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Reate Making Waves by Freezing the Edge

April 23, 2016

They took on Todd Begg’s Steelcraft challenge and more recently helped Liong Mah hide the flipper tab on his new SDC (Slim-Daily-Carry). With news of its collaborations with big name custom knife brands, one might forget Reate Knives is also a brand of its own. The company’s latest announcement concerns a new knife under its own label that serves as a tangible reminder.

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Reate Wave Flipper
It’s called the Wave, and it’s designed by Solo Jack, who also designed the Reate Torrent. The new flipper has a lot of typical Reate touches: an intricately machined handle with three-tone anodized titanium inlay, sculpted titanium pocket clip, ball-bearing pivot, and ceramic bearing detent. With a 3.125” blade, the Wave is one of the smallest knives Reate has ever produced, and at 3.76 oz. it’s also the lightest. Reate makes most of their knives with S35VN blade steel, but the Wave’s blade is made of M390, a popular super steel from Austria’s Böhler.

Reate Wave Flipper

Freeze Edging Skill
In the official Wave reveal from Reate, the company also took the time to publicize a proprietary machining technology that makes their blades special. Reate calls it ‘Freeze Edging Skill,’ a process that employs a cooling system during edge grinding in order to prevent the steel from dis-tempering or annealing.

The edge bevel can get very hot during the sharpening process because production knives are ground by high-speed machines. Reate’s David Deng who is an engineer by training, points out that if this temperature change isn’t addressed it can produce blades that under-perform when it comes to sharpness and edge retention.

To address the problem, Reate outfits their equipment for Freeze Edging Skill cooling. “This process will make a sharp blade more wearable and durable, and will not reduce the hardness after [heat] treatment,” says David Deng.

Freeze Edging Skill is not being introduced with the Wave, but is a process Reate applies to all the blades that leave its shop. Liong Mah recently told us that Deng personally inspects every Reate made knife to ensure it meets his standards.

The Wave will be available very soon and you can already pre-order one from leading dealers.

Knife feature in image: Reate Wave

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