Manufacturer:- www.shingcrafts.co.uk
Dealer:- www.shingcrafts.co.uk
Purchase Price :- Varies on spec. Knife shown £115 + D2 £10 + Bolsters £10 + Carbon Handle £20 + Red Liners £??
Blade Length:- 68mm 2.678"
Blade Thickness :- 3.2mm 0.125"
Blade Material:- D2 Tool Steel
Blade Hardness:- Not Stated but probably 58-60 HRC
Handle Thickness:- 13mm 0.511"
Handle Width Open:- 23.11mm 0.910"
Handle Width Closed:- 28.15mm 1.108"
Overall Length:- 178mm "
Closed Length:- 103.65mm 4.080"
Blade Finish :- Brushed
Edge :- Plain Edge
Handle:- Carbon Fibre
Handle Finish :- Hand Rubbed matt finish
Weight :- 156gm 5 1/2oz
Lock:- None. Slip joint Folder

Thanks to Tim for selling me this excellent hand made knife and allowing me to jump the waiting list for one directly from Shing. Although I can see me wanting another one in the future but more on that later!

What we have here is a nice U.K. legal Slip joint folding pocket knife. But don't let that fool you into thinking this is like most slip joints you have seen because this one is a little different. Different in a good way.

It is probably the most substantially built slip joint I have seen to date. With over engineering applied to every aspect of the knife. This sort of design really does appeal to me and even my non knife person (NKP) friend said he thought it was really well made. So I think you could use this knife for quite a multitude of tasks that perhaps a lighter built knife would be wholly unsuitable for. But please bear in mind that this is a slip joint knife. It is sometimes easy to forget this as there is little to no blade play when open.

The back spring is strong to say the least. This is not a knife for the weak fingered. But the plus side is there is little to no chance of this knife ever coming open in your pocket.

The nail nick in the blade is deep and gives a good grip. Just watch your nails on that spring again though. I tend to open the blade with the nick to about 30 degrees and then firmly grasp the flat of the blade between my thumb and index finger to open the rest of the way. All the time keeping by fingers and hand well away from the edge. This may sound like sucking eggs but the spring and the razor edge would cause serious damage if you do not take care.

Let's take a closer look at the construction of the knife. It is primarily made from Stainless Steel. The liners are 2mm thick and in this case the back spring and blade are 3.2mm. The blade on this one is D2 a good choice for a knife blade. But as these are custom made knives you can ask for a large variety of materials and styles.

I really like the red fibre liners with the carbon handle scales on this one.

The knife is constructed with parts that are all screwed together with torx screws. This means that it can be taken apart for cleaning or maintenance or for updating with say a different knife blade material. These are all nice features to have. I have currently resisted the urge to do this myself though as everything works so well at the moment.

There are a couple of things that I found were not quite to my liking. But I can live with one and fix the other.

The first one was the very sharp edge left on the back of the blade. This was digging into my thumb when rested on the top of the open blade. Easy to fix though. I just carefully rubbed my Gatco pocket sharpener along each edge until it was dulled enough not to dig in.

The second was the hard 90 Degree edge at the rear of the blade when closed. This is again quite sharpe and can dig into your leg when the knife is carried in your pocket. But this is easily resolved by using a small knife pouch. This machined edge is also important in giving a very close fit when the blade is open against the back spring.

So enough on what I don't like. Let's move onto what I do like. The fit and finish of all the components is really very good indeed. The bolsters, Liners and back spring all fit together perfectly, with no gaps or miss alignments. The torx screws that hold everything together give it a little more style than a plain riveted handle would. All the Stainless Steel parts have a uniform brushed finish to them. A few micro scratches on my knife were soon polished out with my Micro Mesh kit which I also use for my stainless steel watch bands.

The blade is a decent size and has a useful point on it to help with piercing or drilling small holes. The blade is bushed with phosphor bronze washers. This helps with the reduced blade play and should ensure that the pivot does not wear too much over time as it is self lubricating.

The edge on the knife is pretty sharpe but not quite as good as some of my other blades. But to be fair it is second hand and I am not sure what it has cut with the first owner. I will probably give it a run over with the Edge Pro next time I have a sharpening session. The D2 should be reasonably easy to get a fine edge on.

The blade is flat ground with a secondary bevel and tapers towards the tip. The grind is very even and a small nick fininshes the rear of the sharpened edge.

In use the knife sits well in my medium sized hands. The large handle is comfortable and the carbon scales give a good gripping surface. Probably not so good when wet. But I hope not to have to use this in the rain.

I would now like another version of this knife with my own choice of materials. I think an all Titanium liners/bolsters with an S30V blade would work well. It should also make the whole kife a lot lighter for pocket carry.

A fantastic knife from one of a growing number of makers at the Britsh Blades site. I've met Shing on several occasions and he never fails to amaze me with his skill in producing fine edged tools. I look forward to any future products with interest. How about a locking version of the above to start with? :-)

Manufacturer:- www.shingcrafts.co.uk

More info this and other knives here

www.britishblades.com