Anyone have a knife that can chop paper?

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mike_mck2

Joined
May 19, 2005
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A knife sharp enough to push cut paper is impressive, but what about a knife sharp enough to actually chop cut paper?

None of the very sharp knives I own right now can actually chop the paper, but can easily push cut it. Not even heavier stock paper. My SAK's won't do it, and certainly not the thicker blades.
 
I'm a little confused but I think you might mean,while holding the paper vertically,you come straight down with the knife(no push,no pull)slicing/cutting with the same spot on the blade.That's pretty sharp but I think most Marble's will do that right outta' the box.And a lot of the Knifemakers make knives that sharp.I'm thinking a low edge retention steel would be the best blade material for this along with a thin blade.Don't know enough to comment on what grind but I'd think flat grind.Might be all wrong but I'm sure someone will post to show me the flaws in my thinking.Would welcome it as I'm here to learn. :)
 
mike_mck2 said:
A knife sharp enough to push cut paper is impressive, but what about a knife sharp enough to actually chop cut paper?
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I can take pretty much any freshly sharpened knife (fine Sharpmaker rods) and bring it down perpendicular to newsprint fast and the blade will cut right through it with no draw.

-Cliff
 
jim_w said:
What's the difference?
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Do you have any knives? Why not try it for yourself, and see what the difference is? Would that not be easier than asking someone to explain it to you?

I can take pretty much any freshly sharpened knife (fine Sharpmaker rods) and bring it down perpendicular to newsprint fast and the blade will cut right through it with no draw.
Click to expand...

Maybe my technique needs work. I can't get any of mine to chop cut paper, although maybe I need a bit more speed. I'll try it out some more.
 
Technique is a problem which is why a lot of the common sharpness tests are problematic. Start off with the blade on a 45 and do a slight draw, it is pretty easy then. Next eliminate the draw, then finally straighten the blade.

-Cliff
 
mike_mck2 said:
Do you have any knives? Why not try it for yourself, and see what the difference is? Would that not be easier than asking someone to explain it to you?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was unclear; I meant to ask what the difference between a chop and a push cut is. From other posts, I assume that you mean a push cut perpendicular to the edge of the paper - I can't do that yet!
 
knives? heck, I have khukuris that can "chop cut" paper. Just spend some more time on the strop and you'll get it, friend.
 
Hello, the strop was the missing link, for where I'm at now.

Stropped my SAK and I can now chop cut copier stock after all.

Not as difficult as I had thought it was.

jim_w,

I apologize for my tone, no call for it. Yes, it had seemed that chop cutting paper would require a better edge than merely pushing cutting, but it looks like that's not really the case after all.

And, once you factor in distance from whatever is holding the paper to the contact point for the blade, speed, angle, Cliff is right, it's kinda meaningless.
 
You really want to impress your friends, sharpen your knife until you can hold a piece of paper vertical, at say, chest height, then let it go and (holding your knife in your other hand) chop it into 2 pieces while it is in mid-air. It's not as hard as it sounds, but it does raise eyebrows.... Kids, don't try this at home without your parents' supervision, etc...

Be careful not to chop your leg in half on the follow through, though... :D

This is easily done with Khukuris. They've got that lovin' feelin'.....

One test that's harder is to take a small town newspaper, or a section of big city newspaper, say 20 - 40 pages or so, roll it up, secure it with a rubber band, and then try to chop it in half in midair. Most large knives will simply knock it a good ways, but good sharp khukuris will cleave it in two. :eek: Or so I've heard... : :o :D
 
"...You really want to impress your friends, sharpen your knife until you can hold a piece of paper vertical, at say, chest height, then let it go and (holding your knife in your other hand) chop it into 2 pieces while it is in mid-air. It's not as hard as it sounds..."

I just did that with my CUDA CQB1. Chopped a sheet of writing pad paper into 2 in mid-air. No, I haven't sharpend it a bit myself. It's straight out-of-the- box sharp.

Couldn't do it with Ka-bar impact though (guess need more practices ;-) I think a longer knife helps, too (CQB is 5+ inches long while Ka-bar impact is 3+ and thicker).

No, not hard at all. Just needs some speed.

My legs are still fine.
 
Ok DavidW3,

If you do this in front of anyone else and they quit talking to you, don't blame me... ;)

Kind of fun, isn't it?
 
"Kind of fun, isn't it?"

Yeah. I've never thought I could do that. I mean, who the hell would cut paper this way :-)

Now I just need to practise cutting the paper into 2 horizontally...
 
Ok, big guy, now let see you throw a piece of tissue up and chop it into four pieces with your big knives before it comes down :-) :-)




(Running away before you throw your knives at me)
 
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