Hair popping sharp ?

[hauntedchild]

Just wondering what people consider sharp enough for real world applications with heavy choppers be it very large knife , Ax , tomahawk etc. As a rule i personally don't bother with hair shaving sharp with these particular type of tools , now my belt/smaller detail knives absolutely . Now i know and believe in the safety aspect of a sharp tool but is hair popping sharp always needed ? I for one have no intention on really even attempting to maintain that level of sharpness in the field and to date haven't had any problems achieving task . Not to say all tools wont be as close as i'm able to achieve to shaving before i set out i just don't obsess over it once i'm afield . Chime in and share your perspective .

 

[Dangerously]

I sometimes use a hatchet for knife-like duties, shavings, feather sticks, and the like. For that I keep it as sharp as I would a knife.

 

[Grease]

Any tool that you might use as a knife should have a sharp edge, be it a Mora or a hatchet. But an axe or dedicated chopper? Nah. Give it a good working edge with a whetstone and let the design of the tool do the job. If you're slamming 2-3 pounds of edged metal into wood, the edge doesn't need to be absurdly sharp to cut - it just needs a good edge geometry.

That said, sharpening can be relaxing, and makes a soothing time killer. There isn't really a need for a hair popping edge, but if you've got the time and want to do it... There's really no reason to avoid it, either.

 

[hauntedchild]

I totally agree with the relaxation aspect . If nothing else a sharp blade will make you forget about any and all other thoughts lol .

 

[Thetimefarm]

For me it's about the geometry not how sharp it is, I don't find shaving to be a great indicator for how sharp a blade is in practice. I sharpen my axes to be shaving sharp but I keep a fairly high angle on them. The thinner the blade the lower the angle. So my axe is like 35 degrees and convexed, my belt knife is 25, my Sebenza is 20 degrees and my mora is a zero scandi grind. They're all shaving sharp but the mora slices better than the axe and in practice feels sharper.