"The Spine Whack Test"...A Disturbing Development...

In light of all the recent testing I decided it had to be a good idea and I had to make sure that ALL of my tools were absolutely indestructable. After all, I would hate to rely on something that could break on me with no warning.
So out to the shop I went and I decided the first thing to test would be my favorite hatchet. Hoping to make this test as close to real life as possible, I used an overhand swing and struck the top of my work bench with the back of the hatchet. All of these failure reports had me a little gun shy and I couldn't help but close my eyes and fear for the worst with each swing. I suppose that wasn't the best practice to follow, because I accidentally smashed my bandsaw, and also have a small hole in the top of the work bench. The hatchet passed the test with flying colors. I'm so releived. There was absolutely NO sign of stress or flexing at the joint between the head and the handle.
That gave me the confidence to go on and continue testing my tools. I decided the next step would be to test my good axe. After all, it gets even more strenuous use than the hatchet. Wanting to be consistent, I used the same method with the axe as the hatchet. Now I really wasn't very optimistic going into this one. The axe had this silly "double bit" design that makes the back of the blade unbeleivably thin and I really didn't see much hope in this passing the spine whack test. So I closed my eyes clenched my teeth and gave it a dozen good swings and I'll be damned if it didn't pass also. And now I have TWO workbenches! How cool is that!?

So now I'm thinking that I should test my chainsaw. Its an 029 stihl, and despite the stellar reputation, I have to admit that they make no mention of the almighty spine whack test in their advertisement. And I'm asking myself "shouldn't all cutting tools be expected to pass this wonderful test?" and I answered myself "Your damn right!". So I topped off the bar and chain oil, and filled up the gas. Fired it up and proceeded to try and find a way to swing this thing backwards at the workbenches. I just couldn't get a comfortable grip to get a full power swing with it, and of course safety comes first, thats what these tests are all about right?
So I take it over to the vise and with a little redneck engineering (duct tape and 2X4's) I got it secured. Now I needed something to do the whacking with. I opted for the 16lb sledge, and figured why not kill 2 birds with one stone? I can hit the saw with the back of the hammer head and test them both at the same time!
Sparks were aflyin and and the saw sounded a little rough after the first swing but it was still runnin and the hammer only had a few scratches on it so I wound up an gave it my best wedge sinkin, log splittin, post sinkin, lift yourself off yer feet bringing it down swing.....and would you beleive the friggin duct tape let loose and my saw was doing full throttle cartwheels in the air and landed on the other half of my workbench in the other side of the shop? Would you? I mean damn, of all the things you think you can trust. Duct tape fails the spine whack test :(
 
Equally important is "Head Whack" testing. Something that's long overdue, imo. Gosh, I don't know why the forum moderators have ignored bringing light to this "sorely" needed study. Try it, then post your results here. :D
 
Matt shade,

Thank you for sharing your test results with us, most informative.

You aren't related to Cliff Stump by any chance, are you? Distant cousin's perhaps...just wondering.

Cheers, Jeff/1911.
 
allyourblood - Helpful hint: whack the back of the blade next time. ;)

Matt - Great post, sounds like another "Kliff Stump" adventure.
 
Heck I don't want a laptop that's going to fold under stress in the field, especially with my fingers in the way. Thankfully it passed the spine whack test on my office desk. The screen now flickers and is a wierd shade of blue. I just found out it will cost $900 to fix. A small price to pay for piece of mind in my book.
 
just checked my " Sebenza's for dummies " book , it passed the spinewhack with flying colors :D
 
Matt,
No offense But I have found that duct tape always passes the spine whack test if using only the weight of the tape.
Try it.
It flexes a good bit and may stick to your hand but never breaks.
Im afraid it may have been your application of the tape to the saw and vise which is in some way spurious.
Please keep your tests as scientific as possible so we may have blind faith in your results.

On a somewhat seriuos note the slip joint does not fail in an unexpected way when spine whacked.
A lock which looks like it should prevent accidental closure may give false security if its limits are well below your expectations.
But we've all read too many threads like that eh?

So,
you may be interested in my motorcycle tire test
My tire's perform exceptionally in the spine whack test except the front one which bounced up and fractured my nose.
Im sending it back to Dunlop for evaluation.
Keep up the good work folks.
The truth must be told!!
 
Now that I know what is going on, I won't apply the spine whack test on my slipjoints. Thanks for the tip. I just want to use the knife, not kill it! :D :D
 
After reading this, not only did all my slipjoints fail, but I took all my knives to my brother, who's a certified welder, and he informed me NONE of them could stand up to the oxyacetlyne torch test! This is an outrage!
 
While I don't prescribe to the spine whack test. . .

I've found that if you wear 16 oz boxing gloves as your grippin' your knife (of course. . .in a deadly combative situation) the bad guy (or girl if you prefer) will not be able to hit the spine of your folder !

Course. . .some duct tape may be required. :p

The only problem. . .wearing boxing gloves all of the time can be a real pain ! :( Especially, when you have to go pee real bad ! ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top