Hard versus Soft Knives.

[Yvsa]

When Dean was over recently he had brought along wha looked to be a couple of old Chinese eating sets. I'm sure there's a proper name for these but if there is I've forgotten it.
Anyway Dean said he thought they were made for the tourist trade as the knife they contained wasn't hard.
I told Dean, "Not necessarily." The why I said that is......

I can't remember where, may have been Blade Magazine, the Knives 199* Books or maybe even online somewhere, about a blacksmith/bladesmith that took a trip to China.
I also can't recall the exact story so I'm telling the gest of it the best I remember.
On his extended excursion he came across some blacksmiths much like the Nepalese kami's that made all the metal tools his neighbor's required.
The thing was that these blacksmiths made all of their knives soft instead of hard and they had to be sharpened often.
The traveling blacksmith asked permission(?), part that I'm not clear on, or whatever to show this one blacksmith how to make a "good" knife.
He fired up the forge and forged out a blade and then hardened it and after it had cooled handed it to the Chinese blacksmith.
I guess it was through an interpreter that the Chinese blacksmith told the American that, "Yes, they all knew how to make knives like this one, but they had no way of sharpening it.
The people were so poor in this area they couldn't afford common whetstones or the like and had to use what was at hand.
It was easier to make soft knives and sharpen them often than any other option so that's what they did and they had been doing it like that for many, may years.
It seems that the article said the American was rather red faced and apologized to the Chinese blacksmith, but I just can't recall.

Anyway just because a knife is soft doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad thing, could go either way, but at least there's one example of why certain knives are made soft.
This doesn't apply to kukris nor ever has methinks.

Sure wish I could run across that article again. It really was interesting!!!!

 

[ddean]

I don't know if you told me first,
or I found the website first,
but traditional scythes are hammered to sharpen.
Basically because of the point you made I'm sure.

Be interesting to try this on some of the soft/junk khuks we have.

From:
http://www.scythesupply.com/workshop.html
"Sharpening
The traditional method of preparing the edge uses a cross peen hammer and a small anvil. A hammering jig also gives good results and avoids the freehand uncertainties of the anvil. The peening process takes advantage of the plastic nature of metal. Hammering the cutting zone (about 1/8" inch wide) draws the metal out, thinning it for easier sharpening.This beating also work hardens the metal and enhances edge retention. A whetstone is used to finish the sharpening but in doing so abrades the edge and wears it back so eventually you will have to re-peen to restore thinness."

"Peening lies somewhere between the art of jewelry making and blacksmithing. You are using the hammer to redistribute the metal ever so slightly. Think of the steel as a very dense modeling clay that can be coaxed into shape by moderate repetitive force. Heavy hammer blows are unnecessary. A firm yet sensitive strike that makes a good solid sound is your goal."


They prefer to finish with a stone,
but it could be skipped altogether
if you were good enough with a hammer.


I may order a couple of their nice looking stones.

This story sounds a lot like some from the HI khuks:
http://www.scythesupply.com/bladedamagestory.html


And, you know, there's a bit of the khuk to these blades:

 

[cliff355]

Ddean:

Thanks for that post on scythes. Recently I have been converting to hand tools for use in the woods, partly to keep the USFS off my back and partly because I'm tired of pulling starter ropes in the cold. Anyway, I have been rennovating some of my Grandpa's old crosscuts and will be putting his scythe to work in a couple weeks clearing a tent site. It is good to know where to get another blade, or another scythe if necessary.

 

[DKP]

Scythe stone, on edge, works pretty good in the field to sharpen up a khukuri. It is narrow enough to be worked in the sweet spot & coarse enough to take out most of the dings & dents mine acquire. A feller in Alabama I used to know sharpened mower blades with a hammer, but I think(?) he heated them first, then quenched when he was finished. I always heard that his blades would outlast anybodies in the county.

 

[Conajohara]

Peter hathaway capstick wrote about this in his book about how to go on safari called Safari ha! he noited the local skinners always used plain butcher knives and sharpened them on a hardwood log sprinkled with sand!