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- Jan 21, 2000
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Here's a press release from Outdooor News Service my brother emailed to me yesterday. Sounds like typical hype aimed at a relatively non-discriminating public, but I'd like to know more about it, and there's nothing on the "Knives of Alaska" website yet. Has anybody tried this stuff?:
By JIM MATTHEWS
"FRAZIER PARK - More and more new technology is incorporated into
outdoor gear every year. It wasn't long ago that no one had heard of
GPS (Global Positioning System) units, now it's a rare hunter or fisherman
who doesn't understand GPS and many own them. I'm almost ashamed to
admit that I remember the first graphite fishing rod.
(For you kids, a brief history lesson: Fishing rods were made with
fiberglass for years before graphite came on the scene, thanks to the
aerospace industry.)
Some of the new technology just makes little improvements in
performance or the ease with which we can do things in the field. Other
things have very significant impacts in improving products.
This week I have been using a new knife with a blade that is made
with a new process called "friction forging." Remember that process.
Using heat caused by pressure and rotation, the process reduces the
grain structure of steel while making it harder at the same time. It
doesn't melt the steel, it becomes plasticized and its properties
change. The technical specifications of how this happens are
fascinating and took a panel of five metallurgical experts about two hours to explain.
The process is less important than what it does to knife blade
steel. In a nutshell, this new super knife blade can be made extremely
sharp, but more importantly, it holds that edge for magnitudes longer
than any other steel used to make knife blades. It is also more
durable. Hunters know that most steel knives dull after the dressing and
skinning process of a single deer. The new friction-forged blade may never need sharpening by the average deer hunter who shoot a deer or two a year.
As a bonus, the edge of the blade is corrosion-proof because of
the high chromium content, but it is not made from stainless steel. This
means that rust won't dull the blade either.
The new knives will be marketed under the name of Diamond Blade.
Charles E. Allen, the president and founder of Knives of Alaska, a
12-year-old Texas company that supplies over 100,000 high-quality
hunting knives a year to the hunting marketplace, is the principal
who's pulled together the team for this new undertaking.
Utilizing the research efforts over the past decade by Brigham
Young University metallurgists Dr. Tracy Nelson and Dr. Carl Sorensen,
the technology was adapted to knife blades to create what Nelson calls
"the biggest legitimate improvement in the knife industry in over 40
years."
How much better is it? Using the "shave test" criteria, the new
Diamond Blade knife was tested against virtually all of the other
steels used in knifes. They were all mechanically sharpened the same way, and a task was performed repeatedly (rope was cut) until the knife couldn't shave hair from skin. Most knives lost that ability with as few as 15 cuttings, and even the best steel lost it's edge after about 150 pieces
of rope were cut. The new steel blade continued to hold its edge even
after 250 pieces of rope had been cut and time curtailed more testing.
In a less formal test, Charles Allen tells how he and his staff
kept performing cutting tasks with the new knife and then shaving hair
off their skin. "I can tell you than none of us had any hair left on
our bodies after about a week, and the knife was still sharp enough to
shave hair."
That may be too much information.
No, the knife isn't cheap. It will be in the $330 to $400 range,
depending on the model, and all are presentation quality knives with
exotic handles. But that is on par with or priced below most of the
quality, custom knives on the market.
"We're not saying the edge is indestructible or that it never has
to be sharpened. It's not going to have to be sharpened as often and
it's more durable," said Allen.
Sorenson says the friction forging makes the steel able to start
out at least 50 percent sharper at the beginning, and it can hold that
sharpness several magnitudes greater than other steel.
It won't take 40 years for all other knife steel to become
obsolete."
By JIM MATTHEWS
"FRAZIER PARK - More and more new technology is incorporated into
outdoor gear every year. It wasn't long ago that no one had heard of
GPS (Global Positioning System) units, now it's a rare hunter or fisherman
who doesn't understand GPS and many own them. I'm almost ashamed to
admit that I remember the first graphite fishing rod.
(For you kids, a brief history lesson: Fishing rods were made with
fiberglass for years before graphite came on the scene, thanks to the
aerospace industry.)
Some of the new technology just makes little improvements in
performance or the ease with which we can do things in the field. Other
things have very significant impacts in improving products.
This week I have been using a new knife with a blade that is made
with a new process called "friction forging." Remember that process.
Using heat caused by pressure and rotation, the process reduces the
grain structure of steel while making it harder at the same time. It
doesn't melt the steel, it becomes plasticized and its properties
change. The technical specifications of how this happens are
fascinating and took a panel of five metallurgical experts about two hours to explain.
The process is less important than what it does to knife blade
steel. In a nutshell, this new super knife blade can be made extremely
sharp, but more importantly, it holds that edge for magnitudes longer
than any other steel used to make knife blades. It is also more
durable. Hunters know that most steel knives dull after the dressing and
skinning process of a single deer. The new friction-forged blade may never need sharpening by the average deer hunter who shoot a deer or two a year.
As a bonus, the edge of the blade is corrosion-proof because of
the high chromium content, but it is not made from stainless steel. This
means that rust won't dull the blade either.
The new knives will be marketed under the name of Diamond Blade.
Charles E. Allen, the president and founder of Knives of Alaska, a
12-year-old Texas company that supplies over 100,000 high-quality
hunting knives a year to the hunting marketplace, is the principal
who's pulled together the team for this new undertaking.
Utilizing the research efforts over the past decade by Brigham
Young University metallurgists Dr. Tracy Nelson and Dr. Carl Sorensen,
the technology was adapted to knife blades to create what Nelson calls
"the biggest legitimate improvement in the knife industry in over 40
years."
How much better is it? Using the "shave test" criteria, the new
Diamond Blade knife was tested against virtually all of the other
steels used in knifes. They were all mechanically sharpened the same way, and a task was performed repeatedly (rope was cut) until the knife couldn't shave hair from skin. Most knives lost that ability with as few as 15 cuttings, and even the best steel lost it's edge after about 150 pieces
of rope were cut. The new steel blade continued to hold its edge even
after 250 pieces of rope had been cut and time curtailed more testing.
In a less formal test, Charles Allen tells how he and his staff
kept performing cutting tasks with the new knife and then shaving hair
off their skin. "I can tell you than none of us had any hair left on
our bodies after about a week, and the knife was still sharp enough to
shave hair."
That may be too much information.
No, the knife isn't cheap. It will be in the $330 to $400 range,
depending on the model, and all are presentation quality knives with
exotic handles. But that is on par with or priced below most of the
quality, custom knives on the market.
"We're not saying the edge is indestructible or that it never has
to be sharpened. It's not going to have to be sharpened as often and
it's more durable," said Allen.
Sorenson says the friction forging makes the steel able to start
out at least 50 percent sharper at the beginning, and it can hold that
sharpness several magnitudes greater than other steel.
It won't take 40 years for all other knife steel to become
obsolete."
