- Modulator
- 710 Axis
This review consists of :
Knives :
This review consists of : |
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Maker Webpage : Modulator basic specifications :
Note this knife was carried and used by Mike Gavac and in general he was very pleased with the knife :
A couple of interesting aspects :
S110V is an evolution of the S125V stainless earlier marketed by Crucible, a member of the 420V family of steels. S125V was in general well received for its ability to hold a low sharpness edge in extreme abrasive cutting however it also had severe drawbacks in regards to :
These issues were such that even makers who were very experienced in, and in fact even specialized in, high carbide steels discontinued using it due to difficulty both on their side and from the perspective of the users. A telling perspective :
The workability is very low in fact; I have had trouble with a few blades cracking with the result of lost time and wasted abrasive. It has such a high percentage of alloy that at optimum hardness (65/66) even with a very thin edge it is difficult to sharpen. Given all of this, I have decided to drop it from my offerings of blade steel. Phil Wilson
Roller thrust bearings are designed and intended to be used in systems which have mainly axial (rotational) loads. They provide a number of advantages over traditional washer based systems including :
The second is very critical as with many knives in order to get decent smooth opening the pivot has to be set fairly loose however on the Modulator the pivot is set very tight there is no play (vertical/lateral) however the opening is still extremely smooth.
R. J.'s ability to produce a very high finish has always been one of his dominant aspects and this knife is no exception to that and shows a very high :
Now some of this is helped by the tumbled finish of the Titanium which both covers minor scratches / wear in handling but also as well provides a very low maintenance finish for the user. However even close examination of :
all show a very even and symmetric (left to right) balance. There are however a few issues however with some aspects of the design and finish :
The spine is exceptionally chamfered to the points where the edges would be considered to have full rounds. If the inside of the handle scales has as much attention it would greatly improve comfort, similar for the clip. They are all chamfered, a huge improvement over a lot of folders, but compared to the spine they show a large difference in attention and it is reflected in comfort in use.
The jimping in an area which is highly polarized and some knives such as the ZT 0561 clearly go so far with jimping which is so sharp it can literally be used as a wood rasp and the Modulator goes to the other extreme where the jimping is much larger and just as well rounded as the spine and thus offers almost no traction. Knives which achieve a much nicer balance are :
One of the strongest points about the precision of the build is that even when the knife has all the screws removed it is in fact fully functional and just shows minor lateral play. This also explains the lack of loctite or similar assisted bonding agents on the screws which are necessary in lower precision builds because of general slop in tolerances which causes movement and thus backing out of the screws in use.
On 3/8" hemp :
On some 1" hardwood dowel making 2" points with light force (10-30 lbs) :
No significant difference in the performance which would be expected as the edge angle on the Modulator is slightly higher however the deep hollow grind thins out the blade quickly providing relief to the edge and increasing the mechanical cutting advantage compensating for the reduced cutting ability of the higher angle.
However while the light cutting is similar, on heavy carving (50-70 lbs) on some some 1x0.5" pine making 2" points :
there is no comparison due to the much thinner blade (behind the edge) on the Modulator. This allows it to basically be press cut right through woods where the #1260 Mora has to still carve off slices. There was also no discomfort during the heavier cutting as all aspects of the handle (aside from the inside of the slabs) are generally well rounded.
In extended use, making 500 slices through :
There was no significant damage to the edge and in regards to ergonomics it was solid aside from some minor pressure around the clip which is not uncommon in flat clips. There was some blunting, the edge lost shaving sharpness in the contact areas which is likely due to the fact the edge was previously used and power stropped.
On various materials :
It again performed at a very high level easily out cutting the 710 Axis which itself is well respected as a high performance cutting folder. To be specific in cutting the small squares of foam :
This difference is also high enough that the Modulator makes much cleaner cuts while the 710 Axis tends to cause minor fraying and splitting at the edges of the foam.
In general for light and shallow utility style cutting it work well due to :
Now of course on binding materials :
and similar fruits and vegetables it will in general be significantly behind (need more force) than an actual optimized kitchen knife. But compared to even folders which are known to cut well (Paramilitary from Spyderco) it is easily in the same class and really is only significantly behind folders like the :
as those have similar high grinds and thin and low angled edges, but also have much thinner blade stock as they are optimized for put low stress cutting.
The only real issue of course is keeping the blade off of the table/counter top as it doesn't have the traditional dropped blade of knives which are designed to cut to a cutting board :
The main grip that works with the Modulator is a sort of sabre style grip which does well in keeping the hand off of the cutting board but does put the wrist at a less than ideal angle and thus it isn't really suitable for dicing and similar work for a long period of time.
Of course it is generally emergency type only, kitchen knives are significantly better than any such folder for protracted cutting board type work, even the Opinel and Douk Douk. There are also issues in general with such work :
getting into the pivot area as cleaning isn't as trivial as on fixed blades.
Where it does well in general is peeling :
mainly due to the :
However on much thicker vegetables :
for those foods a much more narrow knife is really needed and ideally even a much thinner and low angle on the edge, but again for a clipit folder - it is among the better seen.
A simple knife like an Opinel or Douk Douk provide near ideal light cutting ability however a knife like the Modulator which is more robust due to the thicker blade stock and the metal handle can be of use by exploiting the strength and durability. As an example of utilizing these aspects of the Modulator some damaged concrete was inspected :
This is simply using the greater cross section of the tip and the hardness and strength of the handle material in ways which would not be functional with a knife such as the Opinel. However the steel makes such work problematic because it is very brittle, it fractures easily and has very low grindability. That makes for a difficult combination as it is easily damaged and very hard to restore.
Ergonomics : there are a few issues with ergonomics some are minor such as while the inside of the scales are tremendously better than a lot of other knives where they are left actually sharp, they could be fully rounded. Again, to be clear, the Modulator does chamfer all of the edges, if it is compared for example to something like the K2/Farid from Spyderco then then difference is night/day a chamfered edge is far more comfortable than a square one.
However there are two fairly significant issues :
The abrasive nature of the copper wires coming out at random makes shirt/clip carry awkward as it keeps digging into the skin. The video at the right talks a little about the wire in a comparison of two recurve folders, the Modulator and 710-axis.
Versatility : the grip is not restricted to specific holds/hand positions and is equally capable in
Again, the inside of the scales could be fully rounded, but they are chamfered and they do provide indexing and if gloves are used they could be desired to be that way for increased traction.
Now a note should likely be made about forward sabre grips as there is no distinct finger choil and the index finger just lands in that area of the edge which is not sharpened. It works, but practically safety is a concern for all but the lightest of use.
The only real weakness in regards to the grip is the lack of functional jimping on the thumbramp. Now jimping is one of those issues like using a knife to split wood which often is so controversial it is like arguing over if there was a virgin birth. However in this case it isn't the fact that jimping is or isn't there, that could be discussed, it is a much more straightforward point :
There is a thumbramp which is an obvious grip point, there is jimping on it which is normally used for indexing and traction, however the jimping is so well rounded that there is no significant grip/friction increase. Ironically the jimping is more well rounded than the handle scales.
Now it is possible to go too far and have jimping so aggressive that it requires gloves, common on ZT knives. But it is also possible to strike a balance between comfort and utility, Chris Reeve for example does this very well on the standard Sebenza.
Security : the flipper makes a decent pseudo guard (amplified by the index finger choil). The handle is also much wider than it is thick so it is stable against turning. In general it is a fairly secure grip, aside from the non-functional jimping.
Durability : the only real durability issue is the copper wire. It comes out, is cut off and this repeats with reduced frequency - but then that means that the actual aesthetics of the pattern are also compromised as it becomes not lightening strike carbon fibre any more as it wears in a random manner. In short, it really isn't a sensible choice for a working handle - though the aesthetics can obviously be attractive at first.
Other than that point, like all titanium grips it is very easy scratches compared to steel and it shows scratches (as most metals do) more prominent than materials like G10/Micarta. However a lot of people tend to view this similar to a patina on a carbon steel blade.
Clip : the clip is the most obvious weak point of the handle in regards to ergonomics as it prints heavily and in any significant work it hot spots in the hand. Now to be clear this is very dependent on hand size and shape but compared to what is available this is a very basic clip and looks out of place on a knife which has had so much refinement/development.
There are many makers who are doing very nice clips which are both comfortable and functional and have high aesthetics such as :
On this knife, it just looks like an afterthought and doesn't well seem to match the rest of the design/implementation. The clip was in fact quickly removed to make the knife comfortable/ergonomic in hand to allow extended use without discomfort.
The Modulator has a first generation integral lock and lacks the details and enhancements of many modern integrals due to the work and effort of makers such as :
It also has the known and common issues of integrals :
However for what is it, it is well executed :
In regards to the detent, it is very strong however due to the roller thrust bearings partial openings are rare.
Nominal composition of S110V :
Note the very high carbon content, very high amount of strong carbide formers (vanadium and niobium) which produces the very high volume of carbide shown in the image at the right. The chromium is kept to a minimum to ensure that chromium carbide (which is a softer/larger carbide) is kept to a minimum as it has a low toughness/wear resistance gain compared to vanadium/niobium carbide. The niobium produces a higher free chromium and produces smaller and finer carbides than vanadium. The cobalt keeps the ferrite out of the final as-quenched form and thus preserves the strength of the steel.
Edge retention slicing cardboard, initially showed low performance which leveled off into mid to high. With a 15 dps/25 micron micro-bevel, the performance looked to be suffering due to lack of apex stability 1 .
Durability, the large volume fraction of carbide in S110V does cause a fairly significant disadvantage which is loss of :
Now for smaller knives, the lack of impact toughness isn't likely a critical issue as they simply are not heavily impacted outside of MBC use in particular applications. However for general use, the low ductility can be an issue when combined with the low apex stability which means that the apex will collapse readily under point loads due to fractures on or around/through the carbides.
For general utility, this means when the knife isn't used on clean materials, or hits hard inclusions such as staples, it doesn't tend to just flatten, it tends to chip/fracture which means more material is lost. If this is combined with the low grindability it means a lot of time is needed on fairly decent costing stones to restore it. However that chipping can create a sort of jagged / ripping edge which could be preferred to some.
In regards to sharpening, after some significant use the edge was checked under magnification and the edge tended to blunt by chipping. The thickness of the steel about 10 microns in the areas of the fractures.
Now to be clear, fracture can always be resolved by simply increasing the edge and apex angle until it stops happening, just add steel to the edge until it is tough enough through cross section alone. The problem with this though is that cutting ability will decrease as the angles are raised and edge retention with a coarse grit on a slice will also degrade.
The choice then can be to trade off :
Beyond the issue with chipping, there are a few general issues with the knife in regards to sharpening : though :
The three of these combined together are a bit problematic in both use and sharpening. That green arrow in the image on the right is where the sharpened edge starts, beyond that the edge isn't apexed. In use this means if contact is made there there is no cutting, the knife just slips.
As this knife was sharpened, the thicker blade bevel near the base also meant that the edge bevel in that region widened significantly which likely would compromise aesthetics to some, in general it decreases ease of sharpening by increasing sharpening time.
Corrosion resistance ,
as a simple check on corrosion resistance
they all took minor amounts of surface rust was was easily cleaned off with a simple cloth. Now to be clear, the surface finishes on each are different and this can readily effect corrosion resistance. The S110 had the highest (most polished surface), the Temperance and S125V were more coarse.
Overview :
The clip was removed increase ergonomics and the edge was continually sharpened further back in the choil area.
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Most of the pictures in the above are in the PhotoBucket album.
1
: Edge Retention slicing cardboard, 15 dps/25 micron, various steels
| Last updated : | |
| Originally written: | 28/06/2013 |