Big Chris gets into Bladesports Competition

Big Chris

SAHD/Knifemaker
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 1, 2010
Messages
3,273
I have been interested in Bladesports Competition for a very long time.
For several years I have wanted to get into the action but always managed to talk myself out of for one reason or another.
I met Donovan Phillips in person at Blade Show last year and we hit it off pretty good.
Several months go by and many, many messages between us are exchanged on various topics.
One that was always there though was him trying to get me to compete.
Just before Christmas last year Donovan had some business here in Louisville and asked if he could stop by while in town.
Of course I obliged. Again, many subjects were talked about but Bladesports and the knives was where the conversation lingered longest.
What can I say, at this point I was too excited and ordered a piece of steel the next day.
This gave me about 4 weeks to design, build, and test a knife like no other I had ever made before.
Although I managed to get the design finished I had other commitments I had to get finished first.
Fast forward 2 weeks, I finally get to start on my chopper.
Let me sat that sawing 3/8" tool steel on a small band saw is an act in patience i itself.
2 nights of sawing and it's ready for profiling, drilling, tapering tang, bevels, and finally heat treating.
This took place over several more nights.
I finally finished the knife, handle, sheath, sharpened, and lanyard made on Thursday evening before leaving the next Friday evening.
Needless to say, other than a few whacks at a 2"x 4" the knife received no testing.
Here is what I left the house with Friday Evening, minus final edge and lanyard:

chop.jpg


Saturday was filled with nervousness and excitement.
I had seen the videos and had an idea of what was involved, but WOW! I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.
My biggest fear was my knife failing, thankfully it did not.
My certification and practice on Saturday went good and I was cleared to cut in the competition on Sunday.
Waiting was the worst part now.
We set the course up, drew names, and waited for the start time.
I drew position number 4.

The video of my run can be found on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Big-Chris-Custom-Knives-184888911545849/

I won my beginner division and placed fourth overall.
There are a few things I need to work on definitely, moving faster is one of them.
I did not get into a hurry and was just enjoying myself.
I was successful on 10 of the 12 cuts, which was a bonus.
During practice I could not hit the rope between the target zones, so that was my biggest goal for Sunday's Comp.
The knife, on the other hand, performed flawlessly. It would cleanly slice newsprint both before and after my run.
However, it was a little thick behind the edge and not biting into the 2x4 quite as deep as I wanted.
I reground it yesterday and this morning I have ordered some more steel to make another knife.
The addiction has bit me hard.

Thanks for reading and watching.
Questions and comments are welcomed.
 
Having had a couple of heavy razorblades- made me kind of nervous :) It does look like a cool sport though.
I figured I was going to lose a digit or limb eventually :)

Bill
 
Awesome! What steel did you end up using? And hardness?

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I ended up using CPM 4V at 62 Rc.

Having had a couple of heavy razorblades- made me kind of nervous :) It does look like a cool sport though.
I figured I was going to lose a digit or limb eventually :)

Bill

I was very concerned about the same thing.

The sport is very safety conscience though.
A lot of rules are present just for the safety of the competitor as well as the judges and spectators.
 
I ended up using CPM 4V at 62 Rc.



I was very concerned about the same thing.

The sport is very safety conscience though.
A lot of rules are present just for the safety of the competitor as well as the judges and spectators.
Wow no kidding! Thats awesome. Ive used 4V at 62HRC but it was for small neck knives. That has great edge retention at that hardness. Keep up the great work!

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I predict a series of used competition knives are going up for sale. :thumbup:

That looks like a lot of fun, and congratulations on the success!
 
I saw your video! I think you did great and the knife seemed to perform amazing as well. Look forward to seeing more of your competitions.
 
Good job Chris. Keep it up.
 
Nice job man. I just went to a training session for this at Scott Gossman's place. He's getting into it too.

Was a lot of fun, but much harder than one would think.
 
Everyone wish Chris good luck in the cut this weekend!

I just saw this dude for the first time over at his FB page...I dunno how much luck he'll need LOL.

Does the competition give you bonus points if you just walk up to the 2x4 and snap it in half between your forearms?
 
Big Chris competed this weekend in the National Bladesports competition. After a bad run in Saturday (his words, not mine), he still managed to make it to the finals on Sunday. I know the results but I will wait for him to share them with you all. Just know that I am so proud of him and the progress he has made.

See you all at Blade Show (as an exhibitor and supportive wife at the World Bladesports competition)!
 
Yep, guys the News is GOOD.

I had a big mistake on Saturday at the beginning of my run and it got in my head and I left a lot of points sitting on the tables.
After a long grueling wait I finally found out that I had advanced to the National finals on Sunday.

I did a lot mental prep for the cut on Sunday and that helped me have a successful run to place fifth out of the 19 guys competing.

I have only been doing the Bladesports since January and am very grateful to Donovan and Dan for their teaching and coaching.
They have definitely helped me to get to where I am.

So, if you plan to attend Blade Show please stop by and say Hi and come support all our male and female cutters at the cutting competition on Saturday.
 
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