Cutting Competition At The Branson Hammer-In/Knife Show

Kyle Royer

Kyle Royer

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Dec 6, 2006
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I had a great time at the Branson Hammer-In/Knife Show this past weekend.

Here are some highlights of the cutting competition. It was great fun. (I think I'll have to practice for next years)

I would like to thank Gary Mulkey for putting on the show, Jerry Fisk for the cutting competition and my Mom for this video.

Click here to see the video.



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Kyle,

Thank your Mom for a great video.

Jerry runs a mean cutting contest. It looks like everyone had alot of fun.

Jim Treacy
 
Kyle insisted I use his cutter, even though his dad, Jeff, was also using it in the competition. So, I agreed to be the 10th particiapant, even though I have never actually practiced for this moment. But, I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to my next competition being better prepared. Kyle wanted to test his cutter, and it got the ultimate workout and he was shaving hair on his leg afterwards.

Thanks Kyle, and appreciate your Mom filming this and putting it all together. Practice, practice, practice. :D

- Joe
 
Thanks Kyle and Mrs. Royer. I throughly enjoyed the video.
Some expert cutting with knives that were up for the task. :thumbup:
 
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Awesome! That was super cool to watch- thanks eh!
 
That was fun to watch and I bet even more fun for the participants. Hacking away at that 2 by 4 will teach you a lot about your handle designs. :thumbup: Thanks to Mrs. Royer for the vid!

Roger
 
What's most important in a cutter's success, cutting technique, or the knife used?

For example is it 50% technique, 50% knife?
 
Kevin,
Just my opinion. It's both. One without the other wont work. Every event will test the maker and at the same time test the knife. A bad cutter wont win even if he has a well made knife. A good cutter probably wont do well if the knife is not set up for a variety of events or, especially,if the heat treat is not dead on.
All of the events that Jerry Fisk and most other competition officials think up will test the knife and user in real world situations.

In this competition we:

Chopped 2 X 4 aginst the clock
Attempted to cleave a cola can down fron the top
Attempted to cleave a ping pong ball while sitting atop an empty water bottle, ball and bottle must be in two pieces
Attempted to Cut a one inch rope hanging by stitching thread
Attempted to Cut a bendable straw without it bending

Each of these events mimic, in some way, situations a knife user may encounter. Lin
 
As far as percentages, I cannot say. But I strongly agree with Lin. It is a combination. Just like everything else in knifemaking it is a compromise. A good cutter can make up for a few deficiencies in a knife but not many. Most of what makes a winner is technique and practice. The knife has to be right for the cutter also. I like heavier knives than most but I am a bigger guy than most also. I'll shut up now. This happens to be one of my favorite topics.
 
There were a couple things in that clip that i hadn`t seen one before like cutting the pingpong ball and also the can rom top to bottom . I`ll have to give those a go sometime soon .


Big D i like watching you go hell for leather on those 2x4s !!


I`m talking with Bill Siegle at the moment about a cutter that he`s making me , i can`t wait to get it !
 
Lin or anyone else who might know--did anyone achieve (satisfactorily complete) all five events during the competition? If not, which events did the winner satisfactorily complete?
 
I successfully cut three of the five. Not so great, but still ended up with the most points.

I chopped the 2 X 4 reasonably fast. I know some were faster, but they were eliminated in other events.

I cut the rope hanging from the string

and I cut the straw as instructed. There was a "cut off" between Landon and myself to break the tie.

No one cut the cola can and no one cut the ping pong ball and bottle combination. That is very unusual for no one to cut any of an event, but I guess it happens.

If Ron Newton had cut the straw, I think it would have been a three way tie.
Lin
 
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Thank you very much for that info, Lin. It was exactly what I was looking for. Wish I could have been there.
 
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