Passaround idea for the hair whittlers on these forums

[Kaizen1]

I thought this would be a cool idea and would like to know what you guys think. I've seen several pictures in the past of people using scales and thread to measure the sharpness of their edges. I thought it would be cool to do a passaround with that type of set up and compare the results.

I haven't done much research on the consistency of these things so feedback about this or other suggestions are certainly welcome. I personally would like an international passaround. The set up and cutting method would have to be very clear and defined so we could maintain consistency.

Thoughts?
Suggestions?

 

[siguy]

this is a pretty cool idea, and something that i might be interested in.

i think that in order to be very consistent, we would need a single scale (a small digital grain scale seems like it would be best to me...), a single spool of thread (or whatever the cutting medium is) and a single backing board (something like MDF seems like it might work well)

i've never done any of these kinds of tests, but would be interested in trying it.

i also think that the results could be very interesting with a standard test for everyone to use.

this might be tricky to organize, but it could be worth it. we need someone very organized to take charge...so i'm out.

good idea kaizen, sign me up if this gets going.

 

[kelbro]

And I'm going to pay postage for what??? To prove a point???

 

[nozh2002]

My set up anyone can make it in a few minutes and it does not need pass around. What is really needed - dedication to do 21 cuts to take median:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whobSdS4zyY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsN3DghiYcw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LgFny0ZQEU

If you are able to search here it was thread in Knife and testing with all info as well as results. But I can not search.

I did several attempts to make it community effort so far without any success. If you like I can tall you everything how to set it up and do testing. But it is a hard work!

Thanks, Vassili.

P.S. Here it is - http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=509097

 

[Kaizen1]

And I'm going to pay postage for what??? To prove a point???

Apparently, you wouldn't pay postage. Go play somewhere else if you're not interested. No need to judge others.

 

[Kaizen1]

My set up anyone can make it in a few minutes and it does not need pass around. What is really needed - dedication to do 21 cuts to take median:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whobSdS4zyY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsN3DghiYcw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LgFny0ZQEU

If you are able to search here it was thread in Knife and testing with all info as well as results. But I can not search.

I did several attempts to make it community effort so far without any success. If you like I can tall you everything how to set it up and do testing. But it is a hard work!

Thanks, Vassili.

P.S. Here it is - http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=509097

I don't have the time to check this out at the moment but I will soon. Sounds cool though. I was thinking that it was going to be either the idea in my first post or one like this. The key is going to be consistency, but a passaround doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be more consistent than something like this.

 

[kelbro]

Apparently, you wouldn't pay postage. Go play somewhere else if you're not interested. No need to judge others.

Re-reading my post, it didn't come out like it sounded in my head :foot:

Not judging at all. I'm as OCD as many about how sharp I can get an edge on any blade. I just don't understand the idea/motive of this suggestion.

 

[Jason B.]

Sounds like a great idea, sign me up.

 

[Kaizen1]

Re-reading my post, it didn't come out like it sounded in my head :foot:

Not judging at all. I'm as OCD as many about how sharp I can get an edge on any blade. I just don't understand the idea/motive of this suggestion.

Sorry if I was rude then. For me, the main idea was how we have so many people on here that have sharpening OCD, but there's really no specific definition for "scary sharp" and phrases like that. I just thought it would be cool if we got a better idea of everyone's definition of sharp. I'm not the first one to point that out either, but this seems like a way to find out.

 

[Jason B.]

Just a thought I had, make it a 3 part test, testing 3 levels of sharpness something like shaving sharp, hair whittling sharp, and dumb sharp(These levels of sharpness would up-to the tester). After the test/passaround was complete average the results and set a range for each level of sharpness.

 

[Kaizen1]

Just a thought I had, make it a 3 part test, testing 3 levels of sharpness something like shaving sharp, hair whittling sharp, and dumb sharp(These levels of sharpness would up-to the tester). After the test/passaround was complete average the results and set a range for each level of sharpness.

Sounds interesting. I gotta admit though, I'm not the type to organize a passaround. I would be interested inparticipating if someone would be up to organizing.

 

[Kaizen1]

My set up anyone can make it in a few minutes and it does not need pass around. What is really needed - dedication to do 21 cuts to take median:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whobSdS4zyY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsN3DghiYcw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LgFny0ZQEU

If you are able to search here it was thread in Knife and testing with all info as well as results. But I can not search.

I did several attempts to make it community effort so far without any success. If you like I can tall you everything how to set it up and do testing. But it is a hard work!

Thanks, Vassili.

P.S. Here it is -

I just got done looking at your videos. Cool stuff. Here's my guess on why it hasn't gotten anyone's interest. I'm somewhat of a lazy guy when it comes to certain things and setting up something like this would be one of those things. A passaround would make it more appealing for me since all of the things I need would be sent to me in one package with specific instructions.

I think this would be the set up we would go with though since you've already thought this through in detail.

 

[the_mac]

No need to do a passaround, there's an easier way (and faster) to do this.

Two things differ when people thread test their sharpness.

1) the testing method. So set up a standard for taught/loose string, how many tests to perform, which of those to count. I would suggest to use taught string and then to take 5 measurements, discard high/low, and then average the remaining three. For full statistical significance, it might be better to take 15 test runs, but that's getting tedious.

2) the string. Instead of passing around a spool, just have someone buy one bulk roll of thread, and then mail out thirty or so feet to each person interested. It could be shipped lettermail and each person would only end up paying two or three dollars.

Everyone would be responsible for finding a small scale (reasonably cheap and very useful around the house as well as in the kitchen) and for making an apparatus, but then people would have a permanent test setup for measuring progress and such (instead of only having the scale for a week in a passaround).

As needed, the maintainer of the spool can procure more and benchmark the new against the old and document any variance.

 

[Broos]

Keep all factors except those you want to measure equal from trial to trial.

Keep the string tension equal from one trial to the next.

Push cut only? A slice will add more variables to control.

A good scale (determine accuracy and precision before purchasing). Better scale equals fewer trials to get reliable results.

If you want repeatable and comparable results, then you should make the test "scientific" (they really are the same thing, you know).

Good luck!

 

[nozh2002]

Keep all factors except those you want to measure equal from trial to trial.

Keep the string tension equal from one trial to the next.

Push cut only? A slice will add more variables to control.

A good scale (determine accuracy and precision before purchasing). Better scale equals fewer trials to get reliable results.

If you want repeatable and comparable results, then you should make the test "scientific" (they really are the same thing, you know).

Good luck!

What tests did you done yourself?

Thanks, Vassili.