How sharp?

CSG

CSG

Joined
Dec 15, 2007
Messages
1,435
For general bush/wood craft and camping chores, how sharp does your knife need to be? Hair popping sharp or?

I am far, far from a knife expert. I actually don't know much at all about them but I always touch up the edges to hair popping sharp after use. I read somewhere that said there's a point of overdoing it but I suppose that depends on the tasks and steel in the blade?

What are your thoughts?
 
I keep my bushcraft knives and camping knives just sharp enough to shave hair with a little pressure. That's mainly because I suck at sharpening :)
 
As sharp as I can get them! I like to touch up the edges, not have to work hard to cut things.
 
Free standing paper as in hold a piece of paper in the air and slice down through it with a chopping motion? If so, that's my usual goal.
 
It depends on the knife. A hard working fixed blade is brought to shaving sharpness. A folder gets sharpened to the point that when I take it out of my pocket, the dog runs away yelping and hides under the bed.:D
 
lately my bravo 2 has been getting the most work out along with my buck 110.

i keep them sharp as possible and touch them up on some fine grit sand paper after a long days work. shaving sharp is how i like em.

cheers

JC
 
I'm more interested in having an edge that is both sharp and long lasting.

So if after using my knife for 1/2 an hour to slice and cut seasoned hardwood, I can still cut curls this fine in the same wood, then I'm satisfied with the sharpness of my knife :D

FinehardwoodCurls1.jpg




Kind regards
Mick
 
Last edited:
A sharp knife is safer than a dull one so I keep them as sharp as possible. Or ateast as sharp as I am willing to spend time on, which is a decent amount of time :D .
 
As sharp as I can get them and constantly experimenting with methods to get them sharper. If you drop one of my favorite knives you might lose a toe. ;) :D Chris
 
I don't find hair popping to be a camp chore so it is an irrelevance for me. I need a field to be able to cut well the things I bought it to cut. For me, the hair popping thing could be annexed off as a sport in its own right, rather like the sport of Olympic sitting in front of the TV folding and unfolding a folding knife. I don't have any use for either event.

In all probability a knife I have sharpened will shave hairs. I've done that enough times to know that, but I don't test for it. If I discovered a knife I was using very successfully in the field wouldn't shave my arm, because I tested it in a random moment of boredom, I wouldn't care. The knife is still working at what it is meant to so I am in no hurry to meddle with it. Conversely, finding that it did pop hairs would be completely coincidental to my objectives, and makes not one iota of difference to the satisfaction of my real world goal states.

woodlandpointer-sml_copy690.jpg



ndera78118ydew3t4rdz-a635.jpg
 
baldtaco-II said:
I don't find hair popping to be a camp chore so it is an irrelevance for me. I need a field to be able to cut well the things I bought it to cut. For me, the hair popping thing could be annexed off as a sport in its own right, rather like the sport of Olympic sitting in front of the TV folding and unfolding a folding knife. I don't have any use for either event.

In all probability a knife I have sharpened will shave hairs. I've done that enough times to know that, but I don't test for it. If I discovered a knife I was using very successfully in the field wouldn't shave my arm, because I tested it in a random moment of boredom, I wouldn't care. The knife is still working at what it is meant to so I am in no hurry to meddle with it. Conversely, finding that it did pop hairs would be completely coincidental to my objectives, and makes not one iota of difference to the satisfaction of my real world goal states.
Click to expand...

At the risk of being a dick..DUH, that's the reason we all sharpen our knives, scissors, chisels and any other tool that cuts...to cut. The hair popping description is just a way to test the edge, like feeling it with your thumb, slicing paper or testing it on a finger nail. The more I practice sharpening, the better I get and the more efficient I become in the field at bringing my knife back up to working sharp, the goal. Chris
 
runningboar said:
At the risk of being a dick..DUH, that's the reason we all sharpen our knives, scissors, chisels and any other tool that cuts...to cut. The hair popping description is just a way to test the edge, like feeling it with your thumb, slicing paper or testing it on a finger nail. The more I practice sharpening, the better I get and the more efficient I become in the field at bringing my knife back up to working sharp, the goal. Chris
Click to expand...

My point exactly amigo. What is the advantage to testing the sharpness of a knife by testing it on irrelevant task? Surely more rigorous results would come about from testing it appropriately?
 
baldtaco-II said:
My point exactly amigo. What is the advantage to testing the sharpness of a knife by testing it on irrelevant task? Surely more rigorous results would come about from testing it appropriately?
Click to expand...

For me it is just a baseline test, by how easy my blade cuts hair or slices paper I can tell how well it will perform it's primary function. Chris
 
I use a piece of magazine paper to test my edge as well.

I slice with little pressure downward to test two things:

1) If it push cuts (i.e. doesn't need to slice to cut) - this tests overall sharpness of the blade. If it is this sharp - it will shave hair - and do anything I want it to do and more.

2) If it cuts the paper the same way all the way down the edge of the blade. If it rips, stops, or tears at the paper in a certain area I know that one spot needs to be touched up.

With that said - I want the sharpest knife possible without comprising the edge geometry. For instance, you can cheat a scandi grind by convexing it a bit - but you will make it weaker at that point (in my opinion). I want a zero grind as sharp as possible.

TF
 
CSG said:
I read somewhere that said there's a point of overdoing it but I suppose that depends on the tasks and steel in the blade?

What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...


I figure you can't make a knife too sharp. You can make the edge angle too shallow, but if your angle is appropriate for your blade's steel and the job at hand, then why not have it as sharp as you can get it?

The back of my left hand and the inside of my left arm are usually mostly bare from checking my knives while sharpening. :D

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
Slicing paper is good for me.If a knife doesn't shave,it doesn't mean it's not sharp.
I don't sharpen my knives unless it's nesessery.I don't want to wear them for nothing ;)
 
I usually skin a whole moose to test the sharpness of any blade. If I can't skin it clean, I do some light stropping and start over on a fresh moose. :D :p
 
desmobob said:
I figure you can't make a knife too sharp. You can make the edge angle too shallow, but if your angle is appropriate for your blade's steel and the job at hand, then why not have it as sharp as you can get it?
Click to expand...

+1, my sentiments exactly :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top