Folding Knives
My speciality is handcrafting folding knives from high hardness, high wear resistant steels up to 70+ HRC. My goal is the perfect fusion of aesthetics and performance. A knife must both perform and look very good.
Currently, I offer one standard folding knife model that can be modified in many ways. Alternatively, I'm happy to craft a folding knife for you based entirely on your own design and preferences. Please feel free to contact me to discuss this by using the button below.
Turbo
The Turbo is designed to fuse form and function on another level. Optimized blade geometry provides effortless cutting. Exclusive materials and tight Swiss tolerances make it a joy to use in your EDC rotation and having it in your collection. I offer the Turbo in so many materials and combinations that I can hardly show all of them here, but you will find a picture gallery below presenting a small selection of past work. These pictures can serve as inspiration for your personal Turbo build.
All my knives are made by hand and on conventional machine tools by me personally. With each knife, you get a handcrafted heirloom piece.
Steels
Stainless:
M398 (65 HRC)
Vanax Superclean (61 HRC)
RWL34 (64 HRC)
Damasteel Damascus (64 HRC, several patterns)
Damacore Damascus (61 HRC or 64 HRC core)
Non Stainless:
CPM REX 121 (70+ HRC)
S390 (68 HRC)
S290 (70 HRC)
Vancron Superclean (68 HRC)
Vanadis 8 (66 HRC)
K390 (65 HRC)
...and many more! In addition to the above steels, which are permanently available, I always have a wide range of exotic steels in stock, such as Nitrobe77, ZDP-189, SG2, Z-Wear, Z-Tuff and Uddeholm Caldie. I also have access to pretty much every steel available on the market. So if you are looking for something specific, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I heat treat all steels using my own heat treatment process, which significantly refines the microstructure. Depending on the steel, the heat treatment can require over 72 hrs excluding the cryo treatment. After austenitizing and quenching, the blade undergoes three to four final cryogenic treatments at -190°C and up to four tempering cycles in order to squeeze out every last bit of performance from the steel.
Materials
Handle material
When choosing handle materials, the only limits are your own imagination. Whether carbon fibre, stabilised wood, nitinol or mammoth ivory – I am happy to fulfil your personal wishes!
As there are so many beautiful materials available, I cannot even begin to list all the possibilities here. If you are looking for inspiration, please take a look at the pictures and videos below.
As a general rule: I work with any material that is not subject to import restrictions and is suitable for being used in a folding knife.
Locking mechanism
I offer the Turbo as liner lock, frame lock and bolster lock.
Finish
As standard, I apply a belt satin finish to the blade, which runs from the back of the blade towards the cutting edge and has a matt sheen.
The alternative to this is ‘hand satin’, which runs parallel along the back of the blade and has a silky matt sheen. Due to the sometimes extreme hardnesses and vanadium contents of the steels I use, please be aware that the extra charge for a hand satin varies significantly from steel to steel!
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions; I will be happy to help.
Details
Simply using high-performance steels would be boring. That's why I grind each Turbo blade down to a thin edge bgeometry. The thickness behind the cutting bevel is a maximum of 0.3 millimetres / 0.0118 in thick, and can be ground significantly thinner if the customer so desires. This thin geometry allows the steel to unfoldits full potential: the resistance during cutting is kept very low due to the thin thickness behind the cutting edge, and the lateral load on the cutting edge is lightened . In combination with the highly wear-resistant powder metallurgical steel grades, this results in exceptionally long edgelife.
Despite the thin thickness behind the edge, the blade is very tough regardless of the steel used and can be used normally like any other knife. These seemingly connflicting properties of hardness and toughness are made possible bymy heat treat:
Thermal processes developed in-house refine the structure of the steel for maximum stability against breakouts by enabling ideal anchoring of the carbides in the steel matrix. Carefully calculated and observed holding times during final austenitisation prevent excessive grain growth and lay the foundation for a low retained austenite content. This low retained austenite content leads to very minor burr formation and very easy deburring during resharpening and provides one of the foundations for my now famously high edge retention.
Grinding wet under a steady stream of coolant from full thickness after heat treatment ensures that the heat treat doesn't get compromised in the very end.
The Turbo is a knife that doesn't stop at fancy materials. It is infused with high performance through and through to the literal core!
Dimensions
Blade Length: 90mm / 3.543 in
Opened Length: 195mm / 7.677 in
Closed Length: 113mm /4.448 in
Blade Thickness: 3.5 or 3.8mm / 0.138 or 0.149 in
Handle thickness: Depending on whether frame lock or liner lock 12-14mm / 0.472 to 0.551 in
Ordering
If you already know exactly how you want to build your turbo, please use the button below. If you are still unsure or have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at contact@kase-knives.com!
Inquire now!