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SFSA Cast in Steel 2020 Best Performance Award

Ben Abbott Forged in Fire
Ben Abbott holds MSE's Cast in Steel Bowie Knife entry. (Photo courtesy of SFSA Cast in Steel video. https://www.sfsa.org/castinsteel)

A team of MSE undergraduates and graduate students received the Best Performance award in the 2020 Cast in Steel competition out of a field of 18 competing teams. Sponsored by the Steel Founders’ Society of America (SFSA), this year’s competition focused on “the use of modern casting tools such as computer modeling, alloy development and selection, and additive manufacturing to design and produce a functioning cast Bowie Knife.”
   Requirements included submission of the team’s Bowie Knife for testing, a video, and a technical report. The celebrity judge for the performance evaluation was Ben Abbott from the History Channel series Forged in Fire. According to his bio, Ben has twice been a Forged in Fire champion and began making blades when he was about 17. Performance evaluation for the Cast in Steel competition was based on chopping and sharpness tests that were similar to those used in the Forged in Fire series. SFSA Master Founders and Lifetime members served as judges for the technical reports and videos. Winners were announced in a live video presentation on July 17. 

water bottle sharpness test

SFSA Executive Vice President, Raymond Monroe, uses the MSE Bowie Knife to slice through a water bottle as one of four performance tests. (Photo courtesy of SFSA Cast in Steel 2020 video.  https://www.sfsa.org/castinsteel)  

cutting through rope

Guest judge, Ben Abbott, uses the MSE Bowie Knife to chop through rope as one of four performance tests. (Photo courtesy of SFSA Cast in Steel 2020 video.  https://www.sfsa.org/castinsteel)

    Jeanne Wagner of Midwest Metal Products provided the materials used to make the H13 steel for the knife. Joe Plunger, President of Midwest Metal Products, wrote, “The paper was well done, a good story, nice research and explanations on all aspects of the project.” He particularly noted the damage modeling, “the splitting of the bullet was a nice touch.”
The faculty advisor for the team was Professor Alan Druschitz, director of MSE’s VT-FIRE. “This was a great competition and the entries were all amazing. Obviously, there are a lot of ways to make cast steel.”
    Team members included Tristan Pagkalinawan, Bryan Staha, Cole Manfred, Michael Coyle, and graduate student, Manuel Umanzor.  Manuel took the lead on molding, melting, casting, grinding, finishing of the knife, and preparing the final written report when the undergraduate team members had to leave campus due to COVID-19. Manuel noted that in designing a handle for the team’s knife, they followed similar details found in a knife dating from about 1830.
Manuel gave recognition to ME graduate student, Genevieve Gural, who helped with mold setup and pouring. He also thanked Mark Adamovits from ExOne, who provided sand molds, and David Carpenter of Southwest Specialty Heat Treat Inc., who performed annealing and final heat treatment.
    Professor Druschitz spoke with Ben Abbott about visiting Virginia Tech next spring when the next Bladesmithing class is scheduled.  Congratulations to Dr. Druschitz and the entire team for this remarkable effort!

MSE Bowie Knife
MSE Cast in Steel Bowie Knife 2020. Photo courtesy of the team technical report: "Designing, Modeling, and Casting of a circa 1830 Inspired Bowie Knife."