Hand-Forged Knife quality testing in Blade Magazine

Joined
Mar 26, 2002
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Blade
August 2002 Currently on the stand.
page 12
Kings of Blade Swing
Sharp Man Contest

The explanations of each test are
more interesting than the testing.

Evaluating the bladesmith & blade
in sequence of testing:
1- water filled sada CAN from top to bottom
2- 1-stroke slice through 5/8" hardwood dowel
3- chop 2x4
4- Stab floating styrofoam balls
5- cut 1" sisal rope suspended by string
......without breaking string
.
.
I'd be curious to see how
various Khuks would stand up.
 
ddean, would numbers 4 and 5 be the hardest for a thick blade like a Khukuri? I can't see the others being a problem.



munk
 
.
I think the khuks would stand up well to 4 & 5.

The winning blades didn't penetrate far into the balls,
I suspect the khuks would be similar.

All the blades had to do both heavy chopping and sharp slicing.
IIRC, They were all hefty blades.

Too much to summerize the explanations given.

Look for the magazine and skim through the article
at the display to see if it looks worth a detailed read.
 
I think with my metal-hungry AK I could combine 1,2,&3 into one mighty swing! Stack 'em up!

Keith
En Ferro Veritas
 
In regard to 5, my Ang Khola's actually have decently acute edges. Yes the spine of the blade is extreme, but the edge profile is very wide and thus the angle is acute. However the string type would be very critical. A light thread for example breaks at about 600-700g, a heavy duty thread, takes kg's, and doesn look a lot different if you don't sew.

For reference, the 18" Ang Khola I have, easily outcuts most production blades, even ones of vastly thinner stock as even most light folders for example have much more obtuse edges, which is pretty odd actually. By out cutting, I mean on rope, wood and such, it also outchops them as well. The 22" one does the same, but is a bit of a wrist killer peeling potatoes.

The ABS blades usually used in such competitions are however ground much thinner at the edge than a khukuri, and will outcut it for lighter use. However they also won't stand up to the edge impacts that a khukuri can take without harm. It is one of the central arguments for knifemaking, durability vs cutting ability.

You could of course thin the edge on a khukuri out. I have been thinking of playing with the profile on my 18" Ang Khola, however it is pretty much perfect now and the standard by which I tend to judge other blades of its class so leaving it alone makes sense. You would also start to see binding on wood chopping if you thinned it out a lot, which would slow you down even with the greater penetration.

-Cliff
 
Shouldn't that have been the "sultans" of blade swing?

I have tried the pop can routine but the forward curvature seems to grab the can too much to leave the lower have of the can in place.

Khukuris are great for destroying things but finesse is something I'm still working on.

-Dave
 
Dave, you can adjust for the curvature by tilting your hand up towards you and thus presenting a flatter section of the edge to the can. It is a difficult cut to make though, especially if you go strictly by the rules which don't allow any crumpling of the can. A blade which is designed to do this optimally would fare poorly in wood working in general (a thin edged machete of light stock 1/16" or so).

-Cliff
 
I remember SpecOps vet, Paul (letter from Iraq, letter from Lebanon) commenting in a phone conversation, "I was never attacked by a stump or hanging rope." Paul carried a Randall and a 15" AK.
 
Originally posted by Bill Martino
I remember SpecOps vet, Paul (letter from Iraq, letter from Lebanon) commenting in a phone conversation, "I was never attacked by a stump or hanging rope." Paul carried a Randall and a 15" AK.

:D :D :D
 
I got to hold the acctuall knife on the cover or Blade Mag. It was made by Big John Finch(sp?). It felt good in the hand and it did have a thin edge! A khukuri (AK) would be a better blade by far for heavier/chopping work and much better for prying!
 
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