Singing Steel

W

Wulfenite

Joined
Nov 13, 2001
Messages
38
I was sharpening a chefs knife I put together last night and as I was drawing it across the stones (spyderco 204) the blade was making that musical schhhhhwing sound.

None of the knives I've sharpened on that device before have made that sound. Is that a property of the steel (good?? bad???) or just somthing to do with harmonics and the length of the blade? It was the longest knife I've ever sharpened on that stone set.
 
It must be that same cool sound that every sword makes when drawn from a metal scabbord in the movies.
 
My swords for stage use seem to have the best sound when struck togather when the guard and handle are very tight. Any loseness (is that a word?) will have a dull 'thunk'.
What I see, Lynn
 
That would be a vibration, something like running your finger around the rim of a fine crystal goblet.
harmonic vibration, I'm thinking is the right term?
 
Graymaker
That would be about right. Often some of mine sing a bit. I got a bowie I just finished that sung "Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys". Pretty close to it anyway according to my hearing.
jf
 
Jerry
some sing, every which way but loose too :) :)
but my hearing is getting bad..could be whistling Dixie too:D
 
Dan gets a gold star - Harmonic vibration (or resonance)is it-just like a tuning fork. Has to do with the steel being hard and blade length would play a factor - dead iron won't do it, a loose guard as stated above will dampen it

With it going "schwingggg" I'd think it might be doing Bohemian Rhapsody like in the Wayne's World flicks:D :D (bad Chuck, bad)
 
It may indicate you acheived a consistant grind. Low and high spots offer resistance to resonance and harmonics. Pretty good huh? And I can't even sing.

RL
 
Listening to my blades is always part of my quality testing.
Sounds stupid huh;)
I always balance the blade on my index finger and tap it on the face of my vice to listen to the resonance. After having done this for the past 4yrs you get a pretty good sense of how hard your blade is.
That is by no means all I check Edge flex, stabbing the point into the top of my vice, four foot point drop to concrete are just a few I do.
If the concrete gets another divet and the point is intact it passes.
Usually if it breaks it is too hard and gets re-profiled and re-tempered and dropped again.

BTW I love the clank of steel against steel!
 
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