I apologize for not posting this sooner. Last Monday, a friend and I deliberately broke two of my knives. It wasn't a "test" per se,I just wanted to see what would happen. I've seen broken knives (not mine) but never seen it happen before.
The first knife was a drop-point hunter in the same pattern as the one reviewed here: http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000624.html
The knife has a 4.5" blade fully flat-ground from 3/16" ATS-34 and treated by Texas Knifemaker's Supply. The handle scales are beautiful water buffalo horn. I ignored the common warning to dry natural materials myself and trusted the distributor to have these properly stabilized; after a year they shrunk and pulled away from the handles in some places, ruining the knife. Thank goodness I hadn't sold it!
The knife was clamped securely in a vice 3/5" from the handle. I donned protective wear while my "observer" stayed about 20' back. I put a 2.5 foot "cheater" PVC pipe over the handle and began to bend. At 10-15 degrees the pipe split and the blade returned to true. I then locate a 2.5 foot metal pipe and began again. I could see in the mirrored blade that it was curving evenly, a neat sight. At 25 degrees it snapped off where it was clamped, 2.5" from the handle.
The break was clean, straight vertical and with a rough but almost flat breaking face. It didn't appear to correspond to the filework in any way.
The next knife was a 4" hideout tanto flat saber-ground from 3/16" ATS-34, again treated by TKS. It had served as an experiment for point geometry and a rubber handle material I was trying out, and was unsuitable for sale.
It was clamped 2" from the handle and pressure applied again with a 2.5 foot metal pipe. It appeared to bend fairly uniformly but at 30 degrees it snapped just under 1" from the handle.
The break was again cleanly vertical, but showed some uneven-ness on the face. it also corresponded pecisely to a file-nick on the spine for thumb purchase.
What to make of this? I dunno, and that's why I'm posting for those with more experience to comment. I didn't expect much from uniformly treated ATS-34, but I can't imagine these forces occurring in even the dumbest or most desperate using conditions. The drop-point acted pretty-much as I expected it to, though I'd like to compare degrees of flex to others who have broken such short, stainless blades. I am a bit concerned by the tanto's odd breaking point. I don't think the file nicks caused the break so much as decided where it would happen, but the rough breaking face leads me to wonder if their may have been an impure pocket in the steel.
Well, those are just results, not so much conclusions. I look forward to your comments.
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-Drew Gleason
Little Bear Knives
The first knife was a drop-point hunter in the same pattern as the one reviewed here: http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000624.html
The knife has a 4.5" blade fully flat-ground from 3/16" ATS-34 and treated by Texas Knifemaker's Supply. The handle scales are beautiful water buffalo horn. I ignored the common warning to dry natural materials myself and trusted the distributor to have these properly stabilized; after a year they shrunk and pulled away from the handles in some places, ruining the knife. Thank goodness I hadn't sold it!
The knife was clamped securely in a vice 3/5" from the handle. I donned protective wear while my "observer" stayed about 20' back. I put a 2.5 foot "cheater" PVC pipe over the handle and began to bend. At 10-15 degrees the pipe split and the blade returned to true. I then locate a 2.5 foot metal pipe and began again. I could see in the mirrored blade that it was curving evenly, a neat sight. At 25 degrees it snapped off where it was clamped, 2.5" from the handle.
The break was clean, straight vertical and with a rough but almost flat breaking face. It didn't appear to correspond to the filework in any way.
The next knife was a 4" hideout tanto flat saber-ground from 3/16" ATS-34, again treated by TKS. It had served as an experiment for point geometry and a rubber handle material I was trying out, and was unsuitable for sale.
It was clamped 2" from the handle and pressure applied again with a 2.5 foot metal pipe. It appeared to bend fairly uniformly but at 30 degrees it snapped just under 1" from the handle.
The break was again cleanly vertical, but showed some uneven-ness on the face. it also corresponded pecisely to a file-nick on the spine for thumb purchase.
What to make of this? I dunno, and that's why I'm posting for those with more experience to comment. I didn't expect much from uniformly treated ATS-34, but I can't imagine these forces occurring in even the dumbest or most desperate using conditions. The drop-point acted pretty-much as I expected it to, though I'd like to compare degrees of flex to others who have broken such short, stainless blades. I am a bit concerned by the tanto's odd breaking point. I don't think the file nicks caused the break so much as decided where it would happen, but the rough breaking face leads me to wonder if their may have been an impure pocket in the steel.
Well, those are just results, not so much conclusions. I look forward to your comments.
------------------
-Drew Gleason
Little Bear Knives