Military CTS204P B4 & After

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Since I am going to re-profile this knife on the Wicked Edge Pro 3 I decided to take pictures of the process and share them. In the pictures immediately below you will see pictures taken of the Knife assembled then disassembled.

You will see rust present on the pivot and choil as well as the internals like I have said many times before "FLORIDA" Hot and Humid steel rusts just from contact with the air, all part of living next to the Atlantic Ocean. Something neat about CTS204P is that rust you see will rub right off. Must be a Chromium Oxide layer or something that allows for this.

I will take care of the rust later as during the sharpening process I wet the stones with a soap and water solution to keep the dust down and out of my lungs.

The pictures of the blade are a factory edge that has only been touched up on the Spyderco Golden stone and later the sharp-maker brown rods. These pictures of the blade are immediately after cutting / breaking down a bunch of cardboard. The current condition is not acceptable at all.

There are allot of pictures taken on both sides of the blade with a USB Microscope along the length of the blade. Should be neat to see the finished product under the microscope.

I typically remove the blade from the handle to re-profile as this keeps the Diamond and Steel slurry out of the pivot and gives me an excuse to clean things up a bit.

You will also see pictures of the Knife taped and then the tape sealed with 3 coats of finger nail polish (Probably should have only used 2 coats) and the exposed steel coated as well courtesy of my lady donating finger nail polish she did not care for.

The purpose of the tape and the polish is to prevent the Diamond and Steel slurry from scratching the satin finish of the blade which I have had happen as unbelievable as that sounds.


Enjoy.... It is a work in progress will post more as time and progress permits. :spyder:

[vivi]

I feel your pain when it comes to rust. Living somewhere warm and wet will do that. I love it when someone says "well just oil the blade!" That ain't gonna keep the liners from rusting, or the pivot where the oil will rub off from friction, etc.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

It sure doesn't I was a bit surprised to see so much of the liners stop pin etc so rusty. This is a grand example of how Spyderco can CQI their entire line with LC200N or H1 charge another $10.00 or so per knife if needed and get some great PR bragging rights and improve the products considerably over competitors.

That is assuming these two steels are appropriate for such applications which I believe LC200N is as they use it in the salt series for the same described purpose do they not?

[vivi]

It sure doesn't I was a bit surprised to see so much of the liners stop pin etc so rusty. This is a grand example of how Spyderco can CQI their entire line with LC200N or H1 charge another $10.00 or so per knife if needed and get some great PR bragging rights and improve the products considerably over competitors.

That is assuming these two steels are appropriate for such applications which I believe LC200N is as they use it in the salt series for the same described purpose do they not?

Another thing they could do is offer more models with DLC liners. My Manix XL DLC has never rusted anywhere, which is unheard of for me with a non-salt folder. Those DLC liners make a huge difference.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

It sure doesn't I was a bit surprised to see so much of the liners stop pin etc so rusty. This is a grand example of how Spyderco can CQI their entire line with LC200N or H1 charge another $10.00 or so per knife if needed and get some great PR bragging rights and improve the products considerably over competitors.

That is assuming these two steels are appropriate for such applications which I believe LC200N is as they use it in the salt series for the same described purpose do they not?

Another thing they could do is offer more models with DLC liners. My Manix XL DLC has never rusted anywhere, which is unheard of for me with a non-salt folder. Those DLC liners make a huge difference.

I'll bet I just got my M$ DLC MIllie in yesterday and that is one sweet knife, might want to consider getting one while they are still on the primary market. Having both DLc and sati I like the DLC Jade better.

One odd thing they did though was they left the two middle spacers non DLC yet coated the stop pin and lanyard tube. Pretty strange to me and makes no sense at all.