# No question about it, this knife is "perfect."



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

A week or two ago I posted about my new manual folder, a custom Buck 112 with a bright red handle. This is one of the most solid, balanced folders I have ever held. At that time, we debated if the edge should be polished.

Well, I put the blade under a four-power, lighted loupe' and checked over the edge. Yeah, it was "utility sharp," but I wanted it 'perfect.'

For most of the morning (it's very stormy in my area) I inked, and re-ink the bevel, and using four Schwartz stones and some polishing paper I refined the edge. I didn't remove any noticeable metal (just a dirty mark on my shaping stone) and the edge is a scalpel.

Like I always say, call Joyce, she has the best stuff. No dings, blades arrive in two days.


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## MisterMills357 (Apr 15, 2015)

It looks great!


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

MisterMills357 said:


> It looks great!


I was a bit disappointed that the bevel appears to be wider at the point than on the belly of the edge. It's uniform in real life. It's just a personal problem--my knives must be perfect!

Joyce got me a second black stiletto so I would have a "spare." It has a very rare flat blade that I've never seen on an Italian automatic.

Well, you know the old canard, "_When in Rome_." This also applies to Italian cutlery. The ones I collect are not made to slice Sunday dinner. In fact, they do not slice at all.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Mighty attractive specimine right there. Giving me a knife fetish just looking at it. Guess my favorite knife of all time was my trusty old Kamp King. Was very useful for eating supper in cheap motel rooms for itenerate salesmen. Big Wide blade made for slicing baloney...cheese..tomters..onions..and spreading mayo or mustard on the sandwich. Had a phillips screw driver that would fit any screw better than a screw driver. Beer opener fish scaler etc. They just dont make knives like that for three bucks these days. 
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_forum/viewtopic.php?t=21559


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

*@bigwheel*, they don't make anything for three bucks anymore.

Back when men were men, and if I had three bucks, I could fill my Super Glide tank for 89 cents, and get four beers for the change--two for me, and two for any lady I had never met before. Now you cannot get a knife for three bucks, but then, I cannot buy a tube of "Quick Release" oil for my blades as a tube of that costs nine bucks, if I remember.

I did remember an old comedy skit by some comedian where he said he would empty his pockets after he went home. It was usually just quarters and singles. Then one night he went home and found a "fiver" crumpled in his pocket. It amazed him, since some of his first jobs earned him a couple of fives in his Friday pay envelope.

In 1964 a decent knife cost me four bucks. Now I pay somewhere between 80 and 150 bucks for essentially the same knife...


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

How about giving us a break, every knife you champion is the best and we should all buy one. Gosh, I admire your skills but every knife cannot be the best. I mean no disrespect, I understand you want to sell knives, but maybe making a distinction for knives for certain purposes would help.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

1skrewsloose said:


> Gosh, I admire your skills but every knife cannot be the best.


I agree, not every knife is good for every chore. The knives I carry EDC are usually knives that can do 90% of the unexpected chores when you're away from home.

The trick is to keep any knife as sharp as the design allows. Now, like I say, I cheat. I bought an Edge Pro fixture and I get premium stones from Ken Schwartz. It's the "best to the best."

To that, I never let an edge go completely dull. Like any tool, you take good care of it.

BTW 1skrewsloose, selling knives is my side business, and I have to 'showcase' a lot of stuff. Now, I do have a personal collection, but it's only two dozen knives, many types I have three of.


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## MisterMills357 (Apr 15, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> I was a bit disappointed that the bevel appears to be wider at the point than on the belly of the edge. It's uniform in real life. It's just a personal problem--my knives must be perfect!
> 
> Joyce got me a second black stiletto so I would have a "spare." It has a very rare flat blade that I've never seen on an Italian automatic.
> 
> Well, you know the old canard, "_When in Rome_." This also applies to Italian cutlery. The ones I collect are not made to slice Sunday dinner. In fact, they do not slice at all.


You are a perfectionist, in a world of imperfection; that must give you constant headaches and friction. I ain't saying that it is wrong, it isn't, there has to be perfectionism in the world.
Otherwise, it just plops down and settles for the usual & mundane.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

I am technically a "sometimes perfectionist." My motorcycles were always spotless, my cast reloads had to be flawless, and my knives must have a uniform polished edge. My jeans, well, not so much.

I guess this come from a personal fear of not being sufficiently 'ready.' Who knows if this might happen, but someday a field doctor might have to perform emergency surgery, and suddenly call out, "_I need a scalpel immediately--someone quick get the Tourist's knife..!_"

I feel that if I have to carry something--a knife, a pistol, or a cell phone--then that implement had better work the first time, perfectly!


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

We live in an imperfect world, I see no reason to beat yourself up over it.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

1skrewsloose said:


> We live in an imperfect world, I see no reason to beat yourself up over it.


No argument there. But I never have any trouble selling off the knives I no longer want. In fact, that issue is coming to up very soon.


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## Daddy O (Jan 20, 2014)

I'd rather have a Gerber like this one.
I have a similar knife, but I need to send it in to Gerber for blade replacement (broke off the tip!)
I like having the button to fold it so there is no chance of getting my thumb caught in the folding blade.
I also like the assist feature so I can open the knife one-handed. I use mine as a utility tool, all day long, so I hate needing two hands to open & close a knife.

http://www.gerbergear.com/var/gerbe...lding/us1_31-003040/8482643-16-eng-US/US1.jpg


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

I have no problem with Gerber, either.

However, I do have to hand it to Buck when it comes to brute strength and putting up with flat-out abuse. If you were going to go to Africa or into the dead of winter in Alaska (and close enough to see Russia), I would take my favorite Buck.

Now, most of us don't need that kind of survival guarantee. I prefer the Buck 112 as my daily jackknife simply because of the design upgrades made since the advent of the Buck 110. For example, the front bolster of a Buck 112 should be on all their "outdoor" folders. Having a bolster with a choil sees to it that your frozen hand won't slip onto a sharp blade.


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