| I've
noticed some rust on my stonewashed blade. Is this normal? |
Steel rusts. There is no such thing as stainless or rust proof steel. The steel that we use is 154cm and it is a high carbon tool steel. It's formula just qualifies it as a stainless class steel. Our steel, 154cm, will rust given the right or should I say, wrong circumstances.
The stonewashed finished knives are raw steel with no coating. That means there is no protective barrier between the steel and the environment.
We do offer black coated blades.
Why do some of the stonewashed blades show surface rust? Because they have been exposed to an environment conducive to rust. It's really that simple. We wipe all of our blades down with Sentry Tuf Cloth prior to assembly to give them that measure of protection. However, after exposure to certain environmental conditions or after someone has wiped or cleaned off the Tuf Cloth solution, the steel is then exposed.
The question then comes up, "Joe has the same exact knife with the next serial number, we live next door and even carpool to work. Why does mine rust and his does not? Does mine have bad steel or a bad heat treat?"
Every individual has a slightly different body chemistry. It can be the result of dietary or hereditary causes. Sometimes both. This means that when measured very precisely everyone has their own personal PH level. As a result, some peoples perspiration is slightly basic, some neutral and some acidic. I have worked with people who touch a piece of bright steel and literally within 30 seconds a bright orange fingerprint starts to appear on the surface. And I mean I have seen this in a number of individuals over the years, perhaps dozens.
So, there are people who have varying degrees of acidity or alkalinity in their perspiration. It's not good. it's not bad. It just is.
So, you take a knife and it gets little particles of dust, dirt, or lint on it. These particles are generally hydroscopic, meaning they can attract and hold moisture. Couple that with the possibility that a person may have a slightly acid PH and I guarantee that you will see some surface rust over time.
A knife that is carried in the pocket does and will rust if the individual carrying it has a slightly acid PH, even if it is never taken out of the pocket. Remember perspiration wicks out through the layers of clothing and a pocket is full of lint.
Knives, just like guns need to be cleaned and lubricated to keep them in good working order and to prevent rust.
There is nothing wrong with the knives. They are stain resistant, not rust proof. The steel we use is a battle proven combat ready steel that does exactly what our users want and need. As you may have noted over the years I do not chase after the new "super steel" every year when a new one comes out. I'm not going to trade out performance for a steel used by another company just because it doesn't rust.
The bottom line is, just like I do with very expensive guns and my 600 year old Japanese swords. I keep them clean and I oil them to prevent rust, (Not the swords).
I hope this gives some explanation to the questions about surface rust on some peoples stonewashed blades.
| Do
your knives have pocket clips? If so, where are they mounted? |
All of our knives have stainless steel
pocket/belt clips. They are mounted with the attachment at the rear
of the handle, clip facing toward the front. Experience and feed back
from the end users has shown that this is the preferred clip position
for easy accessibility and quick opening sequence. [Top
Of Page]
| Do
you make any left-handed knives? |
Yes, we do make left hand version of
several models. At present the only models that are available as left
hand models are the Commander, the CQC-7 and the SARK. They are only
available with the black handle material. We make them in limited quantities
so you should call or email us to make sure the model you want is available. [Top Of Page]
| Why
do you use the chisel grind? |
There are several reasons for the chisel
grind. For any of you who have ever used a correctly sharpened wood
chisel for woodworking, you know what a chisel can do. Although a knife
is not a chisel, those properties, when applied to a knife grind have
almost magical effect. A chisel ground knife, being beveled, (ground)
on one side only, possesses greater strength, (due to increased cross
sectional mass) and they cut with an ease not found on any other type
of blade. This is because there is no parasitic drag produced by the
flat side when cutting --- no drag points. On top of that, they are
much easier to sharpen --- you only have to sharpen one side. [Top
Of Page]
| Why
do you put the chisel on the front or left side of the blade? |
This is an Emerson signature. Being the
knifemaker who brought the chisel grind to worldwide recognition, we
are often asked; Why do you put the grind on the opposite side of a
traditional Japanese Chef's knife? The answer is simple....We are not
making chef's knives. Our knives are hard knives meant for hard users.
We do not cut many tomatoes. Our tests and those of a major government
agency determined that there was no difference between right and left
side grinds for use as a tool or weapon. The left side was chosen for
purposes of visual cue and reference. [Top
Of Page]
| What
is Kydron and why did you use it instead of Micarta on the Raven
knives? |
Kydron is a proprietary formula of a
polyester based elastomer, with Kevlar fibers for stiffness and increased
strength modulus. It is not plastic, Zytel, or hard and noisy like other
manufactured knives. It has a warm feeling and a great physical texture.
Kydron was chosen for several reasons; strength, resistance to chemicals
and sea water, overall feel, and the ability to reproduce the contours
and linear checkering designed for the Raven handles. This would not
have been possible with either Micarta, and Kydron is ultimately a much
stronger material. You can bend it 90 degrees without breaking, and
you can pound it with a ball peen hammer and not break it --- We have
done it. Try that with Micarta! [Top Of
Page]
| What
type of grind should I get? |
The reason that we offer both the conventional
grind and the chisel grind, is really quite basic; to give you, the
user, a choice. What type of grind you want is really up to you. We
realize that the chisel grind is not for everyone, and a lot of your
choice is based on what you are familiar with, or comfortable with.
My recommendation is to go with what you would feel comfortable with.
As with any gear that you may use in a high stress situation, it will
perform better and you will perform better, if you have confidence in
that gear. You will always shoot better with your own gun. I have my
personal opinions and preferences, but ultimately the choice must be
yours. [Top Of Page]
| How
do I clean the knife? |
The easiest way is to rinse the knife
in clean fresh water after marine or chemical exposure. You can oil
the blade and the pivot area from time to time with any good, light
oil such as WD-40. If the knife becomes encrusted with dirt or sand,
it can be completely disassembled and cleaned out thoroughly. [Top
Of Page]
| How
will the production knives affect your custom work? |
It has had a tremendous effect on my
custom work and has tried the patience of everyone who has custom orders
with me. Fortunately, the vast majority of my customers have understood
the situation and are waiting patiently for their custom orders, and
I thank them all for that. Very few people ever get the opportunity
to undertake deeds that impact others in a positive way. Emerson Knives
was given this opportunity and acted on it. We now employ over 40 people
full-time and provide employment for literally hundreds of others in
the cutlery industry in an auxiliary manner through licensing, manufacturing,
retail sales and distribution of our product. Many, many people now
pay their mortgages and put their children through school because of
what we have done. Did I know this would affect time of delivery on
my customs - yes. Did I make a choice - yes. Fortunately we have proven
this to be the correct choice and our decision now serves a greater
good. Starting, growing and managing a major production facility has
taken almost 100% of my time for the last 2 ½ years. I now have trusted
and loyal personnel in place to do those jobs for me. This has allowed
me to get back in to my custom shop and working on chipping away at
my custom orders. We are slow, but steady, and will continue to fill
the custom orders as fast as we can. Thank you again for your understanding
and patience in waiting for an Emerson Custom knife. [Top
Of Page]
| What
about items that are out of stock? |
Please be aware that my company operates
on a business program modeled after Rolex watches. More hands-on labor
goes into the crafting of our knives than any other company in the cutlery
industry. We don't have assembly lines. We don't have our knives made
overseas. We don't have parts made overseas and shipped here for assembly.
Because of these reasons and the strict quality standards that this
company lives by, we do not produce thousands of knives a week like
the other companies do. In the end, the legacy of Emerson Knives will
be that of quality and not quantity. Like Rolex watches, we build our
knives in batches, so the entire company can concentrate on building
a particular model all at one time. Therefore there are times when we
are out of certain models or variations until we circle around to build
that particular model once again. We will ship your purchase as soon
as it is built if it is currently out of stock. I hope that you understand
that we do this to insure and preserve the quality of our product.
We try to keep knives in inventory to
supply to you, but the worldwide demand is so high that there are times
when we are simply sold out. So bear with us and please be patient as
we will have most models on hand most of the time.
The bottom line is this: we could make
tens of thousands of knives like the other companies do and we could
do it well. However, a fictitious corporate name doesn't go on the logo
of any of these knives. My name goes on each and every one, and I will
not allow anything with my name on it to be substandard or mass produced. [Top Of Page]
| How
do you sharpen the unique edge that you put on your knives? |
There are many ways to sharpen our knives
and no one way is better than any other. Actually because our knives
are sharpened on one side only, people tend to think they are harder
to sharpen. It is actually easier, since you are only dealing with one
side. It's just different, not any more difficult.
We are always asked about different sharpening
systems and fixtures. Well, there are so many that we cannot be familiar
with them all. We don't know how they work or how well they work on
our knives. Then again, I've sharpened knives on pieces of cement, bricks,
rocks, steel pipe, car windows and just about anything at hand.
The easiest method that I usually recommend
is to purchase a round or oval shaped diamond stick (finest grit possible).
You can get them at hardware stores, gun stores, and cutlery stores.
Hold the knife in your left hand with
the point facing away from you. With your right hand run the diamond
stick out along the blade's edge away from you. You have to find the
right angle to incline the diamond stick so you are affecting just the
edge. Depending on how dull your blade is or how hard you press this
may take 5 to 25 strokes.
Take your fingernail and scrape towards
the edge on the backside of the blade. Run your fingernail towards the
edge at 90 degrees to the edge, not along the edge. You should feel
a noticeable click as you run your fingernail off of the edge. This
is the burr that you produced by sharpening the front side. If there
isn't any, hit the front side a few more times. Now take the stick and
just lightly run it along the backside of the edge. You are not
trying to sharpen the backside just breaking the burr loose.
At this point you must burnish or strop
the edge. You can use leather for this but I prefer the gray cardboard
backing from a yellow legal pad. Take the cardboard and lay it down
on a stable, hard surface. With pressure, strop the blade back and
forth just like the old barbers did. Not fast, but slow and controlled.
Remember you have a sharp knife in your hand. Just strop the blade
until you can no longer feel the burr on the blade. Your knife should
now be sharp enough to tackle any normal chore.
This may sound a little complex but once
you've done it a couple of times it can actually be done in about 2
minutes. If you come up with any different ways to sharpen your knife
please let us know. We are always willing to listen and learn.
NOTE: On the tanto style blades, treat
each edge (the main edge and the front short edge) separately. Don't
run the stick out and up the front edge in one motion or you will round
off the crisp transition point between the long (main) edge, and the
front, short, upswept edge. Sharpen each of these separately. [ Knife Sharpening ] [Top Of Page]
| How
can you use Titanium for a knife blade? |
Titanium is not a usual material for
a knife blade. It is not hard like knife steel and will not hold an
edge. However, Titanium does possess some outstanding properties that
steel does not. Titanium is virtually unbreakable. It is extremely lightweight
with a superior strength to weight ratio, that is better than steel.
Titanium is inert and virtually impervious to any corrosive medium.
It will never rust, ever. It is non-magnetic and will not cause a static
spark. Titanium is extremely tough, durable and hard to work with.
In order to turn Titanium into a suitable
knife material, Emerson Knives uses a unique and proprietary process.
We grind the blades to finish shape and configuration (they must be
ground by hand, one at a time). We then bond a layer of tantalum carbide
micro- crystals onto the backside of the cutting edge. These crystals
are ultra hard and sharp, acting as thousands of tiny saw teeth along
the edge. These knives will not shave the hair off of your arm, but
they will out cut and out last the steel edge of any knife that exists. [Top Of Page]
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