Can A knife be sharp but not feel sharp?

F

FlyingMuskrat

Joined
Jan 9, 2006
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Some of my knives don't seem to get sharp. Although they will cut paper and shave with moderate ease. So can A knife be sharp but not feel sharp when you feel it with your finger?
 
Yep.

I mean, even though I sharpen my knives to "bite" my thumb nail at an angle or shave a little hair they don't stay that way forever with use. They still cut what I need cutting even if they don't "bite" my thumb nail or shave hair.
 
yeah I put a sharp working edge on my sak it's sharp and stays sharp but doesn't shave (that's what razors are for).
 
I was more meaning that it doesn't feel sharp when you run your finger from edge to the spine widthwise on the knife but it does cut well.
 
Yes, even when my knives don't feel sharp they still cut pretty well.
 
FlyingMuskrat said:
can A knife be sharp but not feel sharp when you feel it with your finger?
Click to expand...

I guess that depends on what you feel. I test a knife by shaving off a few dead skin cells on my finger. So just how sharp the blade feels depends on how sensitive your fingers are.
 
I kinda like to slice of the top layer of skin off the tips of my fingers :eek: :rolleyes:

edit: as a sharpening test forgot to say as a sharpening test
 
FlyingMuskrat said:
I kinda like to slice of the top layer of skin off the tips of my fingers :eek: :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

LOL, if you slice through enough of them, you will be able to know right away if the knife is sharp or not.
 
Convex vs flat grinds may cause knives to feel differently. My convex edges are wicked sharp but at a different angle then my flat grinds. Some people who have thought the convex dull need only adjust their wrist a little higher to see it's a razor. Flats can almost be flat which seems to be how most people I know check it.
 
I've noticed that some of my sharpened edges (that bite on the thumbnail at all angles and shave hair off the arm readily) do not feel that sharp when I lightly run my finger tips across the edge. I suspect this is because the edge is polished. I use to sharpen on coarser stones and I remember you could feel those toothy edges trying to bite you when you tested them with your finger tips.

About forty years ago I picked up my dad's pocket knife off a table and opened it to see how sharp it was. I ran my finger tips across the edge and I couldn't feel anything till the blood started flowing. :eek: Ouch ...that sucker was sharp.
 
if the knife is sharp but doesn't "feel" sharp then you probably need to adjust what "feels" sharp means. A very sharp polished edge doesn't feel the same as a very sharp coarse edge and the angle will have a significant influence as well.

-Cliff
 
I've heard that some makers who go to a knife show for the first time are dissapointed at how a potential buyer will walk buy, pick up a knife and touch the edge then look disappointed or simply comment that it doesn't feel sharp.

If I ever went to one I would keep the medium my knife was built/intended to cut on the table next to me to demonstrate to people that not all knifes are flat ground, or ground with flat secondary bevels or whatever...

Whether that medium be paper or concrete blocks :)
 
I have noticed the phenomena when running the knife over a stick of ceramic, it doesn't feel as sharp as it did when I started, but I think it cuts better
 
Most people think a grippy wire edge is sharp. A truly polished edge is not going to bite into your finger very well but when you go to use it or slip and cut yourself you suddenly realize just how sharp that knife that didn't feel sharp was.

If you like a courser feeling toothy edge it will bite a bit better into the finger when you drag it along the edge but they wear down faster than a fine tooth edge will although that courser edge will slice pretty darn good.

STR
 
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