Some Machine Testing Coming to Knife Tests.com

[Noss]

I got a great deal on some big pneumatic cylinders so I decided to see If I could put them to use doing some machine destruction knife testing. :eek: I built the machine in the photos below this last week. It's just about ready to go. Just a few things to do before I'm ready to test a few blades in it.

The Idea of the machine is to flex the knife about 15 degrees repeatedly to see how a knife holds up and where it fails at. The machine has a counter that counts the number of flexes. The machine is controlled by a PLC (computer) so I can set as many cycles as I want.

I'm going to start with two GI tantos first. They are 1055 spring tempered carbon steel. I'm going to video tape the test using two or three video cameras getting as much detail as I can during testing.

It should be fun,interesting and scary :eek: :D

http://knifetest.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=359&d=1232069896

http://knifetest.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=360&d=1232069925


http://knifetest.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=361&d=1232069946

[G. Scott H.]

Damn, Noss! That's sweet! :rockon: Funny, the naysayers are always saying your test aren't scientific enough. Let's see what they have to say about this. :D

[will york]

I like it. I love it. Let's see some more of it.

[shmoopiebear]

Wow - ambitious! This reminds me of those machines Ikea uses to test their furniture. Sweet! Can't wait to see the videos!

[Richard J]

noss, make sure to remind me to send you a piece of cultivator disc to test in your machine. it will have the factory heat treat and temper. i have a feeling it wont be a knife destruction test but a knife testing machine destruction test :D

[Man of Iron]

Excellent*picturing mr burns* do you feed the ropes manually, or is it taken care of machinally? Anyway, ask a patent for it if it works and move on to the mallet machine

[Dragline]

Mean machine. I look forward to seeing it in action.

[cgeyer]

Wow, Noss, pretty wicked. Better stand back while that bad boy is in operation.

[Noss]

Thanks men. It was fun to build. I'm going to do one test run off camera then Test two GI tantos in it first and see what results are. The knives are cheap so it's a good blade to start with.

G. Scott H: I guess since my critics won't step up to the plate and produce anything I will. They talk the game they just won't play it. :thumbdwn: Anyways they will find something to complain about no matter how it is done.

will: More is coming. :thumb:

Richard J: :eek:

Man of Iron: What ropes ? This machine does not involve rope.

Dragline: It should be very soon. I finished all the work last night on it. It's ready to get busy.

cgeyer: The machine is fairly harmless in term of operator safety. I just need some eye protection for when the blade finally breaks. Watch out for flying shrapnel. :D

[miro44one]

Looks very interesting, can' t wait:thumb:

[culpeper]

Great work, Noss!:rockon:

[Man of Iron]

My bad. The pics show up to small on my phone screen:smash:

[Madnumforce]

He, good idea. A response to all those who allways criticize your "non-scientific" tests. Now, they'll just going to ask for remplacement of the steel mallet. It's not scientific enough: it broke the Green Beret.

Anyway, i think the four aluminium legs are not enough to maintain the thing "square". I fear that this structure will bend also as a reaction to the pressure applied on the knife. If i was you, i would put a "St Andrew cross" (two diagonals joining the end of the legs), to be sure it doesn't move at all.

[zenlifter]

Cool! I could never build anything like that.

[Noss]

Thanks men.

Man of Iron: No problem.

Madnumforce: The four aluminum legs are solid 1" round bar stock they are only about 5" long. So they are very rigid for this application. the machine stays square during
operation. The knife is not flexed to much. I just wanted to simulate some general flexing during use and get a good idea of how the knife will hold up over time. If I see the machine is flexing during use with other knives I'll increase the rigidity of it. It's easy to do. I only set it up for the GI tanto at the moment so when I put other thicker knives in it I may need to make some changes. I can replace the round spacers with some solid 2" aluminum square ones if I have to.

[kurodrago]

Just Wow:rockon: and now let's Rock and Roll :rockon:

[Izan]

We are now entering a new age of hate that will be directed toward us, be wary gentleman, and stay prepared.

[Noss]

I have been testing a GI tanto behind the scenes to get an idea how everything is going to work. So far I have flexed the tanto 6,100 times in the machine without blade failure. The center of the blade flexes to 10 degrees the handle/ butt end flexes to about 15/20 degrees (it's a difficult to get and exact measurement at this location. ) Anyways the Tanto is still going strong and no set bend in the blade has happened yet. The blade returns to zero every time. I still have not found the breaking point yet. :eek: Also this is the blade I hit with the 3lb hammer so it's not even in perfect shape. I guess the theory about micro cracks from hammer blows is not holding up in regards to the GI tanto as of yet. I have flexed and stressed the blade more than it would see in a lifetime of use and still no failure.

I'm going to retest a new one with video here soon. I need to order a piece of video gear to perform all the recording. I sure won't be able to post all the video I obtain from this it will be about 14 hours of video. Hopefully I capture the break at least. I may just run the machine to 10,000 flexes and call it. This will be the benchmark. Then test other blades and see if they can endure the 10,000 flexes.

Any ideas or suggestions are welcome here.

[Paul The Brit]

We are now entering a new age of hate that will be directed toward us, be wary gentleman, and stay prepared.

LOL!

Great new toy Noss, wonder how will CRK blades will take it.. :rockon:

[Noss]

I don't know ? I got the GI Tanto up to 10,200 flexes last night. It's still undamaged. I didn't think it would go this far but it did. I may run it another 10,000 and see what happens. This is all still experimental so I don't know what to expect yet.

[LoganSackett]

I don't know ? I got the GI Tanto up to 10,200 flexes last night. It's still undamaged. I didn't think it would go this far but it did. I may run it another 10,000 and see what happens. This is all still experimental so I don't know what to expect yet.

How many degrees is one flex? That's pretty good.

[LoganSackett]

Never mind, just found it.

[trib trekker]

If I may make one suggestion. When you measure the degree of bend on the blade, the gauge should be positioned so that 90 degrees is level with the top of the vice jaws where the knife blade extends vertically, like lining the horizontal line of a protractor up with the bottom of the page before drawing a line at a given angle. By having the entire gauge sitting on top of the vice, you aren't getting anywhere near an accurate reading in degrees. When you pull the blade to, say, 30 degrees, it's only about 5-10 in reality. By dropping the gauge so that the center pivot of the dial is at vice jaw level, your angle reading will be significantly decreased, but much more accurate. Not a criticism, consider it a request.

[Noss]

trib trekker: I bought a cool digital angle gauge. It works great. It gives me a very accurate reading. It's small so I can place it at different places on the knife as it is flexed to see the true angle.

http://www.wixey.com/anglegauge/index.html


http://www.woodcraft.com/images/products/147281_230.jpg

[dingyu1980]

great! have fun!

[dingyu1980]

the counter comes from China ,
the knife in the photo (cs GI tanto ,i gusse)comes from China
there is no doubt, you will destoryed the "Chinese dream!"
it is a joke! ha,ha:D

[Noss]

:D most of the parts are made in china bolts and all. The air cylinder is made in Japan. Not sure where the aluminum comes from maybe USA but not sure.

[BimotaBoy]

I just don't think that it will be as good as fuzzy sticks!

[Noss]

Lol ! :D:D:D

[trentu]

Great repeatability Noss!!! The Flexinator2009 will give you the same results over and over.

[Noss]

The Flexinator2009 :D LOL. I think I'll put this name on the machine. :thumb: I'll be firing it up here soon. I still never broke the GI tanto it endured 25,000 flexes so far. I'm going to test a fresh one soon. I made a few changes to the machine since the photos. As it stands now the knife will be flexed in two different degree sets for 10,000 times each. Will
see how it goes and I will have to test different knives before I really get the limits down.

[me2]

Hey Noss, have you thought of making a Chopomatic edge testing machine like in Wayne Goddards book? Its repeatable, and you can chop into various things starting with wood, micarta, brass, mild steel, concrete, etc. It would only test edge toughness, except in the case of CRK maybe. Might be something to think about for folders. I may try to make one as soon as my leg is better, like this June. Goddard leaves a bolt on top for adding and subtracting weights, but you could just as easily adjust the height of the fall, to a point. It'd be like a Charpy machine for knife edges. Goddard uses it for chopping efficiency, but we're not into that here, much. :thumb:

[Noss]

I don't now. Sounds interesting though. I haven't seen the machine in his book you are referring but I'm sure I could come up with a design.

[Koa]

You're really coming along Noss, great to see brother!

[Noss]

Thanks man.

[t-k-c]

Your machine looks quite interesting Noss. I think standardized testing procedures would be a good thing for the knife industry if none exists (As far as I know there are none but I stand to be corrected). It would certainly be a real job to set up due to so many variables but I think it would be doable.