At the current time I am right in the middle of some rather large changes in my computer/on-line and knife making life.
My current laptop is totally about calling it quits.
There seems to be some major problems going on inside it, one of them being That the desktop will just not 'boot up".
There is something running the hardrive, even right now, that is not in any way connected to what I am attempting to do.
It's like the computer has been taken over by someone else?
I have another problem with "spywear"? running that my wife has tried everything to clear but will not go away.
She even took EVERYTHING off the computer, clearing everything as if it was a new computer, but it didn't work.
I don't know where this spywear came from, I have tried a few changes in what I do and where I go, but so far nothing has worked.
Thus next week or so, I will be changing to a new computer we are getting with out Tax refund.
I will be changing servers as well then and going to an over-air provider and not the dial-up I have now.
In my knife-making world, I am right in the middle of gutting my old shop and cleaning it out of all the junk that has gathered in the last 10 years.
I had a roll-off dumpster dropped off and I am filling it right now.
As for my tests of knife blades in the future?
As I tried to explane, I did the 90-bend test mostly because that is part of the big test around here with you bladesmiths. (remember I didnt invent the test, you guys did)
But I do seek to be known as a real knifemaker, as in - real "bladesmith" as found in history. Not just a stock-removal maker because the forge and fire is where it's at for me.
My Knife making has to be about more than my just standing at a grinder all day.
Thus the true importance in proving to myself that I can heat-treat a blade that can pass you guy's tests.
But I didn't do the one test part about chopping though the 2X4 because I didnt actually know about that part of the test.
And I didnt have a 2X4 anyway. LOL
I also have been thinking about other non-standard tests that people talk about doing to a knife before I bend the blade to 90 next time.
One guy suggested hitting the blade very hard on the horn of the anvil.
I am not sure yet if I am to hit it blade down, on the side, or on the tang?
I have read on the forum about a few other ways to test a blade that I could try before I do the next 90 bend test.
I saw a video on Ed Fowler's forum of a guy who pounded his knife into some firewood, then showed how it would still cut paper.
Im not sure that test would work on my convex edge because, except for the start of the pounding, most of the rest of the cut into the wood would be more splitting with the sides of the blade and not cutting with the point. The point of my knife might not even rub at all into the firewood.
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I would also next time like to test how far I can pull on a handle that I make before it fails.
I am not sure how to test the handle. My handles are stick-tang, so I want a way to check the bond of 2-ton epoxy. I need to design a test that pulls the handle straight off the tang.
It would also be nice to be able to record the force needed to cause a bond to fail. That way I can test different glue
Does anyone know how to test such a test?
I finally got into town and got the BLADE mag so I was able to enjoy reading the article by Tim Zowada.
I saw on page 112 a photo of some guys HT swords.
I would have loved to see that and hope in the future they might have an article about that, as that's what I believe I wish to learn next year with 1050 katana.