I (think I) chipped my Triple Cut, Sterile, Steel Heart today...

[DowntownDM]

that's right - I have a Triple Cut, Sterile, Steel Heart... and, best (or worst) of all - I think I chipped it today (gasp).

what's this nonsense you say?

here, lemme 'splain how this works: you take a DC CG ASH1, hand sand it Satin, use it a bunch, then have it re-beadblasted.

that's right... and what you're left with is what I've jokingly dubbed a Triple Cut, Sterile, (Anniversary) Steel Heart.

here - check it out, and look at how the layers and details really came out in the Magnum Black G10 after the re-beadblasting:







pretty cool I think.

[DowntownDM]

but wait, there's more...

as I was sitting upon a rock admiring the wonderful view of the Rocky Mountains I saw a rusty old chain fastened around a dead fallen tree:



then I thought to myself: what would I do if some crazy person chained me to a tree out here and all I had was my trusty ole Busse?

so I decided to test this Steel Heart's mettle harder than I've ever tested it before and I took aim upon this rusty old chain and hit it once:



that left a pretty good dent in the chain, but, alas, at least in my mind, I was still chained to a tree out in the middle of nowhere - so I kept on.

all in all I took about 20 swings, though missed it all together or glanced it mostly, until, finally, I broke on through to the other side:

[DowntownDM]

elated as I was, to be free and all, my happiness soon turned to mild shock when I noticed what looks like a chipped/chunked edge:



still in partial disbelief, it is INFI after all, I took a closer look (and more photos) and sure enough (though I'm no expert) - I think I chipped it:





honestly, I expected some edge damage - I mean, I beat the shit out of it against that rusty old chain, but it held up pretty well I'd say...

in any case, do you folks think it's really a chip? I sure seems like one, which is different from the dents and such fore and aft of the chunk.

I guess I'll have to send it in to the shop, but I'd be surprised if they warrantied it (I did beat it against a rusty old chain after all)...

anyway, I thought I'd share my experiences today and show you all the photos, and speaking of photos - here's that view I mentioned:

[Jaxx]

What the heck did ya do that for? LOL, go and refinish a sweet ASH (nice job, BTW), and then go whack a rusty chain with it??? Do ya miss Jarvis that much? Well, thanks to you, I now know that if I'm ever chained up in the woods, and the person who did it to me was crazy enough to leave me with my ASH instead of kill me with it, I'm home free!!

Yeah, I'd go with "chunked"...

EDIT: maybe you hit the same spot twice?? may have caused it to "chunk out" on the second blow, but who knows?? Nice pix, BTW!

[DowntownDM]

see... all in the name of good clean fun, solid research, and looking out for the rest of you Hogs and Piglets (it's a tough job, but someone has to do it...).

[Varulv]

hahaha crazy
I would do that...but with a $10 cheaper than dirt rough use knife. btw i doubt i could be able to break-cut the chain.

[papathud]

Well Duuuhhh.

But now you are Free!!!!.

Absolutely worth it.

Now you know.

You can free your self if chained to a tree.

"Chip Happens" Dude.

[foxyrick]

Interesting test... The infi came off far better than any other steel would!

I would guess that it would have been better to baton the blade through the chain though - less stress on the blade that way. Fancy trying it again that way for comparison???

[hotrodKelley]

It's INFI, but it's still a knife.

Very nice story and pictures. Where in the Rockies?
I lived in Security for awhile. God I miss that place. Looked at Pikes Peak every morning. Just beautiful!

Thanks again for the documentary. You should of made a video of it and put it on YouTube.

[DowntownDM]

"Chip Happens"... Nice.

As for the location, this is near Big Elk Meadows on the edge of the Roosevelt National Forest, between Lyons and Estes Park, and about 20min from my place. I'm fortunate enough to see Longs Peak and the Front Range every day, but I still try to get deeper into the mountains about once a week to hike or camp or snowboard or whatever else I'm in the mood and have the time for. I love it here.

[giant1]

Great test and photos.

The INFI held up pretty well considering the abuse it went through

[dingy]

so weet , great job you have did, and how about the broken chain? what is Diameter of the chain?
hahah.

[DowntownDM]

I'm guessing the chain was about .20 thick, with the welds being about .22; and despite the rust - that thing was solid, not the least bit fragile...

I wailed on it nearly as hard as I could. I wish I had slow-mo video of it so we could've seen the hits and the actual breakage and chipping/chunking.

[steelnut]

That's not a wimpy chain!

[silverdragon33]

nice! that'll take a little while to get out, but sure seems worth it.

[RoyalM]

Nice work, that's a fairly decent sized chain and it can't have been easy to take the first swing at it. Good to see infi out there getting tested.

If it where me I might have been tempted to chop the tree through? Then I could've kept the chain as some sort of trophy.

Once you get the edge reground it'll be fine and at least you have a good story to tell. I predict at this rate you'll make a B2 out of that ASH within 2 years.

[DowntownDM]

here are a couple of other random photos of the view and the cool clouds. enjoy.







I post more tomorrow if there's any interest.

[Jerry Busse]

Based on how the knife was used (loved), I would venture to guess that the missing piece of the edge was most likely damaged when it was wedged into a link and then torn out by the chain's movement during chopping! Had the chain link been stationary there might have been some dents but I doubt that there would have been any tears or rips in the edge. When steel chips, it almost always looks like chipped glass. If you look at the close-up pic of the edge, you can see where the steel was torn around the upper edge of what looks like the chip. This is typical of INFI under this type of impact on steel, where the steel continues to move after the edge is wedged in the steel. Whereas, most other knife steels would have chipped out dramatically along the entire edge, INFI simply dented and was ultimately torn out in just the one place. Very cool!!!

When I was much younger, I had been in a fairly similar situation. I was in the Cucamonga wilderness in California, with one of the first large survival-type knives that I had made the year before, in 1979. I came across a dirt bike that had either fallen or been thrown, into a deep gourge. As I sat there on a rock, in the closest thing to the wilderness that I had come across near Los Angeles, I thought to myself, "What would happen if I were pinned under that bike and had to chop my way out?". . . . I suddenly had this overwhelming need to chop the frame of the dirt bike in half!!! . . . . All went fairly well until I whacked into the drive chain! Yowza!!! . . . . That messed my D-2 blade up in a very bad way! In a "Chips Ahoy" kinda bad way!!!!

I learned a lot about steel that day and also learned how difficult it was to fix a knife when I was over 2,000 miles away from my shop!!!

On that day, back in 1980, I made a solemn promise that someday I would be a fulltime knifemaker and that I would have a warranty on my knives that would cover this exact type of situation!!!. . . . Finally, that moment has come!. . .Destiny has found me!. . . .

Send that bad boy in and we'll make her as pretty as possible! And know that your Busse knife is always covered, unless you intentionally destroy it. I think it's safe to say that what happened to your knife was not "intentional destruction". . . . maybe "tough love gone awry", but that's what Busse blades are all about. . . . If you don't abuse them, they may very well run away under the cover of darkness, in search of a more abusive home!!!. . .

Nothing says, "I love you" to a Busse knife more than a good beating!!!!

Let's Drink!!!

Jerry

[ZcouT]

Jerry!

This is why i love your knifes and your company!
AWESOME! and soon i'll get my blk/tan GW, and guess what knife's next!
a blk/tan CGDC ASH1!!!!!

[rangerover_95]

Wow Jerry, you are a man who truly believes in your product. To entrust your knives into the hands of us, who beat them senseless, only to tell us that its just love it mind blowing.

That right there is what the foundation of the INFI madness is based upon!

You have just given me a whole new confidence in your knives, boss.

Now my ASH is gonna get a kickin this weekend!