I have just completed my six day course at the Willow Bow Ranch under the expert tutelege of Ed Fowler, Butch Deveraux and Jeff Davidson. I will be taking home my test blade, a half dozen blades in progress and all the happy memories and knowledge that will fit in my brain!
As a final demonstration of my studies, I destruction tested my very first blade. It sailed through all the rather severe tests that Ed and his team devised and is a testament to their teaching, especially considering my total lack of experience in forging, grinding and heat treatment.
Thanks guys!
Tip Strength Test
First, I repeatedly stabbed the blade tip first and edge out in to the steel base of the Burr-King grinder. The tip embedded happily with no slippage and no dammage at all.
This shows that my grind struck a good balance of fineness and strength. Also, it shows that I had neither over-heated, nor under-hardened the tip during forging and quenching, respectively.
Repeated Edge Deflection
This is a semi-destructive test that all blades here are subjected to. I depressed the blade against a smooth steel with all my weight, till a visable deflection of the edge was seen. Then, this deflection was dragged along the entire edge of the blade from ricasso to tip, effectively bending the hard edge material. Then I flipped the blade over and bent it the other way. The blade went through 20 passes withg no dammage. On the 21st pass, you could hear the quiet chipping of the edge material, leaving fine rolled chips along the entire edge of the blade.
This shows that the grind was good and the heat treatment was uniform.
Over 400 Cuts of Hemp Rope
After that, I sharpened the blade and proceeded to cut through a 1/2" strand of a 1 1/8" hemp rope over 400 times. My cutting technique needs some refining and I gave up due to my blisters. At that point, the knife would still shave paper and had a lot of cutting left in it. No sharpening or steeling was permitted, but I could strop the edge on my dry palm every fifty cuts or so.
This shows that the blade was easily sharpened from a dammaged, chipped-out state and could then hold its edge.
Blade Etch
The Ferric Chloride etch showed a consistent quench line and fine grain structure at the edge, from the tip to the ricasso. From about an inch from the tip to the back of the blade was fully softened material. The quench line was beautiful to behold. And no flaws were detected.
Flex Tests
First, I bent the blade to 90°. Then I took a lot of photos.
This one was taken during the actual bending. As you can see I resorted to a cheater pipe. The blade bent pretty uniformly over its entire length and returned to 45°. The bend was gradual and controlled.
Then, I turned the blade around and bent it a full 180° right over to the other side. Then I reversed it and bent it another 180°. After a 90° and two 180° bends the knife was still going strong and I couldn't detect any work fatigue. I am sure I could have continued several times more.
As you can see, there was no cracking or chipping of the edge and the blade could have been bent back to true and used again.
I considered that, but after a while, I decided I quite like it as it is!
I'll be back later to publish more about my experiences in Wyoming.
As a final demonstration of my studies, I destruction tested my very first blade. It sailed through all the rather severe tests that Ed and his team devised and is a testament to their teaching, especially considering my total lack of experience in forging, grinding and heat treatment.
Thanks guys!
Tip Strength Test
First, I repeatedly stabbed the blade tip first and edge out in to the steel base of the Burr-King grinder. The tip embedded happily with no slippage and no dammage at all.
This shows that my grind struck a good balance of fineness and strength. Also, it shows that I had neither over-heated, nor under-hardened the tip during forging and quenching, respectively.
Repeated Edge Deflection
This is a semi-destructive test that all blades here are subjected to. I depressed the blade against a smooth steel with all my weight, till a visable deflection of the edge was seen. Then, this deflection was dragged along the entire edge of the blade from ricasso to tip, effectively bending the hard edge material. Then I flipped the blade over and bent it the other way. The blade went through 20 passes withg no dammage. On the 21st pass, you could hear the quiet chipping of the edge material, leaving fine rolled chips along the entire edge of the blade.
This shows that the grind was good and the heat treatment was uniform.
Over 400 Cuts of Hemp Rope
After that, I sharpened the blade and proceeded to cut through a 1/2" strand of a 1 1/8" hemp rope over 400 times. My cutting technique needs some refining and I gave up due to my blisters. At that point, the knife would still shave paper and had a lot of cutting left in it. No sharpening or steeling was permitted, but I could strop the edge on my dry palm every fifty cuts or so.
This shows that the blade was easily sharpened from a dammaged, chipped-out state and could then hold its edge.
Blade Etch
The Ferric Chloride etch showed a consistent quench line and fine grain structure at the edge, from the tip to the ricasso. From about an inch from the tip to the back of the blade was fully softened material. The quench line was beautiful to behold. And no flaws were detected.
Flex Tests
First, I bent the blade to 90°. Then I took a lot of photos.
This one was taken during the actual bending. As you can see I resorted to a cheater pipe. The blade bent pretty uniformly over its entire length and returned to 45°. The bend was gradual and controlled.Then, I turned the blade around and bent it a full 180° right over to the other side. Then I reversed it and bent it another 180°. After a 90° and two 180° bends the knife was still going strong and I couldn't detect any work fatigue. I am sure I could have continued several times more.
As you can see, there was no cracking or chipping of the edge and the blade could have been bent back to true and used again.
I considered that, but after a while, I decided I quite like it as it is!
I'll be back later to publish more about my experiences in Wyoming.
I do have to admit that I probably had the same expression and used the same expletives that he did the first time I saw it being performed. Once Dan finished his blade and began his testing his enthusiasm soared. I think you can get a good idea how he felt by his picture holding his flexed blade. 
