I need an alternate sharp test.

fulloflead

fulloflead

Joined
May 3, 2002
Messages
6,192
My ultimate sharpness test when I've REALLY sharpened and stropped a blade is to fish for one of my girlfriends long hairs under her pillow or in the bathroom sink. I hold it, suspended, by one end and take a swipe at it. If the bottom falls off and if I'm able to repeat that one or two more times I conside my blade perfect.

On the other hand, for anywhere BETWEEN that and dull, I shave my arm hair. Now, I sharpen and strop my knives often and according to my girlfriend I have "furry cuffs" and I guess that's true. I have good hair near my wrists. Above that my arms are a mix of "smoother than a baby's behind" and a mixed array of different lengths of stubble.

It works for me. I'm able to tell the different sharpness of my knives based on how well they're able to pop different lengths of hair off my arm and how much effort it takes. I've done this for quite a while and have gotten this down to quite a science that's been serving me rather well.

Well, the other day at a business seminar I noticed the woman sitting next to me was staring at my arms with a strange look on her face.:confused:
I started to take a closer look at myself, and frankly, I think there are some, let's say, "social drawbacks" to having habitually shaved arms.

I'd like to switch habits but I don't know what else to do.
I've tried shaving chest or belly hair, but my girlfriend finds that, especially, distasteful. (Especially when she feels that stubble against her skin on occasion if you know what I mean.)
Leg hair? Well, maybe. I MAY go there.

Is there another way?
Paper? I've tried that, briefly, and it doesn't seem as sensitive.
Fingernails? Same thing.

I could shave the cat but I don't think she would sit still for that and, after all, it's difficult to close a wound on a furry animal.

Are there any other good methods out there or do you pretty much agree with me that arm hair is the most accurate way?
 
Facial hair works ok...:p :D

Seriously, I wear long sleeved shirts all the time, so it hides my vari-hair.

Regards,
Steve
 
Originally posted by
Steve Chism
Facial hair works ok...:p :D

Seriously, I wear long sleeved shirts all the time, so it hides my vari-hair.

Regards,
Steve
Click to expand...

"vair-hair":D he-he

I know you were kidding about facial hair but it's ACTUALLY not a BAD idea! Hmmm.
 
I think I'll be trying wood in the future. I just made my father a kiridashi kogatana for christmas (Japanese single-side bevel utility knife) and to test it I made a few cuts on some dowel I have. The cut section was smooth, shiny, and had no little gouges or anything. And the cut was smooth. If you keep a chunk of wood for this purpose, you'll soon develop an "inner benchmark" for the process.
 
Shave your ankle hair and then tell people that you are taping them for sport. If you get carried away you can say that you are getting into competetive cycling.

Seriously I use my leg hair rather than arms. Also I only need to pop 1 or 2 hairs to feel if the blade is sharp so it's not necessary to create huge bald patches.
 
Try cutting ciggarette paper. It will give you a better idea of the entire edge. Also, study an edge you are very happy using a jewelers loupe. Once you know what to look for you will not need to test shave and cut as much!! There is something about seeing hair fly though ;)


Neil
 
Originally posted by fulloflead
I could shave the cat but I don't think she would sit still for that
Click to expand...

*COUGH*
you like that nice slick feel, don't you??
*COUGH*

;)
 
well how do you figure out the sharpness of a serrated edge ? shaving seems kinda hard to me. i'm cutting paper, but it's not that easy to do, and apart from that, i don't think it is too informative. so my other solution would be cutting a hanging rope with one slash (at least that's what i'm trying to achieve). rope is about 1cm thick. what other suggestions do you have ?
 
Here is one of the few advantages of being excessively hairy :D. Just how much hair are you shaving off for each test? I test by shaving the hair on the back of my forearm, just past the elbow. I've never run out of hair or even shaved further than the midpoint. I keep the "test" area narrow and I don't think it is very visible because the other arm hair covers it up.
 
Facial hair actually is a pretty good test, thats stuff is pretty strong. I just sharpened up my PCKS 110(BG42) to the sharpest i can get it(stropped it for a hour or so while watching TV) it is so sharp i can cut a page of newspaper to ribbons AS IT FALLS FROM MY HAND TO THE FLOOR. Then since i have not shaved in over 2 month and have a pretty good beard going i decided it was time to come off, put on some shaving cream and went at it with my buck being VERY CAREFUL, i got most of it off and then finished with a regualr razor. if i was to try that with just the razor it would have taken me HOURS, but it took me under 10 min.
 
In Red Dragon, they call those bald patches on your arm "knife fighter's mange". Think of it like that -- it'll certainly make you feel cooler and more macho than thinking of it as what it is, "knife geek pretend SEAL's mange", which I personally have a bad case of :)

Joe
 
yeah my arms are looking pretty bare too, good thing its winter and i wear long sleeve shirts now.
 
lets see...

my left arm is bald
my right arm has some spots of bald
my legs have a few spots
my desk is full of fillet-o-paper...

I have most of my knives sharp enough to fillet paper, and have done a couple ciggerette(I dont smoke so i don't care about spelling) papers.
 
I personally think the arm hair test is stupid. If you really need to test with hair use whiskers. Wiskers are stronger and your face will be more sensitive. The way I check an edge is to cut off a thin strip of paper towl off the role. Then I take that strip and twist it into a small thick piece. Then slice it sitting on a cutting board. This shows how well the edge will cut, get a clean cut both ways and the edge is sharp.
 
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