Testing Methods

When I start making a bunch of knives (maybe in the next two or three) I'll probably come up with a set of tests that I feel will test the durability and usefulness of a knife. I want to test a few different things: Edge retention (Cutting different hard stuff), Blade strength (How far does it bend in a vise with x amount of pressure?), Handle Strength (Do the scales hold up and stay on after being used like a hammer, try to pry it off)

And last but not least, I will let others use one in an every day task that they do, to see how well it holds up after being used by some people other than me.
 
Mike, you might want to consider doing a passaround to let folks check/test out your work. For instance, there are several guys in W&SS who love to test knives. And not to be crass, but passarounds and giveaways often lead to orders.
 
James_Terrio said:
Mike, you might want to consider doing a passaround to let folks check/test out your work. For instance, there are several guys in W&SS who love to test knives. And not to be crass, but passarounds and giveaways often lead to orders.
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thats how i got my foot in the door making kitchen knives
oo and make sure that you know the feedback is not meant to hurt you as a maker
and make sure they know you can fix things they dont tell you about
you will also have to be able to sort out the things that are not a huge deal (not every handle will fit every hand but gettign as many to fit possible is the goal )

it can be brutal but it gets your name out there and helps make you a better maker
 
stephanfowler said:
which is a wholly useless point. We are interested in why YOU do it and I think the rest of your post adequately describes it.

otherwise it's just a bandwagon
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:thumbup:Stephan, I think you understand exactly why I love the fact that you view that just because I say something is meaningless and bandwagon type thinking:). I prefer to be an antidote to the currently idols and gurus not a replacement. We need a cure not just more of the same.

Dustin, you seem to be using the test in much the same way that I do, as long as we understand what we are looking for we are fine, and some of the most homegrown tests can be quite useful as long as we remember this.
 
Well, I started dropping my straight razors from 6' onto concrete. But they all got messed up. Must have been crappy straight razors. So, I guess I'll be wearing a beard...


In all seriousness. Get yourself some "standards". I use a few factory knives of excellent reputation, a few semi customs, and an honest to goodness master's knife, plus some old blades of mine that I always include in my tests as standards. Then I can compare a new HT or other changes to old standards and see the difference. I don't get any absolute numbers, but I can see, hey - this knife suffers more blunting when chopping a particular piece of hardwood than this other knife. Or hey - this new heat treat has improved the sharpness after cutting X amount of cardboard than this older knife. Find a few "standards" that you can compare your work too. And continue to put these standards into your tests so you can track changes.

This is for performance cutting testing - not destructive testing.
 
butcher_block said:
thats how i got my foot in the door making kitchen knives
oo and make sure that you know the feedback is not meant to hurt you as a maker
and make sure they know you can fix things they dont tell you about
you will also have to be able to sort out the things that are not a huge deal (not every handle will fit every hand but gettign as many to fit possible is the goal )

it can be brutal but it gets your name out there and helps make you a better maker
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I'm a very blunt and to-the-point guy. I can take criticism better than a lot of other people can. I always try to be honest with other people, even if it hurts their feelings, and I would always hope people would have the same honesty with me.
 
go mike said:
I'm a very blunt and to-the-point guy. I can take criticism better than a lot of other people can. I always try to be honest with other people, even if it hurts their feelings, and I would always hope people would have the same honesty with me.
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may you go out and doo well
thick skin is a +
im with you as far as even if it hurts i get to learn and we should all remember to never stop learning
thick skin is a big need in a craft and so is not having a big ego
you see Mr Kevin looks at this in much the same he will not stop learning and tring to push to do the next better thing with steel (if he runs out im sure he will start on some other alloy:) )
 
Good point, Butch. Most of the top guys around here are also the most humble and always looking for a way to get better. I reckon that's how they got to be the best. I'll try to follow that example.
 
Interesting stuff guys.

The passaround blades are a great idea. I would that you may get entirely different feedback from knifeknuts than you would say, deer hunters who look at the blade as a simple tool. The passaround would hopefully give as much feedback on design and function as it does materials and manufacture (for lack of a better term).

Shop testing I think would be more material and process related but I think it's a requirement as long as you know what you're testing for and have some kind of baseline or standard for the test.

All this seems subjective. The reason I asked the question originally was because as a lifelong hunter and newbie maker, I'm interested in primarily hunting knives and wondered if anybody performed any kind of testing that would be related to the task that the knife is intended for.

Joe
 
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