a knife time to be alive

    In this unit of light, sound, and time, we focused on time, how it's measured, and what we can use it for. one example is finding the longitude or latitude at sea using GMT or the sun's position at noon. We covered sundials, arc calculations, and the famous equation E=mc^2. We also looked into space and talked about general relativity, time dilation, and the twin paradox, and we had Taylor Hoyt talk to us about what he does with astronomy and cosmic studies. We also looked at pendulums, and how helpful they are.

    My knife sharpener will essentially take the aspect of knife upkeep into play, and measure the time in-between sharpening, which will determine the date. The only times you'd need to sharpen are when the blade is dull, but for accuracy measure the blade sharpness before sharpening. The increments used will be anywhere from days to years. The display on the sharpener will say how much time has passed since sharpening. If the knife is used consistently the sharpening will be accurate enough to tell how much time has passed since sharpening. The user doesn’t have to constantly check and can carry the knife around, and use it for all its knife uses. Watches or phones are very expensive, but the knife made will be cost-effective and have the benefit of a tool and use in life. Using the arc angle equation, Arc Length / (2 πr), we can find how precise a cut was made. With the angle of the paper split being taken, it will accordingly calculate the time since the last sharpening. 

    A 6-inch blade length, using 420 hc steel, lasts six weeks. Approximately 58 Rockwell hardness. Damascus has about a 62 on Rockwell hardness, lasting significantly longer than 420 hc steel. I have both kinds of blades, and testing, if this theory is true, was simple, and worked. The Damascus blade lasted longer than the 420 hc and kept the edge longer. Even a 440-c blade can last a few weeks in-between sharpening. I’d use a caliper device that sits the blade edge on a piece of paper, and when cut, is measured in microns to show how precise the cut is, which varies depending on knife sharpness. The number correlates to how many days or weeks it has been due to how fine of a cut it is. The volume of the knife I tested (using the volume equation height x depth x width) was 0.2114 cubic inches.   

NO, sharpener example with a caliper, 2023

    In the image above, I used a caliper to replace the measuring device in my sharpener, but it's a similar idea.

                                                        NO, blade depth meter, 2023

                                                

                                                    NO, anatomy of device, 2023

    Overall, this project was fun and I got to think a lot about what I was making, and how I decided to innovate a new way to tell time. One thing I struggled with (and struggle with consistently) is formatting my post to make sense, but I'll keep working on that. One thing I did well was coming up with an idea and putting it on paper.