I'm not a blade maker, but it is specifically part of Xiom's marketing for that blade that they use a cold press process, and that's why they name that blade series "36.5" for 36.5 degrees. So I don't think they're giving away any secrets with that.
Otherwise, I totally agree with what you and other blade makers in this thread are saying about the uneven gluing under the top ply. It's quite surprising bc I generally think of Xiom as having a high manufacturing standard.
Makes me wonder about other manufacturers as well...I've never had this happen with a blade, but I also haven't used water-based sealants. Is there a way to detect/avoid a problem like this without applying water to the blade's face? Maybe something like blade weight -- could some lighter blades weigh less in part because less slightly less glue was used to assemble the layers? Would appreciate your and other blade makers' thoughts!
Thanks very much for that 🙂🙂 -- I honestly was not aware Xiom released that info as part of their marketing.
That is the first time I've personally heard of one of the majors releasing that sort of info about a production process (the press settings for a blade - just like the glues they use -- is not normally something they're willing to disclose or discuss.
Any chance you can point me towards the source itself? -- I'm very curious to see if they let such information slipon any of their other blades -- could be a fascinating read. 🙂
As for weighing a blade to gauge glue content, I'm sorry but that just wouldn't work -- wood just varies in density and mass far too much from board to board to make such a thing feasible. Likewise the density of wood glue can also vary considerably -- even a simple generic wood glue like type 1 PVA can vary in mass from brand to brand, depending on the solids content and the addition of any physical hardeners.
Put simply, there's no way to consistently spot a bad glue-up every time once a blade is actually finished. The only time you can really spot such problems consistently is during production.
The answer therefore is not to try and filter out the bad blades from the good once they hit the shelves. Instead, you need to ensure no bad ones ever reach the shelf in the first place.
Really, there are only two guaranteed ways I can currently think of, to consistently avoid lemons with bad glue lines:
1. - Buy blades from premium brands who are known for making great blades... Especially the Japanese makers (Butterfly, Nittaku, Darker etc...) I know these three brands in particular consistently make excellent product, as I'm often asked about trying to repair or modify a blade for someone (especially the handles). This gives me the opportunity to examine a good range of products up close. These three brands consistently have excellent levels of finish in the blades of theirs I see. Other Japanese brands may be equally good, but I really don't get nearly as many of them through my door, so I can't comment on them with any authority.
2. Buy from one of the better-known smaller makers out there. There's lots of really great bladesmiths who post regularly on the TTD boards, and many more besides who don't post nearly as often. Any of them/us could easily do a great job for you, as the one thing we all have in common is we all glue and lay-up our blade panels individually by hand, one blade at a time. When you make blade panels this way, it's a LOT harder for a bad one to creep through production and end up being sold. Apart from the fact it's impossible to miss a huge gaping dry spot on a veneer when you're gluing it by hand, and apart from the fact we all pride ourselves on our product, it's also simple truth that we also don't have the luxury of hiding any examples of shoddy workmanship or low production standards via huge volumes. We do not mass produce these things... Our businesses all run on low turnover/ high quality & high cost production models. Every bad review we get or sub-standard blade we make can affect our bottom line through loss of viable work hours and simple reputational damage.
Put simply, if we wish to survive, our margins for error with our products need to be much, much, smaller than our competitors. Xiom however don't exactly have that problem... They churn out well over a thousand blades a year, so with those numbers, there's less reputational damage if 3-5% of them are lemons. With us smaller makers however, a 3-5% failure rate is a surefire road to bankruptcy. We simply don't have the margins, the turnover, the marketing budget or the production capacity to allow that many bad blades to leave our workshops.
Hope this helps. 🙂
