18" Keffeler Sword (K18), AKA The KOD Piece

all good swords will flex quite a lot in use, they'll take the path of least resistance. The trick is to keep them from staying bent
 
Casinostocks said:
If Dan Keffeler is attached to the handle end of it?
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I enjoy seeing Dan cut destroy 2x4s, but it could also be helpful to see how the K18 will perform in the hands of a mere mortal.


Nathan the Machinist said:
I talked to Dan about it last night. There's no bend or ding in the blade. I'm certain that blade can be bent 90 degrees to the side without breaking (I will demonstrate this) though it will take a bit of a set from that. I think that video is a good example that illustrates a difference between a sword and a knife. A sword is not just a large knife, there are additional dynamics and this is one reason I would want to collaborate with an experienced sword expert like Dan on a project like this.

This piece is specifically designed to win KOD. That is a pretty brutal course but our experience in blade racing competitions has shown that your piece needs to be built to hold up but should not be over-built or it won't be competitive. Weight and cutting ability are critical in a competition and this piece is tuned to perform, there's no extra fat on it.

There are trade-offs in a design, but a design criteria that isn't obvious is the particular grind geometry that has been proven to work in these applications is pretty narrow. You can't just change an angle a degree in order to get something to fall somewhere without screwing up the formula. There are some rigid constraints that are not obvious that drive aspects of this design. Being double edged adds width to the blade which changes the dynamics which can be adjusted to play well with the intent of the blade. The end result is something I feel confident would perform at the highest level and would be very competitive on that race course.
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This is one of the things I love about CPK. It’s never “well, it looks pretty like this”. Nathan and those he surrounds himself have the brains and expertise to make world class tools. Not only that, but the fact that CPK and Friends are competing in various competitions is pushing the performance forward at a rate we wouldn’t otherwise see.

We’re reaping the benefits.

Even with the popularity spurt CPK has seen, I still feel we all share in a secret that the general community still hasn’t figured our yet.
 
madcap_magician said:
Youse guys are buttholes, every time I kind of half-forget about this thread and start to go on in blissful ignorance of the sword I paid for but don't yet have, one of you has to post here and get me all antsy about how long I have to wait now!
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Try to hibernate for at least another 7-8 months, because we will continue to be butthole ;) I think that the earliest that we will see any production version of the K18 will be circa Blade Show 20-20. Orders will most likely start to fulfill thereafter during next Summer :)
 
Casinostocks said:
Try to hibernate for at least another 7-8 months, because we will continue to be butthole ;) I think that the earliest that we will see any production version of the K18 will be circa Blade Show 20-20. Orders will most likely start to fulfill thereafter during next Summer :)
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I think Nathan said next summer, too.
 
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