Meat Cutting Blade---Failure!

[tippit]

The smallest of my Meat Processing blades has failed to preform to it's intended task  :(  
 
BUT it sure does a good  job of of skinnin' & capin'     I thought a little sheep horn might make her feel better after being kick out of the kitchen.  Sorry about all the resent posts, I think I've had too much time on my hands with the Holiday and only working three days a week...tippit

OAL 8 inches with 4 inch blade of 1084.  Ah yes it is without a Keesler flare   :rolleyes:  

 

 

 

[Roughcountry]

A knife that handy looking don't belong in the kitchen anyhow. Well, maybe in the kitchen side of the tent. Thats a darn fine belt knife in anyones book.

[swp]

Jeff,
Love your posts and pics of your handiwork...keep'em coming!

[TOEJAMMER]

Ditto with Roughcountry and swp.  A great piece of cutlery Jeff.

[Lin Rhea]

Jeff, just out of curiosity, I would like to hear some details of how it "failed". I know that there are degrees of failure and I think I know that you are meaning that edge geometry or something else affected it's performance. It might be a good opportunity to offer your insight on what it takes to perform well in meat cutting.

[tippit]

Lin,
I was looking to make a meat cutting knife with a simple design.  My keys were a thin blade like a filleting/boning knife but with more back bone and deeper blade.  I also wanted a fine point that would allow the blade to easily slip between the meat and fascia during the cleaning process.  Finally an edge that was close to a kitchen knife.   I was also trying to compare the difference with straight back vs drop point.  I made six variations from OAL of 8" to 12".  

The edge on all except the 12" blade was thin and convexed about 1/4 the way up the blade.  The style was very easy to forge compared to the Keeslar style which requires (at least by me) a lot of heats and a lot of straightening due to the disruption of the flare to get just right.

It failed primarily by being too short of a blade.  The 12" blade will also fail by being a little too thick in the blade & edge but mostly by being too long & unwielding.  

It was a good exercise in that doing the same knife over & over,  I got to the point were I could actually count the number of heats/hammerings for each step.  I tend to forge my blade to 90% completion.  I guess I just prefer forging/blacksmithing over grinding.  Of the six blades, these were the final four with the top & bottom thrown out.  Except the bottom one (now the sheep horn handled one in the post) has become a very nice belt knife rivaling my Keeslar blades...tippit

 

[Lin Rhea]

Thanks Jeff. Very good.

Guys, this illustrates a point to be made. The difference between failure and success, can be very small changes in the edge geometry or even blade length and tip location. Failure does not necessarily imply a broken blade. You really should not leave it to the potential buyer or user to tweak the blade and customize it. If it's meant to be used for a particular purpose, you as the maker should get it ready for that purpose.

Jeff tested to the point of failure. Did he destroy a knife? No, not this time. But he found the limits of the particular knife's ability to perform it's intended purpose. Testing to the point of failure is imperative to good knife making.

[LONGBOWKID]

Jeff,

 It might not have cut it in the kitchen (no pun intended) but it looks like it'll make a perfect hunter.

Lin,

 Those are some very wise words.

Brandon