Schempp Rock 'Chopper' idea

[Pancake]

I don't know, I've seen pictures of an H-1 Rock that got bent from chopping (was it a coconut? )

H-1 is great stuff, but for heavy impact use like chopping, I really question if it has the strength to handle it. Seems like CPM 4V or 3V or even 1095 would handle the stress a lot better than H-1.

1095 is not that tough at all, not at hardness that you have have it - at least 60 HRC. If you are hardening 1095 to 55 HRC, you are wasting a lot of potencial and you could use 1075 as well for more or less the same performace.

Larrin did some toughness testing on low alloy carbon steel, and 1095 at 60 HRC is not that tough, it is comparable to S35VN.

[JRinFL]

Without gloves, I find the rubber grips to cause blisters much faster than a smooth hard surface. Micarta and smooth G10 may not be appropriate either, but I would still want a smooth firm surface on the grips.

Perhaps Longboard Skateboard Wheel material may be the happy medium between FRN/G10 and Rubber:

78A durometer puts it right between truck tire and shoe heel in hardness / flexibility. So capable of providing shock absorption, but still harder/ less 'tacky' on skin then rubber.

It couldn't be smooth, but perhaps the very light pebbling found in some kitchen knives, which is comfortable but non slip:

@78a + light pebbling, that would also allow users who want to pretty easily polish them smooth with sandpaper.

All good ideas worth pursuing.

Whatever is used, it would need to be easily available in the Japanese market as that is where the Rock is produced. Unless Spyderco moves production or makes an all new model not directly based on the existing Rock model. They may also shrug and say "we already put a large 4V chopper on the market".

[mark greenman]

My H1 Rock Salt has experienced some edge deformation toward the front of the blade. Not sure how I did it; may have whacked it into the floor when breaking up 10lb blocks of parafin. Since I can't figure out the source of the impact, I can't blame the steel.

But, the deformation was enough that I'm still working to restore that section of edge; there's a 1.25" section thats super dull despite multiple sessions with the Gauntlet.

In terms of 'toughness,' I believe H1 is 57rc; so for rating its toughness, it should probably be compared to other steels at 57rc.

If its a matter of 57rc H1 is 'tougher' then 60RC XYZ, thats not much of a surprise.

[mark greenman]

In terms of design, the closest knife I could find to the 'Rock Chopper' is the (now discontinued) Bark River Grasso Bolo I:



https://www.knivesshipfree.com/bark-riv ... s-micarta/

With a 7" blade, 5.5mm thick, saber convex grind, the Bolo I is 18oz.

So we could reasonably guess that a 6mm Rock Chopper in FFG would be around 15o-16oz, which would be awesome.

[Pancake]

In terms of design, the closest knife I could find to the 'Rock Chopper' is the (now discontinued) Bark River Grasso Bolo I:



With a 7" blade, 5.5mm thick, saber convex grind, the Bolo I is 18oz.

So we could reasonably guess that a 6mm Rock Chopper in FFG would be around 15o-16oz, which would be awesome.

Grasso Bolo is a cool knife, it would be nice if Spyderco make something similar. But I have a feeling it would be outside my price range.

[mark greenman]

In terms of blade steel, 80crV2 looks extremely tough:

https://www.reddit.com/r/knives/comment ... _wait_for/

Dude chops through a brick and a steel pipe, and the knife is still able to cleanly slice paper afterwards :cool:

Of course, a huge function of that is the heat treatment and edge geometry. But it does seem like a promising, tough option.