Grohmann D.H. Russell Lockblade folding knife

Overall this is a sturdy knife, which is build up in traditional style and should fit wide variety of tasks. In lot of regards it reminds to the Buck110, i.e. a time proven construction and design, by its own, accompanied with lovely old time vibe. However, Grohmann stands out with its lower - and very well balanced - weight, longer blade and elliptic shape. In fact, the elliptic shape design noticeably extends the functionality of the knife, which I assume as its main advantage. The construction is solid and the knife can take reasonable amount of hard use. The steel on the blade is mid-range stainless steel (comparable to AUS6) which in use behaves well (good impact resistance at acceptable wear resistance). The grind of the blade is flat sabre grind with secondary v-edge. The 3 mm spine thickness gives confidence in the heavy duty tasks, but also shows up tendency to split rather than cut, e.g. vegetables and fruits. The handle is more squared and bulky, but still comfortable at any grip position. The sheath which came with the knife is fine. However, I would note few aspects which, of course, could be particular for my knife. When unboxed and first opened the knife, there was a lot of dirt (mixture of wood powder and oil perhaps left from the machining processes) inside it, between the liners where the blade folds. The knife was still functional, but I did not expect that. The chamfering of the bolster was not even. The transition between the back spacer and the liners is done fine, but not completely smooth. The jumpings on the spine are even, but not perpendicular to the spine itself. The cutting edge (i.e. the grinding line of the secondary v-edge) stops at about 8 mm from the plunge line. (In fact, from this point towards the plunge line the angle of the primary bevel gradually increases which improves the strength of the blade at its basis, but for the account of reduced cutting edge length.) When snap the blade in closed position, it appears to impact on the back-lock spring and gets some local rolling as a consequence. These flaws should be addressed completely to the manufacturer, as quality control issues. Unfortunately, it just draws back this greatly designed knife. I do not regret about purchasing the product, just expected more attention to the details from the side of the manufacturer.