The Operator is made from a ceramic composite, full flat grind with a secondary edge bevel. The grinds on the blade were uneven, of differnt angle and width on both sides. The handle made from a rubber/plastic coating which leaves an abrasive lip or ridge at the base of the handle. As the coating isn't thick, the grip is basically the same shape as the tang and not overly ergonomic. The new in box sharpness was also very low, while it would catch on the thumbnail, it could not cut flesh even under heavy pressure (readily indent the skin).
For reference the Operator was compared to the main blade on a Swiss Army knife. The SAK blade had a primary edge bevel of about 15 degrees with a secondary edge bevel set by the Spyderco Sharpmaker at 20 degrees. Both knives were used on plastic pop bottles, pieces of pine, hard poly rope, fabric, and a bunch of very thick cardboard. Multiple cuts were made on all materials with both knives.
On the plastic, the SAK penetrated well and could either push cut or slice right down the full length, and could easily slice off circular sections . The Operator penetrated a bit better as the tip was finer (the tip on my SAK was damaged from abusive work) but it could not push cut at all. It would however slice lengthwise nicely, but with much more effort than the SAK. Cutting circular sections out was a problem though as the Operator tended to deform the bottle rather than slice through it.
On the fabric, the Operator did not cut well. It tended to catch quite easily and just haul it around. The only way to cut it effectively was to double the fabric up and haul the knife through it which required a lot of force. The SAK however went through the fabric quite easily even when it was loose. On the cardboard, the SAK could push cut through the material but the Operator had to slice and was required much more force. At this point the SAK could no longer shave and would start to rip some cardboard on push cuts.
With the rope (1/2" in diameter), it was doubled it in loops and the knives yanked through. Both knives could cut about the same depth (about 4/5 of the way through). Even though the Operator had a much longer edge, the latter part of it which curves upwards towards the tip just slid along the rope not cutting into it. On the wood the SAK's thin blade sliced nicely and could quite easily remove thick shavings. The Operator held its own here, it would penetrate deep enough to get it stuck, and then it would be forced through the wood (haul it out a little and then slam it through).
At this point the SAK's edge had degraded significantly. It would no longer push cut at all and would instead tear into the cardboard. However because it is so thin it would still slice fairly well overall. No difference in performance was seen with the Operator.
As the initial sharpness was rather low, an x-fine DMT hone was used to reset the edge bevel. About 100 strokes were one on each side. The diamond bites into the ceramic well and control is not difficult. While it still will not push cut through paper at all, it will easily slice free hanging paper which it would not do initially. After a few whacks into pine, the edge held up fine, no chips. Some work comparing against several other knives :
Punching the knife though pop bottles and poking it into and hacking at some wood the knife held up fine, no chipping or rolling of the edge. This is of course very low stress work for a steel knife of similar design.
During some of the cutting a heavy amount of force was applised and the handle became readily uncomfortable. The biggest problem is that the edge is not sharpened all the way down to the grip. This means that you have to choke up on the blade past the finger cutout when doing really forceful cuts to overcome the torque disadvantage. The grip needs a lot of work.
The relatively low cutting ability shown by the Operator isn't an inherent problem with the blade material. Ceramic blades can be made very sharp and cut very well, however the geometry needs to be optomized for the strengths of the material [ref]. If a tough knife is desired which is very corrosion resistant, the Mission MPK-Ti is a solid choice. Unlike the Mirage-X line of knives, the Mission Beta-Ti ones are covered under warrenty for use in prying and general heavy work.
You can comment on this review by dropping me an email : cliffstamp[REMOVE]@cutleryscience.com.
| Last updated : | Fri Jun 13 14:04:42 NDT 2003 |
| Thu Jul 20 11:39:44 NDT 2000 |