Can you say Too Sharp

Knivesandreels said:
Now I'm curious; what makes a sashimi knife exceptionally sharp?


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High carbon steel can get very thin (I'm guessing hardness), then the geometry, it is a chisel edge, meaning it only has 1 bevel, no second bevel, back side is flat (actually hollow, to prevent proteins from sticking).
These knives are not designed to make much contact with a cutting board, drawing slices with the tip making contact, as it would dull very quickly from having a very thin edge.
 
Well I went to wipe off the blade with a cloth rag (Folded up multiple layers) that I always use and it cut right through it and bit the hell out of me.
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I watch everyone wipe blades just as you did. I mean I'm not saying anything against you. You are a brilliant man. The other people are great too . . . teaching on YouTube etc.

But

I have never understood wiping a sharp knife that way.
I would cut my self eventually for sure.
I have always, since I was a little kid doing dishes at my parents house wiped knives as if stropping the blade ; ACROSS the blade from spine toward the edge and off the edge.

Allllllllways.

Hey Mr. Ankerson :
While i have you on the phone . . . why do we see no knives in the blade steel tests in CPM-1V ? Is it because no one is making them or they are too thick or . . . what ?

Thanks
 
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Have you ever been told to always handle a gun as if it was loaded? Always handle a knife as if it is super sharp. I'm one of those that prefer my knives to be super sharp. I don't like my edge to be too thin on a knife that I work with because of chipping, but I want my SD knife to be hair popping sharp.
 
If you never nick yourself then you're not using your knife. I am especially careful with my SAK right after sharpening, of course it doesn't stay that sharp after some use. I like to sharpen just short of razor sharp as it seems to stay sharp longer, but hell I can't help myself. Once I start running the edge on my steel I just have to go for it.
 
Suppose there is "hell" sharp where the edge is not only sharp but extremely keen. Too keen an edge won't survive heavy duty work without failing, chipping, rolling. For the finest cutting too thick behind an edge won't be keen enough.

As I do most of my edge maintenance freehand and finish on a leather strop I get a final moran edge that can shave but it still has some steel behind it. Little and often. An edge that takes deep damage is too keen with not enough steel behind it and therefore doesn't last long and then requires a deep sharpen which is a pain. Very keen edges are rather specialised and for cutting certain mediums; thats what scalpels are for..

I actually prefer an edge that I have to put some small pressure behind to cut and not so keen it can run away with itself. Having said that get it wrong and my edges go deep so I really do concentrate on "how not to get it wrong". Think twice, then think once more; then cut.
 
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When I first started with knives and sharpening, I could easily be impressed with sharpness of knives and often felt some knives were very sharp or too sharp. Nowadays, I never feel a knife is too sharp. To give you some idea, none of the new knives I recently purchased is very sharp to me, which include Spyderco, ZT, and Benchmade (yes they are all shaving sharp but not close to "too sharp").
 
I saved a Tru-Forged High Carbon Blade from a dusty box... you can drop it from 2" off a wooden chopping block, and it will stick/hold the entire knife up. I'm always WARY while using it! I swear that thing is gonna get someone's finger some day?!

I sharpen knives for a local restaurant.... Owner has a band aid currently on his pinky from one of his white handled kitchen knives I sharpened 2 weeks ago for him. He said all he felt was a warm tingle on his pinky. He looked down, and saw the white of the meat in his finger... took off n got it taken care of before he bled everywhere. I tell everyone I sharpen knives for that I'm not responsible for stitches! :)

The thing is: A dull knife you exert way more pressure than a sharp knife to cut things.... then when the dull knife does go thru/cut you are more prone to loose control of it; and cut yourself with a ton of force behind it. A sharp knife uses a lot less exertion to cleanly cut thru the same material. Hence, a sharp knife is always safer than a dull knife.
 
clockman said:
I have 2 Spydies that are just too sharp. Last week I just touched my left middle finger very lightly with my Cruwear Millie and nicked myself.

Blood right away. The same thing happened today with my Manix 2 lw s110v on the same finger. I barely felt the blade touch my finger

this time. Not as much blood.


Does anyone else get their blades too sharp sometimes......and not realize how sharp they are?
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I've done this, it hurts.
 
Rubicon_Joey said:
With great sharpness comes great responsibility.
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Exactly. I try to be very careful with mine. "A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife" applies to ordinary people, not people who know how to really sharpen an edge. A sharp edge can hurt you quickly so you have to be careful with it.


Ankerson said:
A few years ago I was in the process of sharpening a Custom S110V blade.....
Well I went to wipe off the blade with a cloth rag (Folded up multiple layers) that I always use and it cut right through it and bit the hell out of me.
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I've done the same thing. I usually try to wipe in a direction slightly away from the edge but one time I ended up with a curving motion and went back against part of the edge.
 
No such thing, I love how insanely sharp my Manix 2 is. Sharpened it to 16 degrees per side and took it to a half micron polish to see how well the Cruwear resisted rolling at the edge. I have been very impressed so far!

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