Abuse Testing round 3 (or, I finaly got off my butt and did the battoning test.)

[Halfneck]

I understand the idea of what you were doing mr. trooper. Just think it would be interesting to see how it does compared to say a Falkniven F1.

Regardless, keep it up.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

LET GO OF THE SEMANTICS

The proper method of batoning is in some dispute, thus the same general term used loosely can describe a range of activity which is either really light or really stressful, compare Talmadge vs Harvey on spine whacks for example which is a similar issue.

So if you batoned a knife it would be informative to know if there was significant off hand pressure because this can dramatically influence the results. This has in fact been argued by some to be so abusive that it should not be done on any knife.

Interesting work in any case, you should compile it together.

-Cliff

 

[Vivi]

Could you describe what you feel is proper batoning technique? Just curious as to how different it is from what I do, since I'm clueless with a lot of things.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

There are two basic considerations, where you put the knife and how you hit it. You place the knife so it splits the wood the easiest, this means doing minimal cutting and maximal splitting. Work with existing cracks, don't cut across knots, either go right through them directly, or try to go inbetween multiple ones, go perpendicular to the grain if possible in a direct line to the center. Sometimes you can't do all of this at once so you have to pick what is the easiest, experience is the best teacher, just split piles of wood.

As for hitting the knife, try to avoid hitting it sideways so watch the blade. If the knife is thin it can turn in the wood especially if the grain twists. Try to keep the blade parallel to the ground and apply enough pressure with the off hand to keep the blade stable. If you have to cut through knots do so with the section of the blade near the tip if possible unless the geometry isn't suitable as this will act as a focus point for the internal torque.

In contrast, Mike Stewart of Bark River Knives is a proponent that much of the above is abusive and that you should not press down with the off hand or let the blade be off perpendicular, the angle part has no relevant, it just makes it inefficient, however pressing down with the off hand does raise the strain on the knife, however many knives can take this, some can't as they have poor design / heat treatment. Ref :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=401353&highlight=batoning

-Cliff

 

[mr.trooper]

I placed the knife directly accross the diameter of the log. The spine of the portion extending beyond the material being split recieved the blows. Only the amount of force needed to keep the edge parallel with the ground was exerted on the oposing handle.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Only the amount of force needed to keep the edge parallel with the ground was exerted on the oposing handle.

That is enough to call it abusive to some and to such an extent that is abusive to much more expensive knives such as Cold Steel, proper technique it argued to be to not press down, let the blade rotate down and then work it back up and repeat. Kind of amusing then in that respect that a knife of that class doesn't then just explode on first hit, you can buy that for under $10 on line. It would be interesting to see a long term EDC/utility perspective.

-Cliff

 

[mr.trooper]

That is enough to call it abusive to some and to such an extent that is abusive to much more expensive knives such as Cold Steel, proper technique it argued to be to not press down, let the blade rotate down and then work it back up and repeat. Kind of amusing then in that respect that a knife of that class doesn't then just explode on first hit, you can buy that for under $10 on line. It would be interesting to see a long term EDC/utility perspective.

-Cliff

I have a friend that carries the slightly smaller version as an EDC. I will have to ask him about it next time I see him.