What makes a blade sing?

[Jeff Clark]

Back in the 60's I bought a made-in-USA Collins brand machete that was different than any other machete I've handled. If you tapped the blade it would ring with more of a clear bell tone than any machete I've handled. Usually machete's are a bit soft to withstand abuse. This seems to dull their song. My Collins seemed to have more of a spring temper and never took a bend when given tough usage. I'd guess now that it was made from 5160 with a high spring temper.

My question is, have you owned or made blades that made a pleasant ringing sound when drawn or tapped? If you did, what were their dimensions, materials, and heat treatment? Do you have fond memories of a blade that felt and sounded "cool"?

Given the hardness of many modern knives and swords I would expect them to vibrate elastically in a way that would produce a good song. Why don't I notice the sound more? Are they too short and too thick? Can it relate to something like cold working (such as cold rolling) that gives a high surface hardness that is good for song?

 

[johno]

I had noted in another thread that for some reason my Anza #4, a simple 3in full tang straight hunter I guess it'd be called, had a more pronounced 'zing' than my other knives when I rub my thumb across the blade. I guess it's due to the simple blade shape, no guard, the full tang handle which would minimize damping, and the hollow ground edge.

 

I have four knives that sing. Two are Panga Knives made by Blackjack. They're between 1/16 and 1/8 thick, and I can't remember if they're made out of 6A or 420J2 (pretty flexible steel). They have 14" blades, 19" overall, no guard, just handle. Much like your machetes.

The other are a pair of Millennium Fighters made by Jerry Hossom( www.hossom.com ). They have 11" blades, 5" handles. They have bolsters rather than guards, and the steel is between 5/32 and 3/16 thick. Of cryo treated ATS-34.

What seems to be the correlation here is that all of the knives mentioned don't have anything on them that would dampen the song of the blades.

Matt

 

[Alberta Ed]

The excellent Iltis axes (made in West Germany) ring like a bell.

[This message has been edited by Alberta Ed (edited 02 October 1999).]