How do non knife nuts react to your edge sharpness?

A friend of mine was cutting slices off a small block of cheese by holding the block in his bare hand and with his pocket knife was push cutting down through the cheese until the blade severed the the slice ( or his hand). I said that was dangerous cutting in that manner, his wife piped in and said least the blade is not "dangerously" sharp like the knife you made for our son last Christmas and my friend had cut his arm while opening presents.

A few other people listening to this conversation chimed in as well stating that why would I make a knife and sharpen it so sharp someone could cut themselves? As the dog piling continued I just looked at these people who I thought were reasonable individuals and was going to give them a response but I knew it best just to ignore, left it to that saying " if I have to,explain, you would not understand". After all these folks are the same people who use an electric razor, use dull chainsaws, clobber grass with a blunt blade, sand rather than use a plane, drive on soft tires, you get the idea.

Thank God there is a place like BF where we understand the usefulness of knives and how to keep them sharp, and yes sharp is good!
 
I don't let many people touch any of my knives.
Is sharpening a knife for a friend or family member I sharpen the knife to a "working edge", nowhere near the level I keep my knives at.
 
Yeah, some guy at work borrowed my CQC7 and returned it shortly thereafter with his DNA on it. He still occasionally comments on how sharp it was.
 
People at work have learned over time. Typically, when I hand a knife to someone they are visibly cautious with it now.
See, they can learn :)
 
I have a few people that I trust to actually touch my knives and they know to respect a sharp (actually sharp) blade. Others I don't give the opportunity to hurt themselves being foolish. I will just cut whatever they need cut with my knife. I just don't want some dummy thinking they are cool and running a digit down the edge to show how knowledgeable they are and cutting themselves. I've seen so many people do that with dull knives and comment how sharp they were that it frightens me just thinking what could happen if they did that on a sharp knife. YIKES!
 
Anytime someone asks to look at my knife, I always tell them it is very sharp and be careful. Then I just sit back and wait till they cut themselves.
 
I don't let people use my knives. A guy wanted to show me the "serrations" he made to his mini grip with a dremel tool once. The conversation ended when I changed the subject. I didn't want to see the horror.:eek: The idea of a sharp knife doesn't occur to most people which is why serrations are much more popular with non-knife people. The edge is recessed so they can't damage it which to them makes serrated knives "sharper" then plain edges. People who think like that shouldn't go near my edges. It's dangerous to them and everyone around them. That sounds snobbish but IME, same as posters before me, it's the truth.
 
My wife was never very supportive of my knife hobby until I bought her one of the VG-10 damascus santuko blank knives from Woodcraft. I put a rosewood handle on it and gave it to her as gift for one of the minor holidays. I sharpened it prior to giving it to her and she now refuses to use any other knife when cooking. She says a truly sharp knife has changed her life and treats the knife like one of the kids (never putting it in the dishwasher, putting the blade sleeve back on it every time she puts it in the drawer etc.) My mother in law requested I give her one for Christmas after she visited us and used it herself. I gave her one with a curly maple handle. I mostly see this kind of reaction when people use my actually sharp knives to do things they are used to doing with crappy dull knives, if it doesn't convert them to being a knife person it at least makes them understand why I am one. Borrowing a sharp knife could be the gateway drug to starting a new hobby for some people!
 
Don't ever... ever give one of your sharpest folders for others to use and let them experiment how to close it. While many folders locks are second nature to us, many co-workers of mine find creative ways to try to close it. My co-worker clamped his entire hand on my mirrored Endura blade, trying to force the blade to close. If you let them use it... make sure they can work the lock.
 
I've heard "why is this so sharp!" After someone used my freshly sharpened santoku, she was genuinely pissed and gripping her pointer finger. :cool:
 
I use a knife every single day for work and have for years. While using my Kershaw Leek the other day to cut some electrical tape away from some equipment a customer had tried to "fix," the tip of the blade caught on a screw underneath the tape and slipped, causing the belly to hit my hand. After cursing myself for my stupidity and breaking a perfectly respectable streak of never injuring myself with my knives, I gave a cursory glance at where the blade hit and was surprised to see what appeared to be only a scratch, knowing I keep it sharp (not as scary sharp as my Para 2 perhaps, but still sharp). I continued to work for several seconds until I bent my thumb. It was only then that I realized that I had added a deep 1" mouth to the back of my hand from which blood was now flowing freely. My supervisor remarked later as I was applying steri-strips that maybe I shouldn't keep them so sharp. My response was that I usually avoid such things because I do keep them sharp...and it would have hurt had it not been so sharp.
 
One day at the office I had one of my knives sitting on my desk. An Indian fellow I work with stops by, sees the knife, opens it and promptly runs his thumb down the edge. Now he is bleeding and complaining about the knife like it was the knife's fault. :rolleyes: Every time he stopped by for the next two weeks he had to show me the cut on his finger. In my experience, 90% of the population are used to using dull knives.
 
Well,I should preface this with the fact that a lot of people who know me enough for me to tell them I'm obsessed with knives think I'm crazy anyways before my showing them any knife.

That being said, I usually am very excited when I am talking to someone and they seem into knives. I get all animated and pop out a blade and as soon as I get ready to hand it to them to see how sharp it is they jump back like I'm about to kill them. Then I say something like, "no, you really don't appreciate how sharp this is, you gotta check it out", and they say "I believe you!".
 
eschwebach said:
In my experience, 90% of the population are used to using dull knives.
Click to expand...

Yes and they don't even understand how sharp it is after you warn them about it. They have to touch it as if they think it is barely sharper than a new kitchen knife from the discount store.
 
Kind of like a kid touching the iron or stove after they were warned it was hot..
 
I don't loan out my knives nowadays (it would probably be a SAK) like I once might have because the average person no longer knows how to handle a knife safely. IQ's have dropped, and practical commonsense don't-hurt-yourself-with-everyday-objects type IQ is in virtual freefall down a mine shaft.
It will take some sort of global apocalypse and mass Darwinian die-off to bring the median IQ back above room temperature. We may never get the average IQ back up to the 100 that was the norm in 1900.

So no, no pointy objects for strangers.
 
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