Hi All.
Recently I have made a Spyderco Mule clone for experimental project. I put the process of the making both here and BB. I got a few requests for the review of the end product - to see how it performs.
I have not expected really a great deal from this blade I made because I have not got proper tools or workshop let alone experience. However, I read a few articles on the internet on how to make blades..etc, and followed the instructions as faithfully I can.
I am also interested to see just how this piece of metal will perform under tough testing conditions.
Today was Sunday, and weather was fantastic, so I decided to play with it in the backgarden while doing some gardening chores as well as preparing for my workshop soil foundation.
First I did some apple & onion peeling & chopping in the kitchen. It was a doddle. The blade was comfy and gave me full control for peeling & chopping smallest apple & onions.
Then I sharpened some pencils with it.
Paper cutting.
Shaving hair off legs.
More hairs....yuk. LOL.
Then I went out to the garden, and found some woods. These were all I could find. It looks a bit weathered but inside was solid.
Before the edge hits the gravels I brought the wood on the slabs to get some space underneath. And finished off cutting. Didn't take that long.
Then splitting.
And shaving .... the inside of the wood was solid & fresh.
Cut some tree leaves and twigs...
Thrown to the ground.
to the grass patch.
to the woods.
Found some old furniture pieces from the shed. I think that it is some sort of processed wood - it looks like wood but inside is hardened with some chemical meterials to give more hardness.
It is like a piece of brick, but it cuts no problem within minutes.... But I just left it there as it will take a quite while to split the whole thing. Plus I want to keep this plank of wood for future project handle scale materials.
Moved on to tree branches that huge anvil secateurs couldn't cut.
The mule copycat cut them in minutes.
More tree branches...
And then took bark off the cut branch..
Totally skined branch.
Some more chopping...
And tried to make some pecks..and SWMBO called, and had to leave it there.
After playing with it for a couple of hours, I came in. Tried to cut some paper.. and it obviously lost the sharpness. It was sharp enough to chop woods and stuff, but it is rough cutting papers.
I gave some stropping with the carborundum stone. Not a lot just 10 strops for each side.
And then smoothen the burrs with the Morrisons 2 quid sharpening steel. Again about 10 strops for each side.
And guess what... it was cutting the same paper like a butter.
Tried shaving hairs off my leg. Wow - it is shaving hairs no problem.
The edge has became scary sharp.. even sharper than this morning. I am chuffed with this copycat.
After having tough time - the blade was cleaned and put back beside the copycat No. 1.
I think the blade is quite good. It has scary sharp cutting & chopping power. It could even be used for throwing & whittling. It kept the edge quite well. After 2-3 houirs hard use, when it lost sharpness - it tooks only 3 minutes to get the razor sharp edge back.
Thanks for reading this review.
Recently I have made a Spyderco Mule clone for experimental project. I put the process of the making both here and BB. I got a few requests for the review of the end product - to see how it performs.
I have not expected really a great deal from this blade I made because I have not got proper tools or workshop let alone experience. However, I read a few articles on the internet on how to make blades..etc, and followed the instructions as faithfully I can.
I am also interested to see just how this piece of metal will perform under tough testing conditions.
Today was Sunday, and weather was fantastic, so I decided to play with it in the backgarden while doing some gardening chores as well as preparing for my workshop soil foundation.
First I did some apple & onion peeling & chopping in the kitchen. It was a doddle. The blade was comfy and gave me full control for peeling & chopping smallest apple & onions.
Then I sharpened some pencils with it.
Paper cutting.
Shaving hair off legs.
More hairs....yuk. LOL.
Then I went out to the garden, and found some woods. These were all I could find. It looks a bit weathered but inside was solid.
Before the edge hits the gravels I brought the wood on the slabs to get some space underneath. And finished off cutting. Didn't take that long.
Then splitting.
And shaving .... the inside of the wood was solid & fresh.
Cut some tree leaves and twigs...
Thrown to the ground.
to the grass patch.
to the woods.
Found some old furniture pieces from the shed. I think that it is some sort of processed wood - it looks like wood but inside is hardened with some chemical meterials to give more hardness.
It is like a piece of brick, but it cuts no problem within minutes.... But I just left it there as it will take a quite while to split the whole thing. Plus I want to keep this plank of wood for future project handle scale materials.
Moved on to tree branches that huge anvil secateurs couldn't cut.
The mule copycat cut them in minutes.
More tree branches...
And then took bark off the cut branch..
Totally skined branch.
Some more chopping...
And tried to make some pecks..and SWMBO called, and had to leave it there.
After playing with it for a couple of hours, I came in. Tried to cut some paper.. and it obviously lost the sharpness. It was sharp enough to chop woods and stuff, but it is rough cutting papers.
I gave some stropping with the carborundum stone. Not a lot just 10 strops for each side.
And then smoothen the burrs with the Morrisons 2 quid sharpening steel. Again about 10 strops for each side.
And guess what... it was cutting the same paper like a butter.
Tried shaving hairs off my leg. Wow - it is shaving hairs no problem.
The edge has became scary sharp.. even sharper than this morning. I am chuffed with this copycat.
After having tough time - the blade was cleaned and put back beside the copycat No. 1.
I think the blade is quite good. It has scary sharp cutting & chopping power. It could even be used for throwing & whittling. It kept the edge quite well. After 2-3 houirs hard use, when it lost sharpness - it tooks only 3 minutes to get the razor sharp edge back.
Thanks for reading this review.
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