Need a Knife for a VERY niche function

T

toxicchill

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Apr 8, 2008
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Ok. I'm a capoeirista. I practice capoeira (afro-brazilian martial art/music/dance).

In capoeira, we have a musical instrument called a Berimbau. Its composed of a piece of wood, a steel wire, and a gourd. Its the main instrument and integral to the capoeira game, it dictates the speed and style and rhythm of the games.

Now....heres the part where i need help.

Im looking for a knife that can handle the tough duty of making a berimbau.
including:
-carving wood
-carving up a RUBBER TIRE to cut out the steel radial wire (which we use as our musical wire).
-stripping the rubber off a steel wire.

i have a 440c folder that i used to make my last berimbau, and cutting up the tire absolutely destroyed the edge. Since youre cutting into the tire in order to find the steel, you're kinda...feeling for it with the knife. The edge got nicked many times, and it took a lot of work to get it back in shape.

so theres my dilema. In the past we've been using cheap kitchen knives to do this, but they dull very fast and the edge gets bent and totally fucked up.

Is there something out there that can do this that wont get destroyed?
 
if the knife is tough enough to survive that kind of thing without serious edge damage and/or dulling, wouldn't that mean that the knife will also nick and damage the wire you're trying to dig out?

I would think a soft POS is exactly the thing you would want for the tyre portion.
 
I can't think of an inexpensive knife that wouldn't get destroyed eventually and I wouldn't recommend an expensive one for what sounds like beater work. But I think your best bet would be a Mora. Cheap enough to buy a few of them, good handle and blade shape for the work, and the edge will hold up pretty well. Get the carbon steel for durability and resharpening. I think a fixed blade would be MUCH safer than a folder for digging around in the tire.
 
Guitar strings (or bass strings) are easy to come by, and cheap! If you simply MUST have the wire from inside a tire, I think a thin and relatively flexible fixed blade would be best. Maybe a carbon-steel paring knife? Make sure to wear gloves!
 
shecky and moonwilson, it would probably be "easier" to just buy a similar instrument in a store. But capoeira and everything associated with it is a folk art, and do-it-yourself is part of the fun. It doesn't come from an affluent stratum of society. :)
 
Esav Benyamin said:
shecky, it would probably be "easier" to just buy a similar instrument in a store. But capoeira and everything associated with it is a folk art, and do-it-yourself is part of the fun. It doesn't come from an affluent stratum of society. :)
Click to expand...

I understand. I wasn't trying to be flip. It just seems that digging around on old tire might have made sense in the favelas. But the idea of buying a special knife to enjoy the privilege of digging around a tire seems kinda weird. I have a spool of this stuff in my car for various tasks that would probably work as well. I have a feeling folks in Brasil would not waste time on old tires if they had a spool of their own.
 
True, but if it didn't come from the favelas, they might have ended up be dancing a polka to accordions! :p

Traditions. Is it still a tradition if it's an imitation of a tradition? I have a didgeridu. It's made of plastic, from India. We each have to decide how far we take authenticity when availability can be so easy otherwise.

(I didn't think you were being flip.)
 
We've tried other wires before including piano wire, but none have the same sound or resilience as tire wire.

If i could buy the wire that tire companies use, i would buy that directly ;P

I really dont know where else to get wire with that kind of elasticity in nice 5-6 foot chunks.

My mestre has taught me traditional as well as more modern techniques in making berimbaus. My first berimbau, we actually used broken glass instead of knives.
 
First thought that came to mind is this Mora carving knife, a $13 Eriksson model 906:

906.jpg


The laminated blade has a fairly hard core, about 61 HRC, takes and holds a good edge. I own a couple of these, they are wonderful utility knives with very good ergonomics to the handle. The only drawback I can see is that sharpening a Scandinavian ground blade the traditional way requires a good deal of metal removal, if you get many nicks from cutting rubber away from those wires it could become a lot of work.
 
+ 1 more on the idea of a Mora.
Try Ragnars Ragweed Forge to get one. There are many that cost eight to twelve dollars each.
 
Maybe you should invest in an inexpensive belt sander. No knife will hold an edge cutting around steel cables. Sharpening a knife will be the big bottleneck.

Maybe one of those carpet cutting Olfa knives would do. Snap off blades as they dull.
 
Dog of War said:
First thought that came to mind is this Mora carving knife, a $13 Eriksson model 906:

The only drawback I can see is that sharpening a Scandinavian ground blade the traditional way requires a good deal of metal removal, if you get many nicks from cutting rubber away from those wires it could become a lot of work.
Click to expand...

That's a beauty, an ideal design.

No drawback on sharpening though if you can go with a less than optimal edge. Just sharpen to an acute secondary bevel. Get a bit more strength at the edge that way too.
 
so where are the busse freax?


"Sounds like you need a busse for this job!:thumbup:"

tires? steel wires? hahah, it'll take apart the whole car and strip it to a bare wire frame!

:D
 
hey, i'm brasilian too...como vai vo say? did i spell it right? yeah, go with a fixed
 
I think for this kind of work you would be better off getting one of those "Super-Knife" box cutters that use disposable razorblades. they cut extremely well and when the blade dulls you just flip it around dull the other side and then toss it out. you can get a pack of 100 blades for a couple bucks. If that type of knife isn't stout or long enough then I'd have to agree with the previous posts and suggest a Mora, but honestly no knife edge will stand up to sawing through steel belted radials, so if you choose a knife then invest in a good fast sharpening system as well.
 
ripping apart a tire seems painstaking...

A mora would be great for carving the wood, That is what it was designed for. I think any quality carbon steel blade would work.
 
Thanks for the insight and the replies everyone.

Im a visual guy so i drew out something to explain the process.

tireag7.gif

Basically theres about 3-4 coils of wire per side in a tire.

You cut into it, and start cutting into the wheel until you hit metal, then you follow the coil with the blade so you can find the start of it. Once you find the end, you can pull it out of the tire in one piece.

box cutter and carpet cutter would twist too much as im cutting in a circle in some dense rubber.

But ya, i think a mora would work very well all around including for carving the wood and the gourd.

PS: My last name IS portugese, but im not brazilian/portugese. :p
 
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