They say that second albums are the toughest, but how about one that's got a whole second disk tucked in the back?
With the Macaroni Maxi, herewith do I enter the select brotherhood of Products With Silly And Insistent Typographical Embellishments, vis-a-vis the italicization in its name which is a joke I'll only make once. Well, okay, twice. Look, at least I didn't use any cAmel cAps.
The Macaroni Maxi is like unto my Macaroni knife, which you may already be familiar with, just larger. There, that's it. Job done. That really could be all you need to know about it, but just leaving it there isn't going to fill up the rest of this space.
As usual, this had an aspect of serendipity to it. I made the Macaroni out of offcuts of steel, and as it turns out I had one offcut that was longer than the other. Waste not, want not. So I used the whole thing. The Maxi version of the Macaroni is still a mildly ridiculous 1/4" thick chunk of D2 steel but this time it's 4-5/8" long overall with as luck would have it exactly a 3" long blade. 2-7/8" of that is the alarmingly sharp Scandi ground and microbeveled edge, with the remainder being a large choil cutout for your index finger. Thus the Maxi is basically the size of a lot of ordinary pocketknives. You can think of it as the folder that doesn't fold.
As a result of that the Macaroni Maxi is astoundingly robust. It is unlikely that any mere mortal will be able to apply enough leverage to break it in any circumstances. I heat treated these to achieve a 62 HRC hardness which is higher than my much larger Emperor, but I figure a knife like this will be much more suited to regular cutting jobs where edge retention is key rather than felling redwoods in a single stroke like some kind of back woods samurai, so toughness is less important of an aspect.
Hardness and toughness in a steel are almost completely mutually exclusive, by the way. Anyone whose marketing department tires to tell you otherwise probably isn't quite telling you the whole truth. I, meanwhile, am always telling the truth. Wouldn't you trust a beak like this? Besides, I haven't got a marketing department.
The edge is a completely flat Scandi grind which I only polished down to a certain point. As I worked on this, I decided that the radial pattern in the bevel was rather attractive in its way, so I left it visible rather than sanding it down into nothing. Likewise with the finish on the flat parts of the knife. There's a pleasing juxtaposition between the horizontal grain of the flats and the radial one on the bevel. Alright, the art snob moment is over. Instead, we'll say this about that: The finish will also hide scratches and wear from use more readily than if I'd mirror polished it. I own several mirror polished knives already, and they annoy me.
The edge, meanwhile, is done down to 2000 grit and is exceptionally fine. It pretty much is a mirror, but you have to peer at it under magnification to see that.
Indeed, no rope nor cord nor box nor branch should give you any pause when you've got the Macaroni Maxi in your hand. The entirety of its upswept tip plus almost all of its edge, excepting only about a quarter inch right at the base, can be brought to bear on a flat surface or on your cutting board. The Maxi would be equally at home in your pocket on your belt as it would be on your backpack strap.
The handle scales are solid 3D printed ABS, mounted with 10mm diameter hollow bolts. These are dismountable by way of a 5mm Allen key, and thus readily replaced or customized. Extra credit will be awarded to those who spotted that these are 100% identical to the scales on the regular Macaroni. Why reinvent the wheel?
You can use either of the bolts as an attachment point for a lanyard as well if that's your preference.
Originally I devised a sheath that is also the same 3D printed design as on the smaller Macaroni, just suitably upscaled. However, for purposes of sale to the general public I chickened out on this plan. Your Maxi will come with a traditional Kydex sheath and a reinforced polymenr belt/pocket clip arrangement. The clip is movable, removable, and can be put on either side of the sheath in any of four positions for either left or right handed use. The clip's a commodity product and is kind of a one size fits none situation. I'm pleased with them overall but the top of the clip is tall enough that it sticks up slightly above the tip of the handle. There's a small degree of adjustment there, but the knife is going to ride low on your belt. On the plus side, these should be more than large enough to accommodate even up to a 2" wide pistol belt, if that's your kind of thing.
