Cliff Stamp
BANNED
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1998
- Messages
- 17,562
I finally found some vegetation that made using a coarse finish worthwhile. I had to process a large amount of rhubarb and trying to do press cuts or slices with the fine polish and it was not effective. I could not do it without using excessive amounts of force. When a more coarse edge was applied the slicing ability increased significantly and the cutting was done in no time. This was after it was harvested of course. The collecting can be done with a very fine edge as the plants don't grows in large clumps like I was trying to cut them, and of course you can swing with much greater speed than you can press down into a cutting board. Jimbo, combinations of differening vegetation can be bothersome indeed. We don't get anything like that around here, but we do get Alders growing which are very soft and springy and inter-growing through and around pine and spruce. When the main trees die you have a soft and spring wood wrapped around a hard core, that requires some care to cut and makes axe work difficult, this is where a long blade like the Golok would be really appreciated.
Cleaned profile :
Using the Golok with the even finish, it was difficult to tell if the cutting ability had increased. I simply don't have anything of that length that cuts as well as it does, and thus I can't make a definite comparison. It obviously didn't lose any ability. Using it again on some medium class limbing, the edge again dented near the top (12" from choil), similar to what was described before, but this time it was on harder work. Specifically this was limbing dead trees that I was clearing out of a lot. The wood was small (two to three inches at base), but the limbs were rock hard. I was limbing them as easy as I could.
Heavy work :
Before I moved on to the harder limbing I slapped the blade off of a log a few times to check the stiffness, wrist snaps from a few inches, and the blade would take a permanent bend. I just hit it on the other side to straighten it out. I then headed for the worst wood to cut, dead limbs on standing trees. It was cut it in the worst way, just slamming the blade down hard and sweeping the limbs off. The edge near the top (12" from choil) took heavy ripples right away. Within a dozen or so swings there were multiple ripples large enough so that they could be seen at arm's length. I continued to do this for about 500 swings. The dents grew until they were past 1/16" out to the side, and then the edge broke away as the ductility was exceeded. The handle cracked on the other side somewhere during this cutting, the depth of the crack was about 1.5" .
I then moved onto chopping in the region from about 3" to 9" out from the choil. This area of the blade is very hard and resists damage very strongly. I again went through another 500 hard swings and all I did was induce one very small dent. You would have to look very carefully to see it. It was about half the size of the one described for the tip for the light limbing. I then tried to work the very tip of the blade to see how that would handle the same work, but since the wood was very ingrown I was hitting the damaged region (12" from choil) frequently and the blow outs were increasing. Near the end, steel was lost from the edge for about one and a half inches. The damage extended to to about 1/8" deep, the blade was ~0.060" thick at this point. I stopped here as I felt the handle give.
I then went back to the log I was slapping in the above and wrist chopped straight down into it about 25 times. Short chops, just a few inches of drop. The handle gave with each chop and the blade fell out on the last hit. The tang is indeed sharp on the back which is probably what induced the cracking in the first place. It is nice and thick. I then viced the blade in a stump and bent it to 90 degrees. The blade bent easily and took a set right at the vice point with no curvature in the rest of the blade. I then pushed it past 180 degrees. It bent then at the secondary point where it was wrapped around the stump. The edge cracked up to 1/2" deep in the region of the first bend which was the same place that it got heavily damaged in the limbing. In retrospect that was the worst place to do a flex test and it would have been useful to check the edge after the 90 bend.
To do a simple hardness check I took the Cold Steel shovel and chopped it into the false edge and into the primary from the choil to the tip. The shovel chopped into the false edge readily, with no damage to itself. The tip was harder, but the shovel still damaged the blade far more readily than itself, up to 1/8" deep fractures. Hitting the fully hardened area of the blade, the Golok did as much damage to the shovel as it took, only ~1/16" deep. Moving past this and heading towards the choil, the blade is again very soft and the shovel slices into it just like it did on the false edge. On the walk home, I chopped the edge into a few rocks and a concrete block (holding onto the tang), this did little damage to the fully hardened region, much less than the shovel chopping, and just tended to mash it in.
Profile :
The profile is pretty much perfect on the primary edge. The blade cuts well and yet has a low binding rate. It could be improved as Jimbo noted by forming the edge all the way down to the handle. The sharpened top edge, I would forget. It is too limiting in regards to overall functionality, and requires that the spine be hardened to make it durable enough to form an efficient cutting profile. The hollows in the primary could be cleaned up, but this would take a long time, and the user can do this themselves, so it is a matter of where you want the price to be.
Hardness :
The tip and the choil area should be harder. The tip needs the hardness for cutting, the choil could still cut with its much lower hardness as you are generally only going to be slicing with it, but is very difficult to form a crisp edge there when it is so soft. If this could translate into a durability issue then of course leave it softer. It also might effect shock damping in a negative way which might not be a good trade off. I would prefer a spring tempered spine to increase blade stiffness.
Handle :
The grip has grooved rings, decorative probably, and like the similar features on khukuris some will find them abrasive, however due to the very extensive shaping, the grip should be secure even without them. I meant to sand them off and see if the handle got to slippery, I don't think it would.
Scabbard :
This is basically a slip case, it would be nice to have a way to actually wear this. I would not go too complicated. The rig that Camillus has for the Patrol Machete is fine.
Summary :
In short, this is a blade that can approach the whittling ability of a SAK, cuts as well as a machete on soft vegetation with a very powerful draw cutting ability, and get penetration in the same class as a quality hatchet on thick wood with a fluid pace. The grip is secure and ergonomic, and the blade durability and edge retention is very high in the fully hardened region.
[Some of the above cutting is very dangerous, even if you know what you are doing. It is not intended to describe safe usage, or testing procedures. All work was performed either by, or under the supervision of, a professional maniac.]
-Cliff
Cleaned profile :
Using the Golok with the even finish, it was difficult to tell if the cutting ability had increased. I simply don't have anything of that length that cuts as well as it does, and thus I can't make a definite comparison. It obviously didn't lose any ability. Using it again on some medium class limbing, the edge again dented near the top (12" from choil), similar to what was described before, but this time it was on harder work. Specifically this was limbing dead trees that I was clearing out of a lot. The wood was small (two to three inches at base), but the limbs were rock hard. I was limbing them as easy as I could.
Heavy work :
Before I moved on to the harder limbing I slapped the blade off of a log a few times to check the stiffness, wrist snaps from a few inches, and the blade would take a permanent bend. I just hit it on the other side to straighten it out. I then headed for the worst wood to cut, dead limbs on standing trees. It was cut it in the worst way, just slamming the blade down hard and sweeping the limbs off. The edge near the top (12" from choil) took heavy ripples right away. Within a dozen or so swings there were multiple ripples large enough so that they could be seen at arm's length. I continued to do this for about 500 swings. The dents grew until they were past 1/16" out to the side, and then the edge broke away as the ductility was exceeded. The handle cracked on the other side somewhere during this cutting, the depth of the crack was about 1.5" .
I then moved onto chopping in the region from about 3" to 9" out from the choil. This area of the blade is very hard and resists damage very strongly. I again went through another 500 hard swings and all I did was induce one very small dent. You would have to look very carefully to see it. It was about half the size of the one described for the tip for the light limbing. I then tried to work the very tip of the blade to see how that would handle the same work, but since the wood was very ingrown I was hitting the damaged region (12" from choil) frequently and the blow outs were increasing. Near the end, steel was lost from the edge for about one and a half inches. The damage extended to to about 1/8" deep, the blade was ~0.060" thick at this point. I stopped here as I felt the handle give.
I then went back to the log I was slapping in the above and wrist chopped straight down into it about 25 times. Short chops, just a few inches of drop. The handle gave with each chop and the blade fell out on the last hit. The tang is indeed sharp on the back which is probably what induced the cracking in the first place. It is nice and thick. I then viced the blade in a stump and bent it to 90 degrees. The blade bent easily and took a set right at the vice point with no curvature in the rest of the blade. I then pushed it past 180 degrees. It bent then at the secondary point where it was wrapped around the stump. The edge cracked up to 1/2" deep in the region of the first bend which was the same place that it got heavily damaged in the limbing. In retrospect that was the worst place to do a flex test and it would have been useful to check the edge after the 90 bend.
To do a simple hardness check I took the Cold Steel shovel and chopped it into the false edge and into the primary from the choil to the tip. The shovel chopped into the false edge readily, with no damage to itself. The tip was harder, but the shovel still damaged the blade far more readily than itself, up to 1/8" deep fractures. Hitting the fully hardened area of the blade, the Golok did as much damage to the shovel as it took, only ~1/16" deep. Moving past this and heading towards the choil, the blade is again very soft and the shovel slices into it just like it did on the false edge. On the walk home, I chopped the edge into a few rocks and a concrete block (holding onto the tang), this did little damage to the fully hardened region, much less than the shovel chopping, and just tended to mash it in.
Profile :
The profile is pretty much perfect on the primary edge. The blade cuts well and yet has a low binding rate. It could be improved as Jimbo noted by forming the edge all the way down to the handle. The sharpened top edge, I would forget. It is too limiting in regards to overall functionality, and requires that the spine be hardened to make it durable enough to form an efficient cutting profile. The hollows in the primary could be cleaned up, but this would take a long time, and the user can do this themselves, so it is a matter of where you want the price to be.
Hardness :
The tip and the choil area should be harder. The tip needs the hardness for cutting, the choil could still cut with its much lower hardness as you are generally only going to be slicing with it, but is very difficult to form a crisp edge there when it is so soft. If this could translate into a durability issue then of course leave it softer. It also might effect shock damping in a negative way which might not be a good trade off. I would prefer a spring tempered spine to increase blade stiffness.
Handle :
The grip has grooved rings, decorative probably, and like the similar features on khukuris some will find them abrasive, however due to the very extensive shaping, the grip should be secure even without them. I meant to sand them off and see if the handle got to slippery, I don't think it would.
Scabbard :
This is basically a slip case, it would be nice to have a way to actually wear this. I would not go too complicated. The rig that Camillus has for the Patrol Machete is fine.
Summary :
In short, this is a blade that can approach the whittling ability of a SAK, cuts as well as a machete on soft vegetation with a very powerful draw cutting ability, and get penetration in the same class as a quality hatchet on thick wood with a fluid pace. The grip is secure and ergonomic, and the blade durability and edge retention is very high in the fully hardened region.
[Some of the above cutting is very dangerous, even if you know what you are doing. It is not intended to describe safe usage, or testing procedures. All work was performed either by, or under the supervision of, a professional maniac.]
-Cliff
