Brother F005 Sheath Knife ( D2 )

[old4570]

Ordered a few months ago in hopes of getting it some time in 2021 .... ( yay )

A) Knife seems to be ok ( Looks / Feels )
B) Sheath is kydex and does not tick any boxes for me
C) Thankfully I have a leather sheath that looks to work ( Spare )

There was some rough spots on the edge , and I stropped them away ..
Edge is Scandi with a micro bevel / edge .. ( Hmmmm )
Do I fully scandi the edge after I test the factory edge ... (?) I have wanted a D2 scandi , for sure ..
Spine is sharp enough for a ferrite rod ... So should throw sparks .
I have wanted this one for most of 2021 , or since finding out it existed !
Should be interesting !

 

[old4570]

Factory Edge slices rope ..
First 50 was ok ..
100 still ok
150 and it's getting to be work
200 Fail and it was hard work to slice rope .

Re Sharpen !
OMG .... Getting rid of that Micro Bevel = Massive PITA !!!

 

[Randall]

I don't understand micro bevel on a scandi - it is instantly thicker behind the edge and will only get worse the more it is sharpened. A scandi in contrast will always remain the same thickness behind the edge. The downside of removing a micro bevel is all the material that has to be removed to get it back to a scandi. I imagine your wheel will make short work of it though . It will also be a bit of a concave which will make it even slighter more thin behind the edge - it should be a wicked slicer!

 

[old4570]

Hmmmm .

Blade Geometry: The variability in scandi, sabre, and flat grinds

Not all knives are ground alike. The actual angle of the blade edge varies even within specific blade profiles or grind styles. This article explores the blade geometry of the scandi, sabre, and flat grind to help you make a more informed choice on your next knife.

www.redrootblades.com

So a Scandi with a micro bevel is a little like a sabre .. Only the bevel is barely visible to the eye ( Micro Bevel )

100% Scandi = Fragile edge due to how thin it is and often edge rolls when the going gets tough .
For light work , the Scandi can be brilliant . For hard work , a PITA !
Which is why some people cheat by putting a micro bevel on their scandi to help avoid the edge roll .

It took me close to 3 hours to remove the micro bevel ..
As this knife is touted as being Scandi , not Sabre ...
And I had to do it by hand , which was brutal .
So right now , I have a 100% Scandi edge on the Brother F005 D2 ( I had to put it there ) .

 

[Randall]

For sure. The supposed beauty of scandi is ease of freehand sharpening and cutting (not slicing). It seems a bit backward to modify a particular design to get the knife to act like a different design and lose the strengths of the scandi in the process - cutting and ease of freehand sharpening. A hard use flat grind knife with 20° bevel would be a reasonably tough knife depending on other geometry etc - I have quite a few of those. A scandi could suit someone who wanted to keep things simple - one knife and a stone.

Quite a few scandi knives seem tough enough even for bushcraft use; some of the moras. I have an enzo birk with thick blade stock that cuts like crazy, it's tough and considered a bushcraft folder. A bit too heavy for me when walking or riding - it's one of my workers.

 

[old4570]

Re Sharpened and put to the rope ...
First 20 slices were like a laser scalpel , scary sharp !
Then I felt a slight loss in cutting power , ( Edge Roll )
And sure enough , the edge had rolled at the 50 slice paper slice test ..
At 100 slices the roll was a little worse
At 150 slices the roll was , diminishing
At 200 slices the roll was , well I could not feel it .
At 250 slices , it was a fail . At the point where the roll was the worst , the edge had given up .

This was also the least sharp part of the blade .
The factory grind was not that even , and where the roll was the worst there was a small rise / lump / in the Scandi edge ...
And it took a lot of work to try and level things out ..
I did more work today to try and even things out ( getting close ) ...

Push come to shove , 250 is not a great performance .. Especially for D2 (?)

I have to say , that re sharpening to a true Scandi edge just made the knife a better cutter .
Even though it was hard work to get there and an extra 50 slices is ??????????????? ..
The mods to the sheath ( shown in the video ) , were well worth the effort . ( Even though I burned my finger tips a little )

Hmmmm , an average knife for the average money , and by no means perfect .
Knife for it's size is a little heavy , a little top heavy ( weight to the handle ) . Slices well enough , feels good in the hand ( except for the balance ) .. Some people might prefer more weight to the handle / hand .
I like the size , and the knife would have been better if lighter . There is a lot of steel for the size of the knife ( Crowbar ? )

Good size , over weight , average performance , average price , sheath needs work , can't really recommend it .
If you have to have one (?) ...
I watched too many reviews crowing about this knife and I have to really wonder (?) Why ?