thought it was time to play...

[siguy]

i decided to combine a couple of things that i have been thinking about into one post, and one experiment.

i wanted to see just how much abuse a cheap blade can take (to see if all of these tests about hard-use knives are even worth looking at) and to see if i could still use a broken knife to do bushcraft tasks (because people are always so worried about a broken blade)

i took two cheap mystery stainless kitchen knives i have had knocking around for a couple of years. i ground off the serrations and put nice sharp slightly convex scandi edges on both of them today, and took them out back to play.

they both shave wood well, though the thin spines hurt my thumbs a little when i push on the back of the blades:

then i used a hammer to baton part way through this stick before it broke off:

again with the hammer-batoning through some wood:

they both still cut fine:

beat this one into this pine scrap, and tweaked the tip:

hammered the blade into my chopping block and bent it back and forth:

pounded the blade until the tip was bent up:

(to be continued as the photos are uploaded...)

 

[siguy]

because i couldn't break the knife after repeatedly hammering the blade back and forth, just just left it crooked and use it like that to carve a fig 4 notch and to split some kindling:

then i took the other knife and hammered the blade into a lump of pine log, and pounded on the handle with several full force hammer blows. after maybe 10 blows with no results except a small blemish from the hammer, i felt a release as the tang broke just inside the handle, leaving me with a blade and a handle.
in the pic i have mostly hammered the blade back out of the wood:

i used the blade to split the end of a stick and used a bit of paracord from my pocket to lash the blade into the split.

i then whittled fuzzies and a fig 4 notch:

oh and the entire time i was smashing blades with a hammer, i had on my safety glasses

well, this test showed me that even cheap, terrible quality blades can hold up to some abuse, and even after they are "broken" they still perform fine for most tasks...

thoughts, comments, questions always welcome...

 

[pict]

I saw a photo once of an Indian up in the Amazon. He had a twisted bark thing above his bicep with a dollar store paring knife stuck in it. I'll bet he got more done with that knife than I do with my SBT. Mac

(What's up with those fingernails? They seem to be turning black...)

 

[Grampa]

Siguy, Son of Noss!!!!

Looks like a lot of fun! It's surprising sometimes just what a "junk" knife can do! Good job!

 

[tonym]

I am still not selling you my expensive knives Siguy

Fun lil experiment and thanks for sharing.

Your Mom's going to woop your but when she notices two of her steak knives are missing.

 

[siguy]

pict,
was it like an armband with a sheath attached? or was the knife just tucked under it?

(i can't tell if you are joking or not...just in case you are serious, its nail paint)

 

[siguy]

aw comeon tony, imagine what the high-quality blades could stand up to...


grampa, son of noss...sounds a little bit like a viking title...

 

[ilbruche]

He should just put them back in the knife drawer and see what her reaction is.

 

[tonym]

He should just put them back in the knife drawer and see what her reaction is.

That would be great.... or even the dishwasher.

 

[Myal]

If you get a chance siguy , try some of the older wiltshire cutlery

they were making some seriously good cutlery steel for a while there .

 

[BarberFobic1992]

I have a $3 Tramontina pairing knife that i regularly use outsid. it excells at fuzzy sticks and has endured a conciderable amount of batoning.

 

[siguy]

myal, i will keep an eye out for those. something i might find in an antique shop?

barberfobic, i think i may have the same one...does it have a long clip, slightly hollow ground blade and "dymondwood" handle? i will have to hunt it up for a photo if i can. it was my main woods-blade for a long time, until i saved up enough cash for a mora...

 

[m. wohlwend]

The results of this test don't suprise me too much. Your kitchen knives are almost certian to be made of a tough steel. They will not retain an edge for as long as heat treated high carbon. However they are "tougher" or elastic than the high carbon, and so the one could not be broken.

 

[grease-man]

The results of this test don't suprise me too much. Your kitchen knives are almost certian to be made of a tough steel. They will not retain an edge for as long as heat treated high carbon. However they are "tougher" or elastic than the high carbon, and so the one could not be broken.

The results actually DO surprise me a bit...I had a knife just like the black one he tested, (only the serrations were still on it) and used it in a pinch to cut up some cardboard...wasn't too long before the blade detached from the handle and well...that knife was history! Not that it was a huge loss, but I am surprised his lived as long as it did! -Matt-

 

[Fonly]

Hey, Im remembering some older kitchen knives from chicago cutlery? i think. they made fantastic knives, even some of their paring knives I used during hunting season.

 

[siguy]

charlie, i knew that these wouldn't snap batoning the size wood i was doing, but i was surprised at the long one not breaking, even after i repeatedly bent the blade back and forth by hammering it on one spot...

actually, i think i may have work-hardened it a small amount.

fonly, i am going to pick up some of those old hickory knives when i am up in new york this summer...
http://www.knivesplus.com/OLD-HICKORY-KNIVES.HTML

 

[m. wohlwend]

My grandfather never owned a sheath knife or carried one that I can remember. He always put a butcher knife out of the kitchen in the food box when we went deer hunting. He always had a slippie though!!! :thumbup:

 

[m. wohlwend]

charlie, i knew that these wouldn't snap batoning the size wood i was doing, but i was surprised at the long one not breaking, even after i repeatedly bent the blade back and forth by hammering it on one spot...

actually, i think i may have work-hardened it a small amount.

fonly, i am going to pick up some of those old hickory knives when i am up in new york this summer...
http://www.knivesplus.com/OLD-HICKORY-KNIVES.HTML

I am sure you changed the properties of that steel !!! Those old hickory are fun to modify and play with! Can't go wrong there!

 

[Fonly]

cfonly, i am going to pick up some of those old hickory knives when i am up in new york this summer...
http://www.knivesplus.com/OLD-HICKORY-KNIVES.HTML

yeahhh thats the style im talking about, great cutters.

 

[Rupestris]

I gotta admit,
1, you done a fine job of testing thise blades.
2, That is the ugliest hammer handle I've ever seen .

Chris