Steven Dick Editorial in July Issue 2004

Congratulations on the win, Bill. I have never had any doubts that you make some of the highest performance knives around.

It seems to me that those tests go a long way to showing how well the knives would perform at real world tasks. Are these tests standardized? What I mean is, are these the tests that will be used every year at the Oregon knife show cutting competition, or will some of the tests change each year?

Were there any stock removal guys that took part in this competition? If so, how did they fare?
 
I wonder how much difference in cutting/chopping ability there truly is in each of these quality made knives that have been entered into a particular knife cutting competitition.

Aren't most of the knives that are entered, say into an ABS contest, fairly close to parity with one another with respect to cutting/chopping?
Notice I said "fairly close".

Wouldn't a lot of a knife's success in cutting have to do with the person who is actually doing the cutting (i.e., cutting technique)?

John Fitch, for example, makes a very nice knife, but he is also very big and probably strong as an oxe. He wins competitions. It would seem to me, out of complete and total ignorance mind you, that certain people with certain physical and technique advantages would have a better chance at this game than others regardless of the slight differences that may exist in the cutting quality of these well made knives.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, is the knife really winning these competitions or is it the person doing the cutting which has more to do with it?
 
While I certainly don't doubt the level of skill and expertise needed to do well in one of these competitions, a knife of considerable quality is needed as well. The rope cutting and bottle cutting that was referenced earlier may not seem like much of a test by themselves, and they aren't. But when they are done at the end of a series of tests that may have included chopping 2x4's, cutting fiberglass mats and other tasks made to test the edge holding properties of the blade, it really puts it into perspective.

It seems as though the cutting competition at the last hammer-in was won by a relative newcomer to the ABS, against many of those who have much more experience in knifemaking and in competitions, including the top 5 who will be competeing in Atlanta this June. I think what this says is that these guys are all on pretty equal footing when it comes to the skills needed to win a competition. Having the right knife for the particular set of tests chosen for that given day, also makes a difference.

I don't think that these tests were ever conceived to prove who's knife was best in absolute terms, but started out as a good natured competition between friends. To try and make any more of it than that would be a mistake.
 
Instead of saying trophy, maybe I should have said award. From my understanding the winner of the cutting comp gets a custom made belt buckle for winning at the finals. I guess that is more of an award then a trophy. IMO, Also anytime you and your knives are put in the public eye by way of publicity via magazine articles or even places like blade forums, people will tend to recognize that particular maker more so then someone they are not familiar with and if you win with a knife you made, it will work on the sub-consious of people making them think you make the better knife because you won. Call it the power of advertising. With the cutting of rope and cans, stance, form, swing and angle of cut play a big part in successful cutting. I watched Jerry Fisk and John Fitch explain and demonstrate this at the Bill Moran hammer-in last October. You guys know more about this then me, these are just my opinions.
 
blademan 13 said:
It seems as though the cutting competition at the last hammer-in was won by a relative newcomer to the ABS, against many of those who have much more experience in knifemaking and in competitions, including the top 5 who will be competeing in Atlanta this June. I think what this says is that these guys are all on pretty equal footing when it comes to the skills needed to win a competition.
Click to expand...

...Or that our friend Dan makes a helluva fine blade. :cool:
 
Just to let you know what kind of competition it was, I believe all 24 other contestants shook my hand and congratulated me, and half the spectators! When you watch Jerry Fisk do his show biz routine, you realize he is an excellent promoter. Strange though, you never see him promoting himself, always other makers, or the ABS. He is also a guy that could win every cutting contest, but again, his devotion to the craft comes before self promotion. Classy.

Dan Farr
 
Thanks Keith,

This was the first year of this kind of competition at Eugene so no one knew what thecontest would be like. There was talk about some standard test and always having some suprises.

There was at least one stock removal knife entered but it would not cut the paper strip. I looked at the knife and it was well done but there were two very important things wrong. One while the knife was sharp it was not sharp enough and two it had a very thick secondary bevel. these are only my impressions and may or may not have any credibility. There was another person who failed to cut the paper and when I looked at his knife It had a very good edge geometry and was very sharp. When I attempted the paper cut with this knife it cut fine.

So I think that there were some good knives whose owners lacked the proper technique and some knives that lacked the neccessary geometry to do these test.

A knife can be made to do certain things very well or it can be made to do a lot of this well. by not knowing what all of the tests in the competition will be a maker will have to strive to make a knife that will ultimately be able to do all things very well.
 
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