It’s time!! – JS stamp: stage 1). ABS “Performance” Test

Tom Ferry and Michael Radar will be the MasterSmiths witnessing my “Performance” test. It is the first step towards receiving my “Journeyman Smith” rating with the American Bladesmith Society.

I have been a member of the ABS for four years (which fulfils the 3 yr. requirement) and am doing the “performance” part of my test on the 26^th of February, the last Sat. of this month.

Geoff Keyes, Rick Lucas and myself will all be testing at Geoff’s shop in Duvall. We will be starting at 11 am and will go through all three performance tests one at a time. We will have lunch at Geoff’s place afterwards. If you want attending send me an e mail, an RSVP, through my contact page and I will email you directions. Geoff will need a head count for food.

I will give a quick rundown of the performance test.

Performance test:

I will be making a knife that is about 15” overall. The test proceeds as follows
step 1) cut through a 1 inch free hanging rope with one swing (tests edge geometry)
2) chop through a 2×4, twice. The edge can’t roll or chip out. (Tests edge toughness)
3) without re-sharpening, the blade must still shave arm hair (tests edge holding ability)
4) put the blade in a vice and bend it 90 degrees without breaking

To learn more about the American bladesmith Society JS performance test go to: ABS JS test page

If I pass the performance test then I have to make five perfect presentation blades and take them to the Blade show in Atlanta Georgia. There will be a panel of six MasterSmiths that look at the knives and Judge if they are Journeyman Smith quality. If I pass that then I will receive my JS stamp and in three years I can Test for my MasterSmith stamp.

I will be posting on my blog if I pass my performance test. Wish me luck and follow my progress throughout my endeavor.

Specifics:

Date: Sat. February 26^th
Time: 11:00 am
Place: Duvall Wa, JS Geoff Keyes knife shop
Event: Dan, Geoff, Rick’s performance test followed by lunch