In addition keep in mind the specifications and requirements in the ABS Rules for the both the applicant and the knife.

Click : http://www.americanbladesmith.com/uploads/file/Testing/JS%20Test%20FINAL%204-24-2010.pdf

Thanks for posting the link Dan. I've taken the liberty of copying and pasting some text from the rules document for quick reference:

JS Test Knife Specifications:

Overall Length of Knife: Maximum fifteen (15) inches.

Blade Width: Maximum two (2) inches.

Blade Length: Maximum ten (10) inches from point to the beginning of either the guard,

bolster, or handle of the blade.

Handle Configuration: Any handle configuration is acceptable with or without guard,

bolsters, ferrule, etc.

Handle Material is irrelevant and solely the choice of the applicant.

Blade Material: The Journeyman Smith may test with any forged homogenous carbon steel

of his or her choice. No Damascus steel (pattern-welded) or other forge-welded material

(welded cable, etc.) will be allowed for this test.

To reiterate my question, within the above parameters, why should one blade profile be preferred over another? Or, to put it differently, what advantages do different blade profiles offer for performance test blades?

Travis, the main shape I see is a standard camp knife. Like a large drop point. A bowie shape will work just fine also. The camp knife blade shape works well and has enough meat for chopping. One very important thing is distal taper in the blade, this helps with the bend considerably. Also a convex edge seems to work best. On the JS test knife handle design is up to you. It can be a full tang or a hidden tang. The MS test knife must have a hidden tang. I would suggest making a number of knives and seeing which design works best for you. I do not know that one design is heads and tails above any other, just the majority seem to favor the camp knife style with distal taper, a convex edge, and spine drawn back.

Brion

|quoted:

Travis, the main shape I see is a standard camp knife. Like a large drop point. A bowie shape will work just fine also. The camp knife blade shape works well and has enough meat for chopping. One very important thing is distal taper in the blade, this helps with the bend considerably. Also a convex edge seems to work best. On the JS test knife handle design is up to you. It can be a full tang or a hidden tang. The MS test knife must have a hidden tang. I would suggest making a number of knives and seeing which design works best for you. I do not know that one design is heads and tails above any other, just the majority seem to favor the camp knife style with distal taper, a convex edge, and spine drawn back.

Brion

Mr.Brion nailed it. I don't have near the experience of Mr.Brion, but from personal experience with knives in the woods, on survival expeditions and abusive tests, the large drop point really does do best for the kind of work that they are asking for in the JS tests.

There is no time limit on chopping and the rope cut will happen if the heat treat and geometry is right. So it boils down to this. You are making this knife to survive the flex/bend test. That is where the tapers come into play. Yes you can make a southwest bowie profile, but why? Some profiles might not like the bend test as well. To me, the closer to center the tip is (top to bottom) along with good taper, the more the blade is "set up" to flex. I like Brion's description for a test blade. As long as you are within the rules, there is some play in that area, but I would increase my odds if I could.

To me, the closer to center the tip is (top to bottom) along with good taper, the more the blade is "set up" to flex.

Makes sense to me.

|quoted:

There is no time limit on chopping and the rope cut will happen if the heat treat and geometry is right. So it boils down to this. You are making this knife to survive the flex/bend test. That is where the tapers come into play. Yes you can make a southwest bowie profile, but why? Some profiles might not like the bend test as well. To me, the closer to center the tip is (top to bottom) along with good taper, the more the blade is "set up" to flex. I like Brion's description for a test blade. As long as you are within the rules, there is some play in that area, but I would increase my odds if I could.

This makes good sense to me too, and the part I put in italics is a very good point I'd not really thought of. Thanks for the replies folks.

The advice I can give you is this.....DON'T OVER THINK IT. There's no "magic" formula that will promise success on the first try.....by that I mean you are NOT gona be able to "draw it out" and have it work/pass. What you have to do is some trial and error, and as Lin said......

Don't get wrapped up in any parameter that isn't in the testing rules. By that I mean.....I have had MANY JS applicants who say they want to "impress" the person adminstering the test by having the test blade "return to true", "cut the 2x4 in X number of swings", etc. etc. If it's not in the rules, don't hadicap yourself by trying to make it more then it should be!

Look at what the test is asking the knife to do, think about it, and design/build a knife to meet those standards. It's going to require making more then one. Once you THINK you know what you want, build it, test it, then build the next one to defeat the shortfalls in the first. As you get close to testing, my advice is to build TWO test knives.....making them as close as possible in all aspects. Test one of the knives in your own shop, going through the test as specified in the testing rules....if that one passes, there's a better then average chance that the second one will pass the actual testing.

Again...DO NOT READ INTO THE RULES! THEY SAY WHAT THEY MEAN, AND MEAN WHAT THEY SAY. If you go in with an attitude of wanting to impress someone, remember, the person adminstering the test is a Mastersmith, and you're not going to do anything that he/she hasn't either seen or done.

Edit: To specifically answer the question at hand, I personally recommend a spear point/camp style blade. The reason? This blade design gives more "real estate" between the edge and the spine, right where the blade will be bent.....this will give you more "leeway" when it comes to differentially heat treating the blade...in that area that is most critical during the bending portion of the test. See what I mean?