# Microtech Blades.



## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

I am interested in getting one. Super cool autos in my opinion. Not cheap, but, you only live once.
Any advice, experience with these knives?


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

You only live once until the second coming. Until then it is you duty to avoid someone else taking your life early. A good knife may help.


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## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

They are nice. Rugged, precise. Love the auto daggers. Not sure if thats a good edc


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## KUSA (Apr 21, 2016)

Which models interest you the most?

I've been considering this one.

https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Microtech-Ultratech-Review--3612


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## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

I am looking at an ultratech, with serrated edges, tanto edge


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

I think modern OTF knives are better than the early offerings. However, being an "old guy" I always wonder if a spring loaded device (which wears out a spring if it is stored under load) is what I want to risk my life upon. A coil-driven switchblade is faster, and in a pinch it becomes a gravity knife.

Being a sharpener, I have had to touch up serrated edges. You have to use a gentle touch, and once a pointed design feature gets worn out--even a little bit--it's difficult to make the edge uniform and truly sharp.

If you feel that a serrated edge fits your safety protocols, I'd advise to put that knife in a side pocket and use a second traditional knife for slicing. The fancier things get the more pieces it needs to work and the faster it will fail under duress.


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## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

Hey Tourist. I was told by a lady friend that daggers may not deploy, especially into solid body people. The spring may not overcome. But a fat person it generally can.
I need serrated more for work. Certain things I need to cut..
ANd, I take your advice seriously. I know you know your craft well.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

I attempt to make the "craft" an important part of not only this forum but in our daily and work areas.

You mentioned that your lady friends "daggers" do not deploy. That's a common problem. I've seen a lot of knives that have new springs and cannot get the "deployment" they were hoping for. I do know about the old wives' tale on OTF knives.

The common gossip is that knife makers *do not wish* to have OTF knives impart wounds. Supposedly a knife manufacturer might also get summoned to court for the injury/death of a third party. The reasoning is probable. After all, a corporation like a knife company will have "deeper pockets" than a neighborhood guy. So they build items with "cool" but not a "tool."

This might sound mundane, but if I needed an automatic knife I would call Joyce and Nick (828-884-4302) and order the very knife you have in mind. They are a family business, they offer great deals, and they deliver within a few days. All of my knives (the really good ones like those from "Frank B") come from Joyce. They make sure their knives are from Sicily or a reputable USA supplier.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

I can't tell if something is being muddied here...

I have a few OTF knives. Straight-up, well-crafted, knockoffs. "Ravencrest" is one of them.
They are designed with the function that while the blade is "in flight" between fully deployed and fully retracted, it is under no tension from a spring. The intention is clearly to prevent a knife blade from deploying into flesh to any dangerous degree. The engagement button tensions the spring, and once the sear is jumped, the spring no longer imparts any energy to the blade. The potential energy was transferred during the tensioning, but once the sear jumps, all energy has been transferred to kinetic and is being used.
Basically, you can hold your hand 2" out from the opening and deploy the blade, and you'll get a small poke depending on the point's sharpness, but the blade will stop and fall back toward the opening. It won't be forced through.

What I think I'm reading here is that "daggers" are expected to force the blade out under active spring tension.
Are those really a thing?

Also, springs do not wear out while remaining static (either compressed or decompressed). Springs wear out from use. (constant compression and decompression)


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

*@Kauboy,* I cannot speak for everyone, but I was speaking in the general sense. To that, I have never seen an OTF knife that could penetrate anything--even a sheet of cardboard.

But here's a little taste of history. The idea of "switchblade knives" dates back to around 1840. And that has nothing to do with modern day switchblades. The knives were owned by matrons, and simply designed to open with one hand and snip some thread while the other hand held the item.

Supposedly, there were powerful OTF knives slightly before my time, I'm a 'boomer. Lots of automatic knives came home from WWII veterans that worked their way through Sicily and the Italian 'boot.'

But there's always an issue, but this one is a good one. OTF knives would be deadly to the owner if they could perform with the supposed power of the former model. For example, you slip your new automatic knife into your left inside jacket pocket, the spring lets go, and a powerful spring drives your blade through your right ventricle.

That, and science fiction movies always show the delightfully handsome villain with a powerful automatic knife. That's not real life. I saw more switchblades in high school than I've seen amongst professional gamblers.

Nice knives, nice myths.


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## KUSA (Apr 21, 2016)

If you want to see what's going on inside, watch this.






Or this.


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## KUSA (Apr 21, 2016)

I must say, the only reason I want to get one of these is to have fun flicking it in and out constantly. I’d probably have it worn out before I ever cut anything.


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## ActionJackson (Sep 4, 2020)

KUSA said:


> I must say, the only reason I want to get one of these is to have fun flicking it in and out constantly. I'd probably have it worn out before I ever cut anything.


I have a pretty awesome Protech switchblade. It's a side opening blade and opens with the push of small button. Great knife at almost $400.00 but I had a problem once. I used to carry it until I inadvertently pushed the button with the knife in my pocket. Needless to say ... the point of that blade was none too comfortable but my wife was happy that it opened AWAY from the family jewels (and so was I, of course).


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## KUSA (Apr 21, 2016)

ActionJackson said:


> I have a pretty awesome Protech switchblade. It's a side opening blade and opens with the push of small button. Great knife at almost $400.00 but I had a problem once. I used to carry it until I inadvertently pushed the button with the knife in my pocket. Needless to say ... the point of that blade was none too comfortable but my wife was happy that it opened AWAY from the family jewels (and so was I, of course).


LOL. They do have models with a safety. My TR5 has one.


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## ActionJackson (Sep 4, 2020)

KUSA said:


> LOL. They do have models with a safety. My TR5 has one.


I now have a safety for mine ... a knife drawer. :tango_face_grin:


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## StratMaster (Dec 26, 2017)

The Tourist said:


> *@Kauboy,* I cannot speak for everyone, but I was speaking in the general sense. To that, I have never seen an OTF knife that could penetrate anything--even a sheet of cardboard. Nice knives, nice myths.


Me either. I was a switchblade collector and dealer in the 80's and 90's. Every third weekend I was at a gun/knife show with a table. And while, I had a pretty good collection for a youngster in his 30's, I knew the guys who were then in their 70's and been collecting their entire lives. Having a table each year (for maybe 20 years) at the OKCA Oregon Knife Collector's Association show, I saw the best and biggest switchblade collections on the planet displayed proudly. Never saw a single OTF designed for power... just designed to open and lock the blade quickly. Springs: most vintage leaf spring knives... Italian or American made... the leaf spring is integral to the backspring. When it breaks, it's toast. Some of the German stuff, like Hubertus autos, one can replace a broken spring easily... if you have the parts. I was invited by Henning to tour the Hubertus facility while I was in Solingen, and purchased a lot of leaf and backsprings to be able to repair these knives for customers back in the states. Lots of the modern knives are equipped with rotary springs, also easy to replace. Al Mar had the table next to me for years (great guy) and he seemed to be the first to put his rotary spring custom design switchblade into production. I also put our ATS M-4 design into production with a rotary spring (made by Les at Benchmade for awhile, until we outsourced parts elsewhere to reduce production costs).. They are very powerful, easily replaced, and if something interferes with the knife opening, it continues to push it open and lock it out when the obstruction is removed. Better for when in a scuffle.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

*@Kauboy*, thank you for your opinion on knife *springs*. I am also a collector, and I leave all of my knives in the open position during storage. I have some automatics that are +/-15 years old, and they activate like it was yesterday.

If I have to go to the mall (like if I just had a my flu shot or my sense of smell wasn't functioning) I do carry a garden variety switchblade with 
decent spring. I have some of these knives with polished edges, and a few in a "rougher" modification but still with the uniform edges.

In many ways this is hardly a defensive ritual. Our city now has the CCW in effect, and my wife and I both carry--just for a cup of coffee. In many way these wonderful knives have become 'jewelry.'

Then again, I get heat from all of my friends when I admit I went to the mall for coffee. They urge me to go to coffee shops for a better beverage. This is good in the general sense, but I don't speak French. Yes, our coffee shops sometimes have a snooty air to them. This is why I prefer the mall book store. There are always new magazines on the rack, and _I'm learning about knives_. I've been out of the game for several years, so it's good to read about new stuff.

For example, blade alloys have come a long way. I'm thinking about calling Ken Schwartz to see if there are new polishing stones for this modern cutlery.


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## KUSA (Apr 21, 2016)

The Tourist said:


> For example, blade alloys have come a long way. I'm thinking about calling Ken Schwartz to see if there are new polishing stones for this modern cutlery.


Have you polished a blade made out of CPM-S35VN steel? I'm gonna tell you it takes a lot of effort.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

KUSA said:


> Have you polished a blade made out of CPM-S35VN steel? I'm gonna tell you it takes a lot of effort.


If memory serves (which is rare) I think I did an S35VN knife "back in the day." If I did, it was the only one.

But I will include this, even mundane steel can be a bear to shape and polish if the HT was changed from the original hardening by making it even harder, ergo, often times brittle and prone to chips.

An alloy has a "ceiling" like any other facet in cutlery. With enough heat and a solid brass hammer, you can take a fork from your mother's dinner cabinet and make it as hard as a railroad spike. Then again, take that over-hardened example and even a short drop to a stone kitchen floor and it might shatter like glass.

A few years ago I was reading how some hobbyists took an item that was 57 to 59 Rc and applied some direct, blue heat. The Rc was now somewhere in the low 60s but also became brittle. There's a reason why commercial knives have their own RC rating. A knife treated to the 60s might be quite hard, but rigorous use might make it chip or produce faint lines of an escalating "crack."

There's a good reason why cutlery manufacturers use a temperature in hardening that we might view as timid. Say you bought a knife with an rc of 57 to 59, but a private cutler offers that same knife in Rc 60.

I believe that a RC rating is actually on a bell shape curve. A hardening number of 59 might actually be four times harder with a new heat treatment of 60. This is why I seek out metallurgy experts. I don't even understand the jargon. Like they might say, "_I heated and cooled it, then heated it again, but finished it off with a quench_."

I have no idea just how hot the idea of "hot" really is. Then again, do you quench in minimalist times, or just soak the blade blank overnight?

If hobbyists think professional sharpeners are odd, I think they ought to watch an expert in rite of "_now it's hot, then it's cooled_." But to me shaping a blade blank is a lot easier than modifying the hardness.


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## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

I bought this knife for my daughter, for going to school to be a Chef. Takamura Gyuto Interesting watching old school craft at work.




https://www.chefknivestogo.com/takamura.html


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

*@Steve40th*, *ouch* Technically everything I make or modify is "old school. I still use Schwartz fixtures and polishing stones that are +15 years old. Granted, I suspect that newer polishing stones are on the market, but I haven't seen many showcases where very new items were shown. I wonder if knives are going to start using "space age" alloys, things that your average polisher won't be able to polish.


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## theprincipal (Mar 18, 2021)

Steve40th said:


> I am looking at an ultratech, with serrated edges, tanto edge


I owned this model, but sold it. It was an incredible knife. I regret selling it, but I guess it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.


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