This blade is called the RB special, for the new shop manager. Rajesh Baral.
My first thought; a Masterpeice. HI just wont quit. Not only Sher comes back, and that's his Rising Sun on the blade, but makes one exactly like he used to when metal was plentiful and life cheap on the Brazos. This thing is thick- 7/16" in the place near the bend. It is about 18.5" long, depending upon which corner of the buttcap you pick, and weighs 40 oz.
IT has a two layer handle- one half with buffalo horn, and one with what appears to be Montana Elk. THEN, it has scrolling on the buttcap, the center divide of the handle, and right past the bolster on the blade, oulined in golden relief. Though there are a few overuns where the white metal wears too thin covering what appears to be brass underneath, the overall effect is simply outstanding. There is no other way to approach looking at this blade. As a object of art, it stands.
Additionally, it has the frog many have been wanting for a decade; check it out. That's thick. The blade is also very very hard, and the edge maintains this past the initial curve all the way to the tip. I have real reservations about that in a chopping blade. Too much of a good thing. What happens if a big chip of the tip comes flying off? Sometimes people ask for things they find not as easy to live with as their dreams predicted. I would ask HI to keep the heavier blades at least with softer tips.
When I first saw it, as pleased as I was, I wondered about the shape. Wasp like waist, much of the weight in the Chiruwa handle, and that shark point. How could it chop?
Well, you didn't really think I'd just look at it, did you?
I tried a half green log and a old hardened ponderosa pine. The half green it did fine, but anyone who chops wood knows that most blades will look good cutting a green log.
It was bouncing off the old wood. I grumbled., went inside and sharpened it. How do you know this edge was hard, munk? Because my diamond paddles skate along. They take some, but don't dig.
Back outside it cut better, but not good enough. So I brought out an old beater 20" villager AK, also made by Sher, and it cut OK. I brought out a full sized 18" chiruwa BDC made by Bura and it cut. The AK weighs 36 ounces, the BDC around 2 lbs. Both felt satisfying when chopping the hardened wood.
The edge to the Masterpiece is convex and very thick. A lot of weight and mass is trying to get through on every strike. And it...vibrates. No matter where I held it, choked up, or where I struck; near the tip, closer to the bolster, mid range, high range below the tip, it was never completely satisfying. So much power and it's not getting through. I tried striking lightly and this seemed to work best but was frustrating to me.
So I took it down to the belt grinder to put a sharper edge on it. 7 minutes later it was improved. How do I know this edge is hard? Because of the way the belts felt against the metal; just like the diamond hones.
I never could get the results I wanted.
I'm going to try reprofiling the edge. I've a simple idea though; make the RB Masterpeice at 2 lbs. Take some of the metal out of the handle and put it forward.
Or make the Masterpeice real light, and the Fighter it looks like. Two versions. A two pounder and a 24 ouncer.
Well, that's it. It's so fine I love it, but something must change. This is going to take a little more time to figure out. I went outside with Carter to show him, and it was not THAT far away from my 20" AK now that the old log is well penetrated.
There is probably a very slight rebalance of this blade- and a Kami would know, not I, that could and should be done. It is so close to what it deserves to be; the RB Masterpeice.
We could probably have a 40 ounce version. I'm not giving up this one. To anyone.
Edit- I tried my 3lb Ganga Ram on the log, also with a convex edge but not as broad as the Masterpeice. It was not entirely satifying on the log- and there was a vibration. The GR is a great delimber. It bashes through.
Next step will be a fixed segment of wood- like a tree trunk. I want to see what happens when the object being chopped doesn't move much.
munk
My first thought; a Masterpeice. HI just wont quit. Not only Sher comes back, and that's his Rising Sun on the blade, but makes one exactly like he used to when metal was plentiful and life cheap on the Brazos. This thing is thick- 7/16" in the place near the bend. It is about 18.5" long, depending upon which corner of the buttcap you pick, and weighs 40 oz.
IT has a two layer handle- one half with buffalo horn, and one with what appears to be Montana Elk. THEN, it has scrolling on the buttcap, the center divide of the handle, and right past the bolster on the blade, oulined in golden relief. Though there are a few overuns where the white metal wears too thin covering what appears to be brass underneath, the overall effect is simply outstanding. There is no other way to approach looking at this blade. As a object of art, it stands.
Additionally, it has the frog many have been wanting for a decade; check it out. That's thick. The blade is also very very hard, and the edge maintains this past the initial curve all the way to the tip. I have real reservations about that in a chopping blade. Too much of a good thing. What happens if a big chip of the tip comes flying off? Sometimes people ask for things they find not as easy to live with as their dreams predicted. I would ask HI to keep the heavier blades at least with softer tips.
When I first saw it, as pleased as I was, I wondered about the shape. Wasp like waist, much of the weight in the Chiruwa handle, and that shark point. How could it chop?
Well, you didn't really think I'd just look at it, did you?
I tried a half green log and a old hardened ponderosa pine. The half green it did fine, but anyone who chops wood knows that most blades will look good cutting a green log.
It was bouncing off the old wood. I grumbled., went inside and sharpened it. How do you know this edge was hard, munk? Because my diamond paddles skate along. They take some, but don't dig.
Back outside it cut better, but not good enough. So I brought out an old beater 20" villager AK, also made by Sher, and it cut OK. I brought out a full sized 18" chiruwa BDC made by Bura and it cut. The AK weighs 36 ounces, the BDC around 2 lbs. Both felt satisfying when chopping the hardened wood.
The edge to the Masterpiece is convex and very thick. A lot of weight and mass is trying to get through on every strike. And it...vibrates. No matter where I held it, choked up, or where I struck; near the tip, closer to the bolster, mid range, high range below the tip, it was never completely satisfying. So much power and it's not getting through. I tried striking lightly and this seemed to work best but was frustrating to me.
So I took it down to the belt grinder to put a sharper edge on it. 7 minutes later it was improved. How do I know this edge is hard? Because of the way the belts felt against the metal; just like the diamond hones.
I never could get the results I wanted.
I'm going to try reprofiling the edge. I've a simple idea though; make the RB Masterpeice at 2 lbs. Take some of the metal out of the handle and put it forward.
Or make the Masterpeice real light, and the Fighter it looks like. Two versions. A two pounder and a 24 ouncer.
Well, that's it. It's so fine I love it, but something must change. This is going to take a little more time to figure out. I went outside with Carter to show him, and it was not THAT far away from my 20" AK now that the old log is well penetrated.
There is probably a very slight rebalance of this blade- and a Kami would know, not I, that could and should be done. It is so close to what it deserves to be; the RB Masterpeice.
We could probably have a 40 ounce version. I'm not giving up this one. To anyone.
Edit- I tried my 3lb Ganga Ram on the log, also with a convex edge but not as broad as the Masterpeice. It was not entirely satifying on the log- and there was a vibration. The GR is a great delimber. It bashes through.
Next step will be a fixed segment of wood- like a tree trunk. I want to see what happens when the object being chopped doesn't move much.
munk
7 pics total, I think.
:thumbup:
