Carothers/Loriendesign Chopper WiP

Looks like you are trying to beat the can, not slice it... get slicey! :D
 
it's kind of fun to just hit stuff with a knife. I'll definitely be working on my technique, though!
 
beating on those steel cans wrought havoc on the nicely prepared edge that the knife came with. Some chips, dents and rolls- not surprising given the relative low hardness of a relatively simply produced tool steel. The edge held up about as well as my experience tells me that something like 1095 holds up. All that is irrelevant at this stage, (apart from bevel planes) since the final product will be produced from a vastly superior material with a finely tuned heat treatment. I learned a good deal about this knife from this little test wrt to its handling, percussive force, ergonomic interface, and found out that it sounds awesome as it slices through the air :)

What's great about damaging the edge so thoroughly, is that it provides an opportunity for resharpening. Since this pattern was developed with resharpening in mind, I'm pleased to report that the features which enable that work as I hoped they would. The scallop at the front of the handle allows a nicely controllable pinch grip when drawing the knife across the stone toward you, and the finger choil forward of the guard provides good control for pushing the edge across the stone away from you.

The finger choil is a little problematic for me, I have to say. Generally speaking, I don't like them. While not an absolutist when it comes to this, if a knife has a guard, I don't think a person's finger should be encouraged to be forward of it. While they do provide some utility, they do so at the expense of usable edge. I'm thinking on bailing on a finger choil for this knife, and just have a sharpening notch there instead. Nate and I haven't discussed it much, but I'm really curious about the opinion you, dear forumites, might have on the matter.

So, I got a new bevel on there now, and softened the shoulders like I always do. I prefer an appleseed edge profile, and this knife has just enough material to get exactly what I want. Looking forward to a field test this weekend.

 
maybe try try angling your cut 45 degrees downward. ( like jo did). that will push the can into the table to give resistance and hopefully the knife will get through it. the tennis racquet motion you were using only applied the weight of the can to the blade edge.
 
Down with finger choils! :D
 
woodster said:
maybe try try angling your cut 45 degrees downward. ( like jo did). that will push the can into the table to give resistance and hopefully the knife will get through it. the tennis racquet motion you were using only applied the weight of the can to the blade edge.
Click to expand...

the fisheye aspect of the gopro probably made me look less competent than I am. Not that I'm particularly competent :)
 
I have no doubts about your technique, bro. I also have no doubts about that knife succeeding at its intended application. Can't wait to see your trail footage with this pig!!!!
 
I am strongly against finger choils. While they do allow you to choke up and have better balance for finer work, all that is negated by how uncomfortable they are if force used is even moderate. If you're going to have a choil, I would just assume bring the scales up farther and taper / lighten the tang more for balance.
 
The long ricasso design had its place in stabbing weapons, like the rapier, and was often protected by a fancy guard. Its meaning was to extract the blade and control the balance point with a firm grip when fencing; the same with the quillon dagger...
It looked elegant, but i can't see why modern blades have the need to be chocked at the ricasso or finger choil.
At least, if i need to do some precision work with the blade i grab it at the spine near the point, or simply pinch the blade's bevel, probably missing some useful technique.
In your case though the choice may be justified helping removing the stuck blade from a log of wood, enhancing the pulling force with the index finger grabbed to the choil....but the handle imho provides plenty enough grip by itself.
 
Nice! Thanks for the photos Lorien. Mike

It's like I see a touch of Nathan's shiv's gene pool in these shots.
 
[video=youtube;Nd8EPWmhwQA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd8EPWmhwQA&feature=youtu.be[/video]


[video=youtube;K9Fp8WcEQlU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Fp8WcEQlU&feature=youtu.be[/video]


[video=youtube;OEAlM-XAw3A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEAlM-XAw3A&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
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I guess if you're gonna be cutting logs in Canada it's only natural to grow a Hulk Hogan moustache.
 
[video=youtube;69Qp7NnhZMU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69Qp7NnhZMU&feature=youtu.be[/video]


[video=youtube;Eqz80QLl70I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqz80QLl70I&feature=youtu.be[/video]


[video=youtube;giuV5gHorl4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giuV5gHorl4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
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[video=youtube;eYl4Q9NRMkI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYl4Q9NRMkI&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
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