Knife Testing

I've been working quite a bit lately on knife testing protocols. I would like, ultimately, to have one knife that I carried on a daily basis that would do whatever I asked of it.

Chopping 2X4s and cutting cardboard are standards in use today but I don't see either of those chores as being particularly realistic as the only time I've ever had to chop a 2X4 was when testing a knife.

Now building the firebow set or carving a spoon bring several different types of knife work into the mix.

Firebow set:
Chop
Baton
Carve
Scrape
Drill
Push Cut
Drawknife

That's a TON of information that comes from a single task. If the knife can make a bowdrill set you've covered a ton of ground. You can then take those different parts of the task and break them down to determine what it does well and what it does not do well.

Spoon carving:
Baton
Drawknife
Drill
Scrape
Carve

Again, a single task that requires several skills to complete.

There are others but these are the first two I'll consider. Both will be challenging as I'm still working on my first firebow set AND my first spoon. After my hand injury last year I'm still finding it hard to hold on to a piece of wood more than an hour or so before my forearm is just worn out.

Thanks for reading,

B