rope cutting test

S

Sammy Mickel

Joined
May 11, 1999
Messages
61
I've been keeping up with "Blade" magazine for the past year. Just about any knife review or story about a maker something is allways said of how many times a knife will cut a rope bfore sharpening. What I would like to know is this a chopping motion? A slicing motion? Or what?

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there are a lot of variations; of course there is the slash-at-the-free-hanging-rope test, which requires a very sharp knife and a considerable bit of practice, but I believe you are speaking of the cut-a-rope-on-a-board test. Generally it is a "push" cut;here the knife edge is placed on the rope and then pushed forward and down with the off hand on the spine. You can feel the knife scrunch through. A dull knife will cut then crush and roll the individual yarns. rope is notoriously abrasive and difficult to cut cleanly without a lot of sawing back and forth, which is why it makes such a good test medium.
 
If this test is for you, you set the standards! If I say "mine will cut 100" times, and you say yours will cut 200 times, it dosent mean anything because we have not set the same conditions. It is a way to evaluate your progress or for you to test against anothers knife you have in your hands! Both must be sharpeded the same way, by the same person and must be operated the same way by the same person, then maybe you have a valid test! If you are a maker, cut rope! You will learn from it. Cutting free hanging rope is a trick but you need a good knife to do it! If you find a cutting contest, join in, show your a.... and learn somthing about how your work stacks up against folks you admire!! I entered my first cutting contest at a hammerin in Scottsdale, had fun, did ok, learned a bunch and will be much more ready for my next one! So have some fun!!
Doug!
 
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