320, 400, 600, 800 diamond coated, ceramic and leather Carry: Soft case Weight: 1 lb., 8 ozs. Country of origin: Assembled in the U.S.A. using foreign-made parts MSRP: $139.93
Wicked Edge WE66 Obsidian
The Wicked Edge WE66 Obsidian is the only test model that sharpened both sides of the blade in one session without flipping the knife. The blade mounts atop the tower and the swing rods and grit blocks are used in alternating right- and left-hand sweeps. Note how the guide rods are held in mounts that also set the angle.
The Wicked Edge WE66 Obsidian is another upscale, state-of-the-art fixed-angle sharpener capable of delivering mind-blowing results. What sets it apart from the others is that you sharpen both blade sides in the same session—no flipping of the knife is required. The Obsidian is the largest of the sharpening systems reviewed and has an 8×11-inch base that weighs more than the system itself.
The Obsidian uses diamond blocks with two different consecutive grits on opposing sides. There are four blocks total, two each identical because you sharpen both sides of the blade at the same time. There are two sanding-block rods with orb-shaped bases that act like ball bearings in the mounts. The bases slide on a rail to set the sharpening angle. Despite sounding complicated, it’s actually quite simple. The angle settings are very easy to read on the side of the base. The blade mounts upside down in the jaws atop the center tower and locks in place via a lever.
To use the Obsidian, mount the knife so the edge points straight up, and operate the rods and blocks with opposing hands. Once you sweep the blade with one hand you switch to the other and repeat until that grit has done its business. Sharpen with the low grit and when done rotate to the higher grit on the other side. When you’re finished with that block, replace it with the other block of a higher grit. You’ll have to provide your own strop.
Wicked Edge WE66 Obsidian Specs Type: Fixed angle, horizontal swing Dimensions: 11” long, 3” wide, 4” tall Main body material: Steel Grit types: 200, 600, 800 and 1,000, diamond coated Weight: 2 lbs. 13 ozs. Country of origin: U.S.A. MSRP: $799
Due Diligence
Much of what is written here will make a lot more sense when you watch a video of the sharpener that strikes your fancy. It will make assembly easier as well.
There’s something for everyone here. If you don’t care to labor over sharpening but still want a very competent cutter, the Smith’s Edge Pro should suit you just fine. The Cold Steel Benchtop Sharpener offers fixed-angle sharpening at a budget price and is a perfect steppingstone for getting your feet wet in hi-tech sharpening. Finally, the Work Sharp Elite and Wicked Edge Obsidian are both lights-out sharpeners if you want outstanding performance. Both are truly state-of-the-art.
Editor’s note: Always practice extreme caution when working on a knife held in a clamp, vise, jig, etc., with the edge pointing up and/or toward you. When finished sharpening, remove the knife from the fixture immediately so the danger of accidental cutting is eliminated.
In the field, these knives always help you keep your edge.
And now for a style of edged tool that brings its own brand of controversy most wherever it goes—the replaceable-blade knife. No, not the utility knives you see in a ton of kitchen junk drawers, tradesman’s tool bags and on garage workbenches, but the models made for hunting and possible EDC use.
The controversy tends to surface between the traditional knife-carrying crowd and those who appreciate convenience. As one who loves and teaches sharpening, I tend to leave the replacement blades for my utility knives. These days, however, they have made their way into many different knife styles.
I’m going to gauge how four of the latest replacement models cut and handle, and, most importantly in my mind, how easy it is to change a blade on each one.
Hogue Expel Scalpel 2.5
You get a sturdy full-tang design with Hogue’s Expel Scalpel. A tight-fitting cover with a split ring carries the blade. Country of origin: USA.
Right off the bat, you will notice the Hogue Expel Scalpel 2.5 is some serious gear. The handle is a steel tang construction with textured G-10 scales in a blaze orange. The front bolster area is gimped, complete with a thumb ramp. Though the bolsters are screwed on the thumb ramp is not reversible, so sorry to all you southpaws out there. The handle is American made but the blade is marked England and #60. A #60 scalpel is used in dental surgery and postmortem work (it’s nice to know medical examiners wait for the person to expire before they start hacking into them with such a scalpel). Instead of stainless the blade is a high carbon steel. If you want to prolong the life of the Expel’s replacement blade, you can easily strop it.
Since it is an actual scalpel blade, that means you should be able to source multiples of them easy enough. I would go online and order. Since the pattern is used for postmortem work, that would raise fewer eyebrows. I did a quick check and was able to find a pack of 20 of the blades for around $10.
Hogue’s design for its replaceable blade knife uses the traditional blade mounting system. The best way to change the blade is with a pair of pliers. Doctors usually use a set of forceps. Handling wise the knife is quick and nimble. You hold it like a regular scalpel, with your index finger along the blade spine, and guide the edge. It comes with a zipped pouch and a plastic sleeve that fits over the blade. Having the textured G-10 scales and beefier handle contour enhances purchase. I like the design. It fits my hand well. I had perfect control over the edge. I wouldn’t hesitate to take this with me hunting and use it as a caping knife. I certainly will be packing it for pheasant hunting this fall to process the birds and clean up the gizzards.
The selection of blades Coast supplies with the 1919 is compatible with regular utility blades. From top: an attached regular utility blade, drop point and gut hook. Country of origin: China.
With the 1919 Reserve Shift, Coast has gone with more of a traditional utility folder design. Don’t let that fool you, though, because the knife does offer some innovations. Coast has patented both the blade changing arrangement—called the swap out system—as well as the blade storage system. Two of the three blade styles that come with the knife are customized: the spear tip and gut hook. The third is a regular utility pattern. The system is compatible with standard utility blades, which means you can buy other patterns such as serrated and a roofer’s hooked blades. I don’t know why the company bothered designing a gut hook, as a hooked utility blade would work just as well. The handle is a glass reinforced nylon with a textured rubber insert. The 1919 carries in a pouch sheath.
There are two locking systems. The primary is a linerlock and a double lock prevents the liner from moving to the side. A thumb stud provides ambidextrous one-hand opening. The stud is also part of the opening system. Depress the button on the stud, slide the stud down and the blade comes out.
The blade release system works well but, as far as innovation goes, it doesn’t draw a “wow” from me. Conversely, that Coast bothered to care about how easy it is for you to access the extra blade storage is impressive. It is a straightforward arrangement but, after all, what good is a replaceable-blade system if you can’t get at the extra blades?
Overall, the knife handles like any other utility folder, but the devil is in the details. All the little extras help it edge out the other similar designs. Best of all, except for the proprietary blades, you can pretty much walk into a Walmart and get a blade for the 1919.
Note the thumb disc on the Havalon Bolt’s blade holder, which makes ambidextrous opening possible. Also, the bright orange ABS handle on this replaceable blade knife makes it more likely you will find the knife if you ever set it down. Country of origin: handle made in Taiwan and the blades are made in India.
The Havalon Piranta Bolt is a blend between the Coast 1919 and the Hogue Expel Scalpel. The Bolt uses a #60 surgical blade like the Expel Scalpel, though Havalon’s is marked 60A and listed as stainless steel. The blade opens via an ambidextrous thumb disc and locks via a linerlock like the 1919.
A belt carry case houses 12 extra blades. If you only occasionally stropped your blades instead of changing them out, you would have a ton of cutting time. The handle is a bright orange ABS plastic with a textured rubber insert. It feels blocky in the hand. Using ABS plastic keeps the knife lightweight. Between the lightweight feel of the plastic and the lack of contouring, it is not a comfortable grip. The small, trim-profile pocket clip is stronger than it looks.
Havalon gets innovative as far as providing a blade-replacing tool. When changing a scalpel blade, normally you take a set of forceps or a pliers and lift up the back end and push the blade forward. Havalon’s little clamshell-style tool closes around the blade so the edge is not exposed. Snap the tool closed and the rear of the blade bends upward, enabling you to pull the blade off the holder. It worked every time I tried it and it didn’t damage the blade. I was even able to reinstall the same blade. An issue is that there is no place to store the tool in the pouch and, due to its size, would be easy to misplace/lose.
Kershaw also includes a fixed-blade handle with its replaceable blade knife’s kit. It’s lightweight and the texture and profile offer plenty of purchase power.
The Kershaw LoneRock RBK 2 is another replaceable model that uses a #60 scalpel blade. (I’m starting to feel like a few of these companies had a meeting and I wasn’t invited.) The RBK 2 comes with 14 extra blades in a carry case and one on the knife. A pocket in the belt pouch holds the carry case. A cool feature of the case is a slash pocket for the knife, making it easier to get a purchase on the handle for deployment.
Speaking of the handle, it’s glass filled nylon with rubber overlay. It’s listed as black and tan but looks more like black and green. If I had to pick something Kershaw should have had more foresight about, it’s the color. Green and black pretty much screams “lose me” for a hunting knife. On the other hand, for caping the #60 scalpel blades should do the trick. Also, Kershaw did a great job contouring the handle so it’s easy and comfortable to hold. The blade opens ambidextrously via the double thumb stud and secures via a linerlock. There is no pocket clip, though there is a hole for a lanyard.
Kershaw really put its thinking cap on when it comes to tool-less blade removal. A liner lifts the rear of the scalpel blade, enabling you to slide the blade off. However, I would still play it safe and grab the blade with, say, a pair of pliers. During use I never had an issue with the removal liner being bumped, but I will wait and see. I must say, Kershaw impressed me with this one.
Replaceable-blade knives add to the depth of edged tools available in the cutlery world. As with all knives, they have their place. They have already experienced some popularity among certain trades and professions. If you like to sharpen, remember that even a replaceable blade can be touched up at times.
Breaking from the boxy OTF autos, the Benchmade Infidel cuts a unique profile that’s made it a hit among high-end knife lovers.
Out-the-front (OTF) automatic knives have long been popular with knife enthusiasts because they are different enough to be unique but not so odd as to be useable. OTF’s main mechanism of action is propelling the blade fore and aft in relation to the handle, as opposed to out the side in a radial fashion as most known automatic folding knives operate. Presently a few knife companies offer OTF automatics but there is one drawback to most designs (if you see it as such)—most have boxy handles.
This is primarily out of necessity. The handle shape in generally needs parallel sides to facilitate the fore and aft motion of the blade as it extends and retracts into the handle. And with the sliding switch actuation located on the spine, there isn’t much that companies can do with handle shape changes.
Enter the Benchmade Infidel, a high-end USA-made OTF with a curvy handle.
How did the company accomplish this? By relocating the actuation slide switch from the handle spine to the handle scale. Moving the switch opened up possibilities of experimenting with different handle shapes, even ones that enhance user grip and safety as well. The Infidel’s handle is curvy, yet symmetrical and sports a three-dimensional texturing pattern to boost hand traction.
Infidel Blade
The Infidel’s dagger-shaped blade measures 3.9 inches in length and sports a traditional grind for this style of knife and a symmetrical appearance. This truly is a dagger blade with edges sharpened fully on both sides. Benchmade opted for D2 steel for the blade, selected for its known edge retention and toughness.
A fuller is machined down the centerline of the blade, enhancing the appearance and giving it a bit of an edgy attitude. The blade is finished with a black coating, serving as an additional layer of corrosion resistance, as well as a low profile, non-glare finish. For those who might not be aware, D2 is not stainless steel and requires a little extra care. This coating accomplishes this job.
Infidel Handle
The handle measures 4.8-inches long and it is machined from aircraft-grade aluminum for both strength and weight reduction. The overall handle shape is inviting with its multiple curves that define a forward guard of sorts to park your hand in place. Moving towards the middle, there is a slight contour that helps to fill your grip more, and the expanded section at the rear of the handle aids in preventing rearward sliding.
Like the blade, the handle shape is symmetrical and very pleasing in appearance when you factor the blade’s uniformity. The handle sports bi-directional machining patterns helping to hold your hand in place. If the machining pattern look familiar, it should. It is the same style used on Benchmade’s Presidio automatic folder.
To fire the blade, there is a stepped slide switch on the presentation side of the handle. The machining pattern on the switch allows for positive thumb engagement to deploy and retract the blade. The reverse side of the handle is smooth and you find a deep carry, fold-over style pocket clip affixed to the handle to carry the Infidel tip down in the pocket. The clip easily attaches to your pants pocket and holds the knife securely.
Using The Infidel
While it is possible to EDC a dagger blade OTF (though, be sure to check your local laws first on knife carry), I will have to caution against the fact that its use as a working knife is rather limited given the blade design. The dagger grind makes the tip devastatingly sharp and pointy (a good thing), it also leaves the tip more susceptible to damage or even breakage if the knife is used heavily. This is especially true when prying or twisting while cutting actions may be involved.
With certain tasks where puncturing and cutting—such as opening bags of mulch or topsoil—the Infidel definitely excels. Push the blade through the bag and pull it to the side to slice the top open. It all happens effortlessly. Opening mail, opening packages, cutting cardboard, breaking down cardboard boxes, and cutting shrink wrap are some tasks that the Infidel can also handle with aplomb.
The ease of extending and retracting the blade simply by moving the slide switch forward or backward makes using the knife easy. One thing to note regarding the handle ergonomics in general, the Infidel is glove-friendly. With some knife handles, the handle feels lost in your gloved hand. You cannot manipulate it easily, it feels too thin. With the Infidel, the handle design translates well to gloves.
The D2 steel is respectable in performance, offering enhanced edge retention and toughness against wear and impact. It’s a well-known steel, especially in the outdoor knife market, where large camp knives and choppers may be made from D2 for these very reasons. While you are certainly not going to do any chopping or batoning with an OTF, it’s nice to know the blade is that tough and can take a fair amount of abuse before it needs to be sharpened.
I have always had good luck with D2 and found it to be a very good-performing steel for its price. Since you’re not going to be engaged in heavy work with the Infidel, D2 is perfect and when it does come time for a resharpening, D2 sharpens up quicker than all your high-performance steels. Another plus!
Infidel Variations
For those of you who wish for a smaller Infidel, there is the Mini Infidel which has a 3.1-inch long dagger blade. All the material specs are the same as the full-size Infidel. The overall length is 7.1 inches, and the Mini Infidel is a very pocket-friendly design. It’s sized right for daily carry and for those with smaller hands. Size wise it’s not as imposing as the full-size Infidel but its smaller size allows it to get in and out of more daily carry tasks like opening packages, mail, and some general cutting tasks as you work around the home, yard, and garage.
Additionally, there is an upgraded model with a few bells and whistles. Benchmade dressed up the Infidel by offering three shades of nature-inspired colors: Crater Blue, Woodland Green, and Flat Dark Earth. These limited edition knives come out in 1,000 batches, and are also equipped with upgraded blade steel to satin-finished, premium CPM S30V. This is a long-time standard steel in the knife industry, known for its toughness and extreme wear resistance.
Final Cut
The Infidel is one of the more interesting OTF automatic knives on the market. It combines style, function and quality materials to equate to a long-lasting tool that will stand the test of time.
The Benchmade 3300BK Infidel has an MSRP of $550.00. The 3350BK Mini Infidel has an MSRP of $500. The Flat Dark Earth, Woodland Green, and Crater Blue full-size Infidel have an MSRP of $650.00 each. The same colors for the Mini Infidel are $600.00 each.
The Appalachian spring helve hammer, including springs, hammer head/tup and more.
Some people find great joy in precision and following rules and plans. For those of you who do, this is probably not your power hammer series. I enjoy the creativity of making a thing from scratch. It’s not the precision that turns my crank, it’s that eureka moment of, “It works!”
In this installment I’ll talk through the process of building a junkyard hammer in the Appalachian style. Junkyard refers to the DIY-type build made with what you can find. Appalachian refers to a common design that uses a spring helve. The most popular earlier Appalachian hammer designs were called the “Rusty” and the “Dusty.”
Rocker-Arm Springs
I used a set of leaf springs for my rocker arm. The arm is also called a helve. When it comes to selecting your springs, if you have several to choose from, choose a sufficiently stiff set. If you have the choice between sets that are more curved vs. those that are straighter, choose the straighter ones. If you have the choice between sets that are longer or shorter in overall length, either one will work, but you’ll have to consider whichever length you choose as you lay out the distance between the center post, the anvil and the drive wheel. The length of your spring pack coupled with your stroke length will impact the speed at which your hammer will safely run. The spring action and whip action of the spring set during cycling increase head speed at contact, which improves performance.
The author used a set of leaf springs for the rocker arm of his power hammer. The arm is also called a helve.
Your spring set needs to swivel or rock on top of your center post. I built my hammer with the springs riding on top of the shaft, and the shaft riding in pillow block bearings. Others are built with flange bearings, and others with the shaft above the springs. Any configuration is fine provided you have the clearance you need for the springs to rock back and forth as the hammer operates.
Your spring set will need a swivel on the end where it connects to the pitman arm (the rod that connects the spring arm to the drive wheel). Like the top pivot, there are as many different designs as there are guys building hammers.
The end of the spring set near the hammer head needs to be connected in a way where the arc of the spring travel is converted into direct linear up and down energy. Again, there are multiple ways to accomplish this. I went with a set of rollers on the hammer head, and the spring rides in and out on the rollers as it arcs up and down. I have seen designs with toggle linkage as well.
Hammer Head And Tup
The entire assembly that makes up the hammer head is called the tup. When a smith says he has a 25-pound power hammer, he’s referring to the tup weight. You are looking for a tup weight that is roughly 1/10 of your anvil weight. I built my hammer with a piece of 2-inch-solid-square stock long enough to make a 40-pound tup. For heads that weigh less, you can use a piece of solid stock for the contact area, and tubing or pipe to make up the extra length you need. While a solid anvil is critical to the function of the hammer, the hammer head itself only needs to be solid on the striking end to properly transfer the force.
The DIY spring helve hammer built freestyle by Doug Davis of Lubbock, Texas, is shown in both instances here from the pulley side.
The tup rides up and down in a set of guides. You’re converting an arcing spring movement into a linear up-and-down hammer movement. One consideration is that your guides need to account for lateral movement in all four directions. The simplest way is for the guide to completely enclose the hammer shaft. Contact surfaces between the hammer head and guide should be lubricated, and steel on steel is not advised. Bearing surfaces should be made of UMHW (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene) plastic or of bronze. These surfaces benefit from a degree of adjustability to make sure that the hammer head is aligned properly with the anvil.
I used set screws and a UMHW plastic cutting board on my hammer, with lithium grease as well. My hammer runs well with fresh grease and less well without. I grease the hammer shaft at the beginning of every forging session. The vertical position and length of your guides should accommodate the various stroke lengths of your hammer. You don’t want the hammer head hitting the bottom of the guide on the upstroke, nor the spring connector hitting the top of the guide on the downstroke.
Pitman Arm
A stiff arm connects the spring pack to the rotating wheel, converting the rotary action of the flywheel to a straight up-and-down rocking motion. This arm is called a pitman arm. It is adjustable for length, as the dimension will ultimately be changed as you tune your hammer by trial and error, or as you adjust your hammer to accommodate varying thicknesses of stock, or the use of swages, or top and bottom tools. I used a toggle linkage on the top and for the bottom of the arm I used large bolts welded to a piece of plate, which I then bolted to the hub of the tire used for a clutch. This is another area where your available parts and mechanical experience will dictate your design.
After smashing years in the post-pandemic, knife buying has somewhat cooled for the time being.
While the outward signs of the pandemic—masks, shutdowns, etc.—that ravaged the world in the earlier part of the decade are largely gone now, the economic impacts remain. That includes in the world of knives.
Factory knife sales rolled right along in the first couple of years or so of the pandemic, due partly to the federal government stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits offered to many Americans. The checks and benefits eventually stopped but healthy knife sales continued unabated throughout much of the factory knife industry into mid-2022. That’s when one company experiencing record sales the first six months saw consumer spending “suddenly jerk to a halt in the second half” of the year.
“Dealers had loaded up with knives going into the summer because they expected the Covid spending wave to continue and were left holding a ton of inventory that’s been moving very slow ever since,” wrote the company’s spokesperson. Consequently, he noted, his company’s sales were down about 30 percent in 2023.
However, again according to the company spokesperson, as important a role as the end of the flow of the “free” government money to Americans would seem to have played in the knife sales downturn, it “was small potatoes” in comparison to two larger factors—a poor economy and a lack of consumer discretionary funds in general.
“Confidence is down, so people are being conservative with their discretionary spending,” he noted. “Second, not everyone has discretionary funds, so while the cost of pretty much everything continues to rise, income growth is stagnant for people who were already underpaid.”
Another company spokesperson who stated his company’s sales were down about 8 percent in 2023 cited another cause.
“There is also pent-up demand to go out to restaurants and clubs since the pandemic. People are spending money on experiences [instead of on knives],” he opined. “I see this as temporary and will subside as they realize hamburgers cost $18 and service stinks.”
Even though TOPS Knives’ sales were up 15 percent at BLADE Show West ’23 over the previous year’s show, company general manager Craig Powell indicated he still noticed a sign of conservative knife buying at this year’s show in Salt Lake City.
“We are seeing people tighten their belts and being a little more frugal than in years past,” he observed after the show. Rather than the belt-tightening being reflected in the prices paid for individual knives, Craig wrote, “We saw people that otherwise would have purchased two or three knives buy just the one.”
It should be noted that not every company BLADE® contacted experienced sales drops in ’23. For instance, Condor Tool & Knife reported sales were even compared to ’22, while Coast reported a solid increase of 12 percent in ’23. Officials of both companies indicated they would not be raising prices in ’24, though the aforementioned companies that suffered sales drops in ’23 will be.
“We have a few products going up in price in 2024,” one company spokesperson wrote, “somewhere between 3 and 5 percent, mostly to cover our increased costs in labor and fuel.” Another company spokesperson stated his company would be implementing a 5 percent increase across the board for similar reasons. “We’re hearing that other brands are raising their prices much more than that, so we’re doing everything we can to keep our knives as affordable as possible for consumers without reducing quality,” he observed.
It should be noted here that the companies cited in this story represent a small segment of the industry. Moreover, we at BLADE believe in the ebb and flow of knife sales as outlined by Chris Quinn of GP Knives, and that most of the players in the knife industry who experienced down years won’t be down for long.
Nonetheless, perhaps more than ever, BLADE urges you to monitor the prices charged for knives in 2024. Today’s knives are of higher production quality and materials than their predecessors but, as always, it’s up to you to ensure that you get the best knife with the best bang for your buck.
