Is it actually possible for a knife to do this?

I love reading resurrected almost 7 year old threads

 

Me too, since I would never have seen it otherwise.

 

What would prevent one from hammering one part of a blade through the metal pipe and then use the rest of the blade to show how sharp it "still" is?
Would love to see it on video since its unbelievable.
Kind of cool that Richtig's name translated means Right. Mr. Right.

 

https://clarksonhistory.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/secrets-of-the-dead-the-richtig-knife/

 

My thought the first time I read this as well; either using different parts of the edge or some other salesman's trick.

Of course, after a lucrative career in sales I may be biased.

 

The first half of this thread has always been yawnworthy, but the historical articles near the end make it a bit better.

 

I didn't purchase the published journal - therefore poor image quality (sorry, can't shout to my minion to 'enhance it' ). Obviously, ht params are differences between large & small knives. Keep in mind (a neutral fact) - edge can't cut something harder than itself w/o deformation. A 45rc knife (Richtig's large knife) edge can't cut a hardened lock 55+rc w/o edge damage.

 

Bluntcut, why would you introduce logic to a magical discussion

 

Sorry about the logic part... Perhaps the other part is a headstone

 

lol. Good one

 

Actually no material can cut anything without damage even if you got a diamond and cut things magnitudes softer, the diamond will give eventually. How big or small that damage is is the key.
If you are not limited to cutting you could destroy hard things even faster exploiting other physical weaknesses. You could crush a diamond using some soft lead hammer, even a wooden hammer would do.
Richtig hammered through the "steel" pipe. That's probably easier than cutting through it.
Also the bars look very bend. Does steel look that way when being cut into?

 

Bend to alleviate wedging. Edge geometry plays important role too. I better stop, otherwise Cobalt LOL again.

 

Lol. Yeah.

His technique, if it wasn't some trick, was probably not just a variation of traditional heat treat, otherwise other experimenting blade smiths would have run across it too. Maybe it was something very different.
Any chance his technique could have anything to do with "oxy welding" which was printed big on his shop?

Also if it was a real improvement I wouldn't want to take it into my grave but make sure people know about it. Kind of a legacy.
However if it was a trick only I'd keep my mouth shut until the end.

 

Yea me too. Love a good mystery anyway. The guy was a crook or just a good salesman either way his knives seem to be of good quality for the time and since there seems to be more than a few still around some interesting tests could be done. Wish I had one!

 

James Randi (the magician guy) has said that one of the hardest tricks he ever learned was how to get any knife to cut a tomato paper thin. But he figured it was how those "as seen of TV" knives work. I'm going to go with that as the easy explanation. I'm sure there is a possibility the guy was a genius or just got lucky. I figure anyone now can do as well or better if they spent the time to get things right. Some obviously have, and while I won't say those folks would spread misinformation, it is in their best interests to keep people guessing. I know I'd do the same. There is a shocking amount we don't really know about metallurgy, We know what works, and a lot of the how, but not much of the why.

 

If I my job is to pull off a tomato slicing stunt for "as seen on TV' knives, I would: 1) stiffen up tomatoes (premature rippen - non green skin; cool to 33F/1C; and or chemical treated). 2) pinch the tomato(stiffen near cut/entry point) and fast saw-slicing motion. 3) multiple video takes

Human got this far by built upon a mountain of 'hows'. Big part of 'knows' is empirical/consequential of 'hows'. 'Understanding' part of 'know' - in our perception - is an acknowledgement/acceptance of modern chemistry & physics science. Science is a hard-earned knowledge/theories foundation slowly built overtime. Will we ever grasp the baseline(starting point) of 'why'? LOL - sometime, it's good to ponder what lies beyond the tip of our nose infinity

 

Waterdogs While it is True that the man died before passing on his Secret his Knives where Tested as many of them Survive the metallurgic Tests Show that while most Use WATER or Oil to Temper there steel he was useing Salt i dont remember the name ot the man the method was discovered by but found it Funny as the "Date of Discovery" was Later than the Knife maker your Talking about wich i found no End of Funny

 

I think you may have misread or heard something. Tempering is not done in oil or water, it's done in an oven between 400-500 degrees depending on the steel and the final hardness required.
Some steels can be quenched in brine/salt water or oil but the medium it's quenched in again depends on the steel. Most modern stainless steels are air cooled or placed between 2 aluminum plates as they need very slow quench times.

What you might be getting at is the use of a "salt bath" opposed to an electric or gas fired oven. They have the advantage of holding a more even heat and the blade is not exposed to atmosphere while heating so blades need less finish work. They are not often used because the slight advantages they bring don't outweigh the dangers of dealing with 1600 deg molten salt. The slightest introduction of water to a salt bath that hot will send sticky hot liquid flying in your face.

FWIW, being able to chop a couple 2x4's in half and still shave is part of the JS test. Only the first step to becoming a Master Smith.

 

Well , what do you guys think about this knive ?

[video=youtube;vjhbSyFAI_U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjhbSyFAI_U[/video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjhbSyFAI_U

 

25 minutes of a guy chopping wood?
No discussion can survive a video like that.