(Pics+vid) Breaking my Heavy Bowie again... this time, for science!

BRL

BRL

Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Messages
3,202
2011-12-09_20-11-43_244.jpg


In the discussion thread for my first (accidental) Heavy Bowie break, Bladite made the following comment:

if you're feeling brave, try it again with what you got left
Click to expand...

Bravery had nothing to do with it, but I did have a few beers and of course at that point it seemed like a great idea, so I stuck the thing in my vise and took a video.

Video is at the bottom of this post, but first a few things:

1. I in no way think that the fact that the knife broke in a vise is evidence that KA-BAR made a bad knife. If I was just a little bit dumber I'd go grab my RAT-3 and my BK-11 and do the same test. I'm guessing I'd see something similar.

2. Don't try this at home. I'm lucky I'm not picking metal shards out of my nuts right now.

3. I mention in the video that after the first break and then sitting in my closet for a few weeks, the bare metal developed some weird white oxidation. Here's an okay-ish photo of the odixation.

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And after the second break, just bare metal.

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And the video (if for some reason the Photobucket embed doesn't work, post up and I'll try YouTube).



Now that that's out of the way, it's grindin' time.
 
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Cool, I've been following this blade since your first post about it. I'll be interested too hear what the blade smiths say about it all. Kabar is a great company.
 
No, I'm not sending anything anywhere. The KA-BAR guys got better things to do and I'm convinced now that I did something wrong to cause the first break. You can see that I gave that thing some serious bends before it let go this second time.

KA-BAR definitely is a great company.
 
Oh yeah I know, the amount of bending it did in the video looks about what I would expect. If it bent a whole lot people would've complaining about it not holding an edge. I knew you were keepin it, interested in what you will transform it into.

Thanks
 
I've heard of junk science, but this is the first time I've witnessed drunk science. :D
 
that's kinda grainy looking metal there. weird.

i believe there's a video (somewhere) of Ethan sticking a BK11 in a vise, and prying really hard (with a cheater bar). knife did not break.

and some other people as i recall have some similar things, and the knives more or less go back to true, depending on just how hard they did it.

course, some break too :>
 
Good vid, BRL.

If you want, grind it into a clip point, and I'll trade ya for a brand new Heavy Bowie.

Or a Warthog. :D

Moose
 
you da man moose. my 12 year old proto knifesmith and I will take that under consideration :)
 
BRL,

that's kinda grainy looking metal there. weird.
Click to expand...

I'm with Bladite. Grain looks kind of large. Unless you baked the knife in an oven for several hours the grain should be smaller. When you are done testing, send it in. I'll send out a new one.
.....And don't give me any arguments.:D

Best Regards,


Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
Toooj said:
BRL,



I'm with Bladite. Grain looks kind of large. Unless you baked the knife in an oven for several hours the grain should be smaller. When you are done testing, send it in. I'll send out a new one.
.....And don't give me any arguments.:D
Click to expand...

do i detect the odor of shake and bake on that knife? thought not :> heh.
 
Been away was hoping to see the reworked bowie, well maybe for the new year and you get a new one after you make your 1 of a kind, just be careful and have a Happy and Safe Holiday to you and the Family

P.S. Them Ka-Bar Guys are gaining support and doing the right thing
 
Sorry nutoknives, I sent it back to KA-BAR. I decided that I've got enough knife projects on the runway, some of them way delayed, and I had to start drawing the line somewhere.
 
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