The rubber band test

What a load.
My Native 5 didn't even start to cut them, but my 0200 cut it a little.
Guess it's time to start sharpening.
 
I did it with my bk14. First time I did it, it just cut in half and shot the band away from me. When I did it the second time I expected the same to happen so I pointed it at the wall and aimed at the light switch to see if i could hit it. Surprisingly it went into a bunch of pieces instead. I found 4 but theres probably more. I guess I was doing it wrong the first time.
 
I wish I owned a rubber band company! I tried it with several knives...Microtech Scarab, Spyderco Domino, ZT 566, Microtech Socom Delta, Spyderco PM2. Each one resulted in numerous broken pieces. Fun experiment!
 
Lol, I just had to try.

Super blue keeping it real.

image.jpg
 
I just got done touching up my 0600 it did ok I guess.



Also tested a ESEE3 Caly3 SuperBlue and a PM2 S30V all reprofiled on my EDGEPRO
 
Last edited:
Interesting. Never heard of this "test". Pretty neat. Just don't let go of the knife and eat the blade lol.

DSCN1776_zpsf02c931e.jpg
 
↑

That's usually what I get with softer rubber bands. A few pieces with partial cuts in the main part of the band.

The band in my original post is from a bunch of asparagus. The rubber is pretty tough.
 
How stupid........................................................................................fun!!

My cat has been shadowing me since this thread was started. Not a great 'fetcher', but she's got the eye for 'foreign' objects.

Great 'test'....thanks.
 
I would love to see a slow-mo video of this. If anyone has a link, please post it. (I have weak google-fu and can't find anything)
 
Clanton said:
Please get rid of all your knifes ASAP.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I thought. Reprofiling an edge 3 nights in row? And convex no less! Um, yer doin it wrong homeboy. And 1095 ain't hard to sharpen. At all. Sheeeee-it man.
 
Blackie Scantling said:
My ESEE 4 didn't cut sh*t. For three nights I sat here and reprofiled the blade on my ESEE 4 to a convex grind and thought it had a sharp edge but it didn't cut the rubber band once, even after multiple tries. I hate this f*&^%$# knife. The 1095 is too thick and too hard to sharpen. At least my CS Trail Master Chinese copy cut every rubber band at least in one piece.
Click to expand...

Must be all them feral hog and big game ribcages you been sawing through! LOL! I remember you talking about that knife in another thread. I thought it was shavin sharp and didn't suck.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ar-knives-that-you-don-t-understand-why/page8
 
Last edited:
I tried this three times. Twice with my Quartermaster Murdock (with a shaving edge) and all it did was leave a nick in the rubber band. The third attempt with my 801 (also shaving sharp) shot the rubber band into the room and the damn thing vanished.

This test sucks!
 
This is the silliest thread I've seen in a very long time. :rolleyes:

(mainly, I'm just jealous because I don't have any rubber bands handy)
 
james terrio said:
This is the silliest thread I've seen in a very long time. :rolleyes:

(mainly, I'm just jealous because I don't have any rubber bands handy)
Click to expand...

I only had one, and it left me disappointed and confused. I would have rather not found any!
 
dkb45 said:
I tried this three times. Twice with my Quartermaster Murdock (with a shaving edge) and all it did was leave a nick in the rubber band. The third attempt with my 801 (also shaving sharp) shot the rubber band into the room and the damn thing vanished.

This test sucks!
Click to expand...

If you aim it straight onto the edge, and the edge is sharp enough, you'll just launch the rubberband away from you. I guess this works by slightly angling the rubberband, so it rotates around the knife; as in, the blade cuts through the rubberband on its rotation around the blade, or the momentum of the rotation pushes the rubberband onto the edge, making it cut through the rubberband as it angles around; the remaining rotation-momentum is determined by the sharpness of the blade, and the angle, of course. If you hit the edge incorrectly you'll most likely just cut through it once.
 
Last edited:
Hah! I had an empty can in front of me when I did this. The band severed and hit the can, and pieces of rubber flew all over the place accompanied by a loud "ping!"
 
jac_solar said:
If you aim it straight onto the edge, and the edge is sharp enough, you'll just launch the rubberband away from you. I guess this works by slightly angling the rubberband, so it rotates around the knife; as in, the blade cuts through the rubberband on its rotation around the blade, or the momentum of the rotation pushes the rubberband onto the edge, making it cut through the rubberband as it angles around; the remaining rotation-momentum is determined by the sharpness of the blade, and the angle, of course. If you hit the edge incorrectly you'll most likely just cut through it once.
Click to expand...

Well what happens is that when you stretch it out and then let it go, instead of all coming back in a straight line the rubber kind of "bunches up" on itself and forces waves. So because it starts bunching and making waves, the peaks of the waves catch the blade edge as the rest of the rubber band travels by it. Then if the momentum and edge-sharpness is sufficient it cuts off a piece or carves a little bit of it as it passes by. Angling it probably helps to catch more of the rubber band on the blade as it passes.

This kind of shows what I mean... See how it looks like a big wavy strip of bacon once it gets toward the thumb? All the little "pieces" that get cut off are the peaks of the waves being shaved off as their momentum and the kinetic energy of the rubber band contract pull them by it.
[video=youtube;TAwVZPgR_jE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAwVZPgR_jE[/video]

I wonder what would happen if someone added a 1/4 to 1/2 turn to the rubber band when pulling it
 
Well, thanks to this thread, I spent an hour putting a new 40 degree edge on my Native 5.
It's now the sharpest knife I own, and demolishes rubber bands. I can't even find all the peices. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top