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How to Make the Benchmade Axis Perform
How to Make the Benchmade Axis Perform by Joe Talmadge
I've had my Axis for quite a while now, courtesy of Les. I've
made this my everyday carry 4"-blade folder, and have learned a
bit about what makes this knife perform so well. Most
strikingly, I've found that it takes a little work to really
bring out the best in the Axis lock. The incredible ergonomics,
solid lock, and recurved geometry you get for free from
Benchmade -- a real high-performance edge you'll have to do for
yourself. I've been testing my Axis versus other people's Axis
over the past few months. Nothing too rigorous, just a quick
test of slicing rope or whittling, and see how the two knives
perform. Usually this is a test of the other guy's Axis with
factory edge versus my Axis with my edge. A typical test with
(say) 1.25" 3-strand rope, might yield the following: other
guy's axis makes it through 1/8-1/4 of 1 strand with one swipe,
my axis makes it completely through 2 strands and partly through
a 3rd strand with one swipe. That's a performance difference of
700%.
Let's stop here for a second and talk about what makes a
recurved blade work. First let's get our terms straight,
starting from the tip. Underneath the tip, the edge curves
downward -- this is the traditional "belly". The belly reaches
bottom and starts curving upwards again, in what I call the
"front recurve". Then about .5" from the handle the edge peaks
and starts curving downwards again, and this part I call the
"back recurve". When other people try to cut rope with their
Axis, I often see them laying the Axis between the front and
back recurves and trying to saw through with little bitty sawing
motions, and wondering where the promised performance gains are.
The performance secret of the recurve is the FRONT recurve --
the trick is to have the front recurve hit the thing-to-be-cut
with speed and power. I typically lay the back recurve on the
t-t-b-c, then add weight onto the handle and add speed as I draw
the knife towards me, timing it to have the most power as the
front recurve hits the t-t-b-c. The front recurve then bites in
deeply, and I pull the knife all the way through the material,
then lay it back down at the back recurve. I can cut that 1.25"
rope in 2 slices this way, whereas it'd take much more time and
energy to cut the rope using itty bitty sawing motions.
As you might imagine, then, getting the front recurve perfect is
the main objective in my sharpening strategy. The back recurve
is the least important part, as it does the least cutting --
which is good, since it's the most awkward part to sharpen due
to the thumb studs. I use the belly for things like opening mail
and other push/zipper cuts.
The first thing I do to Benchmade's factory bevels are thin them
out. I now use the Spyderco 204 Sharpener for this. In theory
any v-stick sharpener will work, but I've found the 204 has
features that are a must for recurved blade sharpening.
First, I'm going to use the 204's 15-degree slots with the
coarse stone, on the triangle edge. Why the edge and not the
flat? Because the key to getting the back recurve sharp is to
use a sharpening stick that is much smaller in diameter than the
diameter of the recurve. This is the thinning bevel phase, and I
do this phase in sections. First I thin the back recurve (the
thumb studs get in the way a bit at 15-degrees. Then I switch to
the flat part of the stones for the front recurve and belly. I
use a magic marker extensively in this process. I magic marker
up the edge, and the objective is to bring the 15-degree
thinning bevel to within say 1/32" of the very edge (do not go
all the way and create a burr).
Once the thinning bevels are complete to my liking, I switch the
coarse stones to the 20-degree slots, using the corner side for
the first few swipes then switching to the flat side of the
stone. Now I'm doing full smooth strokes, from the end of the
back recurve all the way to the tip, drawing the knife towards
me. I start with the corner of the stone because that gets the
back recurve the best, then I switch to the flats because the
works faster on the rest of the blade. During the stroke, it's
important to keep the edge of the blade perpendicular to the
stone (or, think of it as keeping the edge horizontal). So when
I start with the back recurve, I raise the handle up in the air
a bit. As I pull towards me, I lower the handle so it's parallel
to the ground just as I get to the beginning of the front
recurve. Then lower the handle through the front recurve, and
raise it again as I get to the belly. This sounds complicated
but becomes very obvious if you just look at the edge and the
stone. Whatever part of the edge is hitting the stone, make sure
that part is completely horizontal.
I do these strokes one side only until I get a burr along the
entire length of the other side of the edge, then switch sides
and repeat. Once that's done, I switch sides between each
stroke. Go to the fine stones and continue switching sides
between each stroke, and lightening the pressure. Strop off
whatever remains of the burr.
Now I have a thin, polished edge with no burr. This edge will
whittle and shave like crazy, but won't slice well due to the
polish. Now stick the coarse stones back in the 20-degree slot.
Using very very light strokes, stroke the front and back recurve
ONLY through the coarse stones (not the belly, we'll keep that
polished). Don't push too hard or you'll create new burrs. This
will rough up the front (most important) and back recurve, so
it'll slice like crazy. I keep the front belly polished to open
mail and do push cuts.
Now we have an Axis that can outperform the factory Axis by 700%
at times! It's thinner and more polished than the factory Axis
at the belly, so it'll out push-cut the factory Axis. It's
thinner and more coarse than the factory Axis at the recurve, so
it'll WAY outperform the factory Axisfor slicing. In fact, with
this edge, the Axis will probably easily outperform every other
non-recurved folder you have for slicing, and even the recurved
blades with more polished or thicker edges.
Redistributed with permission by eknives.com. Get more information and a wide selection of
quality products. We offer below retail prices and free shipping
on all items!
About the author:
by Joe Talmadge
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