Passed my JS Performance Test

[David Wesner]

Hey guys Last weekend my wife and I went to 7th Mid America Bladesmithing Expo & Knife Show in Troy, Ohio.
I passed the first step in my quest for my Journeyman Smith Certification :thumbup: :thumbup:

I tested with MS Joe Keeslar

Suffering some serious pretest jitters My friend "New Jersey Steel Baron" Aldo Bruno gave me a pep talk

As many of you know, the first aspect of the test is the 1" rope cut

After some precision positioning, all of the rope cut practice in my barn paid off :thumbup:
One whack and I felled the the rope (you can see the drop in the red elliptical circle near the floor)

Next part of the test is cutting of a 2x4 .......... twice

After cutting the 2x4 twice, the blade should still be sharp enough to shave with. Many weeks of practicing left me with very little hair on the lower part of my arm, so we had to go higher

 

[David Wesner]

The final part is the bend test ...............

And she passed with flying colors !! No cracks, no chips :thumbup:

 

[David Wesner]

And finally the signed blade ................

After passing the performance test it felt like someone lifted a 10,000 lb. weight from my shoulders.

Now it's on to the submission aspect. I plan to make 6 knives, submitting the 5 best to the 7 member panel of MS Judges.

FWIW, my performance test knife was forged using Aldo Bruno's 1075 steel. For Heat Treat I clay coated the spine and soaked the entire blade for 15 minutes in my evenheat kiln. I fully quenched the blade in Parks #50.
That's it. No drawing back of the spine at all. The clay did exactly what it was supposed to do :thumbup:

FWIW, bend test results were nearly exactly like my first test blade here at home :thumbup: :thumbup:

This last shot is a comparison of how consistent heat treat appears to be between my home test blade and the actual performance test blade

Thanks for following along guys.


Now it's time to get back to work on Roger Pinnocks Take-Down ............

 

[HTMD]

Congratulations David!

 

[RogerP]

Congrats my man, well done!

Never in doubt.

Roger

 

[Jos]

Congratulations!

Kind regards,

Jos

 

[Les Robertson]

Congrats Dave.

 

[Allen Newberry]

And the knife even looks cool. Way to go!

 

[xaman]

Great job bro, CONGRATS!

 

[Lorien]

well done!

 

[ScottRoush]

congrats! I called the other day to find out how you did but you were out. I knew you passed anyway.

 

[billf]

Excellent Job!

Bill

 

[Lon Humphrey]

congrats again Dave i was hoping the Gf had some of your test on vid but she didn't i may have a few pics if you want them

 

[Call_to_Arms]

congratulations, that was hard to watch.

 

[BRTATCK]

Congratulations Dave. That is a nice bend and love the handle, Well done.
Brion

 

[jjtjr]

David,

Congratulatons!

I know that you put alot of thought and effort into your test knife. Great job.

Jim Treacy

 

[combs6136]

congrats...........Keep up good work.........carl

 

[tedinatl]

Congratulations, David!

 

[Gravelface]

Congratulations!!!!

 

[Quick Steel]

Congratulations! And thanks for the great photos. Even knowing the outcome I felt some tension looking at your testing. The knife looks great.