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can a chenness cut through a phone book ???

by joe dacciaio
(lindenwold new jersey)

QUESTION: I have seen that a cold steel gross messer can cut through a phone book i was wondering if a chenness shura or a kaze could do it also i think it would be a great test for both the swords cutting abilty

thank you
joe dacciaio

ANSWER: Hi Joe,

Good question - I haven't actually tried! Next time I do a review of a Cheness, I might try it and see - I imagine the swords like the SGC would have no trouble. It would not be appropriate for a differentially hardened Katana like the Kaze (they are specialized to cut traditional targets - which equal the consistency of human flesh and bone, not phone books) but you never know.

Best,

- Paul

Comments for can a chenness cut through a phone book ???

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I don't think so.
by: Slade xTekno

I don't think the phone book test is a fair test of cutting ability, as it heavily favors hefty swords that are balanced toward the point (pun intended). That's why Cold Steel only uses it for their Messer and War Sword.

It's about friction, not cutting power
by: Anonymous

You know what would be more impressive than a katana slicing thru a phone book? A katana slicing thru aged cheddar. Or whatever cheese have you. But all you have to do is attempt something as feeble and difficult as cutting through thick cheese with a KNIFE as opposed to a wire--which instead is meant for the job--and you can appreciate how VERY DIFFICULT compression of material ALONE (like that in phone book) can make a cut to become.

The Messer can cut the phonebook with ease because it's got a lot of momentum. That's all. Momentum does NOT help in clean/correctly angled cuts, nor does it help in ~tissue-shaving-sharpness, nor does it give the weapon more RC's (eg a 57 Rockwell blade may dent but cannot cut thru 58 Rockwell plate no matter how much momentum is behind it), nor does it help for "more damage" on the flesh targets--not metal--that the katana is meant to cut because flesh does not compress like metal when struck with such large masses and forces as swords, so damage is determined more-or-less only be speed and sharpness. But Momentum, in the case for the phonebook, is VERY useful because there's HUGE compression of material, which is what momentum is best for

Notice how, in the evolution of the (European) weapon, MASS (which sacrifices speed) was relied upon more and more to deal with opponent's defenses... If the full-plated pikemen are all just standing there like that stationary phonebook, then of course you'd hit them with the heaviest thing you can wield because 1)anything lighter won't do anything and 2)it's not like they're fast enough to provoke you to use anything faster. A katana thru a phonebook. What an idea! What a powerful blow. I personally would prefer to simply ~lightly~ puncture ~just~ 1" to 2" of my opponent's chess cavity for him to slowly suffocate to death. I'll leave the more powerful stuff for disciplining my children!

we managed it.
by: B.A.Miron

yes,......i can't believe i missed this post..........we tried the SGC yamakami katana and ko-katana, and a tenchi, and even a mokko ....but we had to re-sharpen the mokko and a little on the tenchi because it was a lot like cutting really heavy cardboard but they did do it........the trick, it seems, is to pull back a little harder than normal after you have pushed down normally......i hope that makes sense...the phone books were up to 4.5" thick......we also cut some cheese a little later.......................ah ha, ha, ha ,ha ha ...........i still think that is funny everytime i say it...........in all seriousness, when using a cheness on a block of cheese all you have to do is push it lightly through the cheese and it cuts like a hot knife through butter ............due to the seperating blade geometry, i guess.........it takes no effort whatsoever......and we actually did cut a few hard cheeses ..........that may have been because of the prunes, i don't know.

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