2005 O1 steel test blade

[Jason Cutter]

Every 6months, I make a knife for testing purposes to check that nothing untoward is happening with my HT and geometries etc. I don't destroy the blade but keep it for my personal use.

Heres some prelimary testing I did with a "Bush Buddy" camp knife I made in January. Its the first time, I remembered the camera. Mostly wood chopping, but it does show the capabilities of this humble knife.

Specs - sttock-removed O1 carbon steel. 3/16th" thick. Very subtle full height onvex grind (almost flat), quite a thin convex edge. untapered tang (impatient) and black linen Micarta handles with Loveless bolts. OAL about 13.5inches. Heat treat is dead basic - single edge quench, single temper at 390F x 90minutes.

The pics show me chopping wood in an unconventional way. I used pine and Aussie hardwood - some Jarrah and some Tasmanian Oak. I cut each length of wood, chopping along every 2-3inches to make a pile of wood chips. (They'll go towards mulching my garden beds !) I also then threw the knife into some hardwood (Redgum) railway sleepers that every respectable Aussie backyard has. Bent the knife sideways to rip out gouges that are 1/4 to 1/2inch deep. Intermittently stop to shave hairs of my left leg. Shave some fuzz sticks, examine the edge for damage. One of the pics shows how deeply it bites into pine on a casual swipe.

The results - one happy knifemaker !

Cut the equivalent of about 7 pine 2x4's (may be more because some of it was hardwood) and would still shave hair. I had to stop because my wife came home... No tip damage other than when I accidentally smacked it into the concrete a couple of times. Flat spotted only, no chips anywhere. Later that night, easily honed out on a carborundum fine stone followed by a medium Spyderco ceramic rod and then a leather strop - all taking about 3 minutes to do.

Ahhh, still up to scratch, I reckon...

Thanks for looking. Jason.

[Ray Rogers]

Hard to get much better than that!

[Nooksak]

wow, great knife!

[T.M.Sanders]

Jason

First a quick thanksfor your reply, and your posting of this test session, I'm hopeing that my knives can do as well. Now the Importent stuff.

Where did you get the "Loveless Bolts", there just the sort of thing that I've been hopeing to find.

[Jason Cutter]

Originally Posted by T.M.Sanders

Where did you get the "Loveless Bolts", there just the sort of thing that I've been hopeing to find.

Again, a quick reminder that beyond what steel you use, getting the HT right is more important to the performance of the knife. O1 is very forgiving of minor variations in HT, which is a major reason I've learned to love it. Being up there with 52100 in terms of cutting performance POTENTIAL. its clear to me that that guys who are more precise with their HT and do the more complex "enhancement" processes like multi tempering, cryo, would be getting even more from this humble steel.

Loveless bolts are available from any of the major knifemaking supply outlets like Texas Knifemakers, Kovals, Jantz, Sheffields and Knife and Gun. etc. etc. However, for most knives, I find plain steel rods for handle rivets to be just as effective and much much cheaper. Nonetheless, no doubt, Loveless bolts and Corby / Luke ?? type rivets really bolt the handles down tight. Jason.