This New Knife’s Unprecedented Transforming Power Isn’t Even Its Coolest Feature

With roots in knife and tool sharpening dating back to 1973, Work Sharp knows a bit about what makes a quality pocket knife.

Over all that time, the 52-year-old Ashland, Oregon outfit had never crossed over into actual knife manufacture — until now.

Work Sharp

Perhaps the brand was waiting to make certain it could bring something new and different to the space, which is exactly what is happening with the recently announced Work Sharp RMX series.

Short for Replaceable Mechanism Exchange, these knives boast the first-ever interchangeable pivot cartridge, enabling you to transform one from a manual folder to a push-button automatic in minutes.

As attention-grabbing as that capability is, from a practical perspective, it may not even be the most noteworthy quality.

Fast-switch muscles

Before I dig into the other newsworthy aspects, I should do proper justice to the manual-to-automatic tech, which is pretty unheard of.

With its background in knife maintenance, the Work Sharp design team has made it possible to use an included 2mm hex to swap out the ball-bearing pivot for a spring-loaded one.

From there, you can slowly twist the pivot screw to optimize the tension required for a fast or slow automatic deployment.

From a legal standpoint, that makes it easier to carry and even ship this knife more freely, while also giving you the choice of how you’d like to deploy the blade.

While I would love to see a thumb stud to aid with manual deployment, that is still pretty freaking cool.

Work Sharp

A perhaps even cooler byproduct? The easy teardown and reassembly makes servicing and maintaining the knife much easier, leaning into right to repair in a very welcome way.

Also on the horizon is modularity: it is possible that down the road you’ll be able to use the provided tools to mix and match blades and handles however you desire.

Value proposition

Speaking of different blades, I should note that when this collection becomes available for purchase, at Blade Show and online June 6th, you will have a few options. 

The standard full-size RMX will come with a 3.2-inch reverse tanto CPM-3V steel blade with a full flat grind or a 3.2 inch drop-point M390 steel blade with a saber grind.

A third option, the RMX Compact, will feature a 2.4-inch drop-point blade, also made of M390 steel with a saber grind.

Work Sharp

Which leads me to the part that may excite knife knerds even more than the adjustable deployment. 

See, while Work Sharp has never made knives before, the brand has relationships with material suppliers all over the world. 

Leveraging those, it was able to widely source the RMX’s ingredients, enabling it to procure high-quality pieces at reasonable prices, pull everything in and meticulously assemble everything in Ashland.

That’s what enables them to produce integral button-lock knives for less than $150, less than half of any other USA-made option. 

Work Sharp

Complementing the high-quality steel are handle scales derived from a somewhat unusual material, magnesium, which Work Sharp chose for its rare blend of lightness and stiffness.

That’s a big reason the drop-point RMX weighs 2.7 ounces, the reverse tanto weighs 2.4 ounces and the RMX Compact weights 2.24 ounces.

Both the blades and scales also boast a Cerakote treatment, which boosts resistance to abrasion, wear, corrosion and chemicals.

That said, if you need any help with maintenance, you’ve come to the right place. In addition to these three innovative knives, Work Sharp currently makes, oh, 29 different sharpeners.

Availability and pricing

Work Sharp’s RMX Knives will be available for purchase June 6th. The RMX Compact will cost $130 while the two RMXs will cost $140. You can sign up here to be notified the moment they drop.

Work Sharp

Work Sharp RMX Knives

• Learn More

Related Topics