Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Dec 10, 2015 19:19:35 GMT
If I'm not mistaken, the far left is Tom's. My 1st prelim knife I didn't have time to finish. It's in my garage somewhere, I think. I lost a lot of stuff when I moved. It's all in the bottoms of boxes somewhere.
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Post by randomnobody on Dec 10, 2015 19:28:48 GMT
Ah, I was thinking it might be, but for some reason thought he wasn't in the prelims. Shoulda known by the edge on it. Been skimming through the original thread, trying to pair knives with rounds and makers, and stumbled over this post: I know. Been thinking this might be the big payoff I've been waiting for. You know the usual plan; join a sword forum, spend years building friendships and a reputation, gain trust, organize a major surprise gift giving for a forum friend planned in secret for months, give out my address, post daily and stay active for years, talk a few smiths into sending me some knives... then WHAMMO! I disappear and move to a new town to start it all over. Wahahhaaaaa, it's my master plan !! We all laughed at the time, I laughed again just now, and no, this didn't happen...but heck, it may as well have for the pace we're getting things done. That was July, after all.
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Post by DigsFossils-n-Knives on Dec 10, 2015 19:40:51 GMT
That looks like a lot of work to test
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Dec 10, 2015 19:52:50 GMT
Work? You mean fun?
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Post by randomnobody on Dec 10, 2015 19:55:43 GMT
Going to be both, for sure.
For now, I'm going to be taking some time to slice up the boxes that have been taking up space in a corner of my room in preparation for Round 2 whenever it gets underway. Meanwhile, I'll be pondering what sort of tests to pit these other knives against. Ten to work with, that's a lot of stuff to cut...
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Dec 10, 2015 20:01:35 GMT
Well, there were two separate prelim rounds. One was for a utility style knife and one was for an eating/kitchen style knife. They should be tested in separate ways with two winners. At least, that was the original intent.
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Post by randomnobody on Dec 10, 2015 20:17:32 GMT
But of course. Part of why I'm trying to figure out which knives were meant for which rounds. From there, though, it's still a lot of stuff to cut.
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TomK
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Post by TomK on Dec 10, 2015 20:21:19 GMT
yup far left is mine
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Post by randomnobody on Dec 10, 2015 20:23:49 GMT
Right-o, that the EDC round or the "eating" round? I'm inclined to lean to the former.
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Dec 10, 2015 20:40:13 GMT
Far left was his EDC. When might we expect results for these? If possible, I'd like to fire up Round 3 if there is still interest among the smiths.
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Post by DigsFossils-n-Knives on Dec 10, 2015 20:53:05 GMT
You haven't lost my interest
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Post by randomnobody on Dec 10, 2015 21:04:55 GMT
I'd love to have everything done as soon as possible, but I'm still kinda puzzling over how to go about testing "eating knives" and general EDC, short of just impressions and handling. To do it properly would basically mean actually using each knife for its intended purpose over an extended period, for instance, carrying each EDC knife and using it for whatever knife-related tasks I might encounter. Mind you, those are few and far between.
So what I'm thinking is, simple judgment based on handling and edge sharpness, with the typical paper test, and maybe a little more aggressive with some of the scrap cardboard I'm going to have after cutting all these boxes down. I've only got one box cut down so far, and I managed to get 26 piece out of it that are (very) roughly somewhere between 7x7 and 8x8 inches squarish, plus a few strips a couple inches wide and totaling several feet long. I figure I'll take slices out of those for the EDC round?
Tricky bit will be figuring out the "eating" round. Not like I can insist on serving dinner with them, ya know?
That's why I'm looking for suggestions.
At any rate, hours into the weekend are ridiculous, but next week is fairy light. I can probably do some indoor stuff for these guys in the next few days (cutting paper, cardboard, maybe find some sticks to whittle or something?) and put a few words down on it. I don't think these will get quite as extensive a write-up as the first round knives, mostly because there will be less to test.
Which reminds me, I still have the rope. I could try cutting (as in sawing, mostly) that with the EDC knives. Should be a decent test.
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TomK
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Post by TomK on Dec 10, 2015 21:10:59 GMT
For EDC I would think edge retention and comfort in handling and performing various tasks would be the key factors. For edge retention I would suggest linear feet of corrugated cardboard cut before losing sharpness and just your personal opinion on comfort and handling.
For the eating knife, eat with it and see which one is the most comfortable
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Dec 10, 2015 21:12:38 GMT
For the eating knives, we had discussed testing mainly on it's edge holding capabilities. For example, obviously the harder you get the steel, the better edge it will hold. BUT if the steel is too hard, it will crack if you tap it on a ceramic or glass plate. So making sure they have that fine balance of hardness without breaking.
For the EDCs, uh... I dunno. Beat the crap out of them? That's what I do with my EDC, anyway.
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Post by randomnobody on Dec 10, 2015 21:36:30 GMT
Yeah, testing an EDC knife is no big thing. Comfort in carrying, general handling, and use are obvious, as well as how easily it handles typical cutting tasks (paper, cardboard, rope, etc.) and whatever else I think to try out. Eating, well...yeah, I could probably find some way to carry out the "tap" test, without sacrificing our "good plates" of course.
I'll ponder some things and see what I come up with. Might invest in a few vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers to dice up.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Dec 10, 2015 22:33:23 GMT
Maybe find some dowels and carve them into stakes? That'd test the edge pretty well. The rope cut test sounds good. Cut a certain length of rope every inch or so and test the edge after. If you were going to do something like prepare some meat I'd do that before the other tests. Paper test after every trial.
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Post by randomnobody on Dec 10, 2015 22:48:18 GMT
Dunno if I'll be handling raw meat, though ideally I would. Cooked, maybe, if we have a roast one night I'll try shaving some off with some of the knives if mother lets me. (Naturally, a good scrubbing with hot water and good dish soap before and after)
Dowels is probably a good call, I'll swing into Home Depot and see if I can come since small ones. Between paper, rope, cardboard, and dowels, that should cover the EDC round. Vegetables (possibly meat) and paper and such for the "eating" round, then wrapping it all up with cardboard, bottles, a phone book and/or newspaper and boards for the thruster round. Sound okay?
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Dec 10, 2015 22:50:56 GMT
Sounds decent to me.
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Post by DigsFossils-n-Knives on Dec 10, 2015 23:06:16 GMT
Take some of the scrap 2x4 and feather stick them
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TomK
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Post by TomK on Dec 10, 2015 23:33:19 GMT
I would be very surprised if any of these knives cracked from tapping on a plate. I would think you should be able to destroy a plate with minimal damage to the edge.
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