The Cuda Maxx has a bowie styled 5.5" blade ground from D2 tool steel with a high flat grind tapering to an edge 0.016-0.022" thick, ground at 15 +/- 1 degrees per side. The tip has a long distal taper with a swedge which produces a very slim and acute point.
UPDATE : this knife was bought mainly to test the ability of the action to take "flicking" as this is commonly described as abusive by some makers but Ralph promotes it with this knife. The other work done with it was just secondary and very slight as the knife was going to be sold after the flicking.
A few quick checks on performance.
The Maxx was decently sharp out of the box, on light thread it could make a cut with 157 (29) grams. The blade could shave but required a little draw.
On 3/8" hemp, the Maxx push cut smoothly with 31 +/- 2 lbs with 24 +/- 1 lbs on a two inch draw, the serrations were very fluid and made a slice with only 7-9 lbs.
With a 50 lbs push, the tip sank to 221 +/- 5 pages into a phone book, however with a hard stab (icepick grip), the penetration was only 595 +/- 10 pages as the handle was fairly uncomfortable due to it being thin and thus it was difficult to commit to a full strength stab, and even when this was done the grip slipped on the handle and thus energy was wasted.
This knife was bought mainly to check the stability under intertial openings, wrist flicking. It was stable through several hundred such openings. It is also secure under spine whacks, both fast and whippy and heavy and hard. White knuckling is also not a problem, the lock stays engaged securely. However heavy torquing caused the lock to disengage. The knife was batoned into a piece of 1x4 and twisted to split the wood and the lock bar moved across the tang and disengaged from the tang.
The grip is very thin and problematic under heavy use, it is very long though and thus easily capable of use with a thick work glove.
The Maxx has a very efficient cutting profile with a fluid serration pattern which handles a wide variety of material with well above average performance. The tip is very slim and acute and has high penetration however for the same reason the strength is low and the steel, D2, isn't flexible so a lot of care would need to be taken when attempting to do any significant prying with the tip.
Comment can be sent to : cliffstamp[REMOVE]@cutleryscience.com or posted in the following thread on Bladeforums :
| Last updated : | 03 / 31 / 2005 |
| Originally written : | 03 / 31 / 2005 |