A real rope cutter!!!!!!!

B . Buxton

B . Buxton

Joined
Jul 8, 2001
Messages
3,623
This knife isn't pretty like the last 6 or 8 you guys have posted here on the forum, but it is a rope cuttin son of a gun, I made over 120 cuts on a strand of 1" manila rope(approx 5/8" thick) before I ran out of rope, and it was still cutting strong, I'll get more rope some time this weekend and see just how many total it will make, but it sure surprised me,I was just hoping for 100 cuts, but it just keeps cuttin. I just kept saying go baby go.

Its forge 52100,3X quenched & 3X drawn, tapered stainless steel guard and 2 small stainless steel pins, a cocobolo handle and a mirror finish on the blade.
 
The knife looks great,and the edge holding is supperbe,let us know how many more cuts it makes please.
Bruce:cool:
 
Hi Bill,
That's a fine looking blade. Like Bruce says, let us know how many more cuts it makes, please.
Regards, Greg
 
I don't understand why you don't think it's pretty. I love it. If you get tired of cutting rope, send it over to me. I'll vive it a good home.
 
Glad to see you are enjoying 52100. Sounds like you did everything right. Got to warn you, 52100 is addicting. Next you will get to wondering how many 180 degree flexes it will take. Nice job gettng the most out of the steel!
 
Very nice. I find that knife to be the kind I like the most. To me, it is extremely good looking. The fact that it is also a great cutter makes it even more desirable. IMHO a truly fine knife. Great looks, my favorite steel (when forged) and a great cutter. What more could anyone ask for.
 
I cringe everytime Ed talks about flexing his knives to 180 degrees. Im tickled pink that mine flex to 90 degrees. Ive never tryed more than 90. Ed what temperature are you tempering at?
 
Hi Bruce: Presently the blades are tempered at 350 f. This kind of performance is possible as the blades we are forging now come from 6 inch round bars, worked down to blades all at low temp, 1625 f maximum. All the steel is from the same batch and we have been able to fine tune the thermal/mechanical process to this particular steel. When using scrap ball bearings the tempering temperature could go as high as 400 degrees f. All you can do is get as much 52100 as you can from the same batch and keep raising the tempering temp until you get the desired performance. The 24 hour waits between hardening cycles is critical to the toughness level. 20 degrees increase in tempering temp can result is as much as 7,000 lbs decrease in yield strength so go slow when seeking the desired tempering temperature. We destroyed a lot of blades to get where we are today but it was worth it.
 
52100 sure sounds like the Holy Grail of blade steels, and Bill your knife is great. I really like the pointy shape and tapered guard. Your cutting test is fantastic, please keep us up to date on your further results.

Dave
 
I'm going after more rope this morning, I've got to see just how many more cuts this one will do. I'll post as soon as it gives up.

Ed, I've got a long way to go to get the most out of 52100, but you
sure make it a lot easier, shareing all your info, Thanks for your time answering my questions. A tweak here and a tweak there in my forging and tempering cycles, who knows how many the next one will cut. Those 180s do scare a person through. Thanks for all your help.

Bill
 
O.K. I got another hunk of 1" rope and went back to cutting on 1 of the strands, I made over 225 cuts, I don't know how many over 225 because I quit counting, but when I quit it would still cut but it was taking quite a bit of pressure. To be honest it actually could have used a sharpening touch up after 195 cuts, but I just had to see how far it would go, encase it was in the hands of someone that didn't have the equipment to resharpen in the field.
I'm sold on this steel, this knife is a cutting machine. I'll do some more experimenting and change a couple of things but with ED FOWLERS advise who knows maybe the next one will make that 250 mark.

THANKS ED

Bill :D :D :D
 
Ed, Thanks for helping us get the most out of this steel. I like it for hunting knives and have had good results but am no where near where you and B. Buxton are. Do you have the complete updated instructions in one book yet? Arent you coming out with a new book soon? I want an autogaphed copy please?
 
nice knive there!!!man thats alot of cuts,now,,where do you get this steel.out at the scrap yard i go too,i see a lot of great big ole bearing,is this it??or what things are made out of 52100. thanks royboy
 
royboy,

I believe they're talking about big machinery bearings, but I'm not sure, I got my 52100 from mcmaster-carr, it comes in 3/4" rod.

Bill
 
Thanks for the kind words. I am working on a 52100 cook book, may be included in the next book from Krause. One problem with doing the book, knowledge and understanding continues to expand so it may become a manual with updates. We may test another blade to destruction today if time permitts. Bill Burke is at the Willow Bow and we are curious about the status of our present procedures. Rex is also doing some extensives tests on micro structure of blades done this summer.

My deadline for the next edition of Knife Talk (?) is April.

My suggestion for your present knife, sharpen it a couple of times and repeat the tests, it may improve. From where you are now it becomes an exploration of blade geometry, cut, specific memory and whatever else you want to see in a knife. I would suggest yoiu keep this knife as a reference blade to use in future testing of your next knife - forever. It is nice to see how things change.

From this point on, improvement will probably be in increments of 5% or less, but this is were it gets to be more interesting.
 
Ed has really pushed the limits as far as 52100 is concerned and his willingness to share what he has learned has been a great benefit to all those who are forging with this steel. The fact that Ed has become such a big part of this forum is a tremendous help to all the members. I am glad that he has become such an integral part of Bladeforums.

Bill, 225 cuts is amazing. I am very impressed with your results and as I stated in my earlier post I am also extremely impressed with all the aspects of this knife. IMO you have a real winner on your hands.
 
That is a beautiful knife. It is great that you have gotten so much performance with that kid of beauty!

Greg C.
 
THANKS guys for all the compliments on this one, I am really proud of its cutting ability and it feels real good in the hand, I love 5160, and get some fantastic results with it also, but this knife is supreme for me, you'll be seeing a lot more of 52100 from me.
Again thanks and keep cutting.;)

Bill
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top