How are scalpels made?

A

ASBOB

Joined
Feb 8, 2008
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I just picked up a Havalon on sale; interesting knife, much like a scalpel. Very sharp.

Which got me thinking: I have an idea of how they sharpen our usual knives, but how are scalpels made, and how do they get them so thin and sharp?
 
Probably in a similar fashion to razor blades, with a thin large roll of steel cut and ground very fine with a machine that gauges the sharpness.
 
Should have made this thread 2 weeks ago, I could have asked my surgeon.
 
Wonder how many times those inspectors have been cut, I see they only wear the "finger condoms" on a few fingers per hand, when they first start do you think they wear one on each finger?
 
Cereal_killer said:
Wonder how many times those inspectors have been cut, I see they only wear the "finger condoms" on a few fingers per hand, when they first start do you think they wear one on each finger?
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How are scalpels made?
Carefully. Ba dump dump.

Thank you, I'm here all week.
 
Sonnydaze said:
He knows very little...he is STILL practicing.
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Lol. As a survivor of five surgeries (including brain surgery, 23 years tumor free) I can say that practice does make perfect. However scalpels are made, they get the job done, though this last surgery I offered to let the surgeon use the Hogue EX-01 I was carrying when I went into the emergency room. 4" blade is a little overkill for gall bladder removal. But just a little.
 
Cereal_killer said:
Wonder how many times those inspectors have been cut, I see they only wear the "finger condoms" on a few fingers per hand, when they first start do you think they wear one on each finger?
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I'd imagine the first day on the job sounds like:

F$@%! ... God Dammit! ... Ouch! ... F$@(! ... Son of ...

Wonder what would happen if the polarity on the demagnetizing machine got mixed up :eek:
 
Imagine if they turned on an mri machine at the other end of the room. Then you'd really hear some expletives.
 
Back in the day when scalpels used to get reused instead of thrown out I understand they used a glass wheel to sharpen them.
 
There are guys that say they are better than ANY fixed blade. "Who has time to waist sharpening their knife!"

I don't get it. I enjoy the laborious task of sharpening my knife!!
 
I imagine they would roll the steel very very thin under tremendous pressure and possibly heat, then stamp out the individual blades at high speed. How they sharpen each one is a mystery to me. That's what mechanical engineers are paid to figure out. Me? I'm just a Canadian. :cool:
 
I ground out a blade based on a Civil War surgeon's scalpel. It was a pattern that I copied from a Museum at Gettysburg. Months later, I attended an autopsy. The attending coroner used my blade for the autopsy.
The procedure was done with reverence. The autopsy was performed to gather evidence in a homicide.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Back in the day when scalpels used to get reused instead of thrown out I understand they used a glass wheel to sharpen them.
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Thank you. I was gunna say poorly because they're one use and trash, sometimes multiples a surgery. But its good to know what they used to do.
 
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