Is it actually possible for a knife to do this?

R

realitycheck

Joined
Nov 24, 2007
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I found this knife company vox knives. A one man crew with some pretty cool designs. At this link he chops a 2x4 in half and then says it still shaves hair and cuts paper. Is this possible? If so what properties do you have to have for a knife to do this?
Heres the link, http://blog.voxknives.com/#post108
 
Yeah, it`s possible....back in the `30s, there was a knife maker (kitchen & butcher knives mostly) who traveled around the country towing a trailer full of scrap metal, selling his knives by demonstrating how they could be hammered through solid steel car axles and still cut ribbons of newspaper. Unfortunately, he took his amazing heat-treating secret to the grave with him.
 
The cutting of wood (and manila rope) followed by paper cutting appears to be a common sales demonstration among the high performance knife makers.
 
Frank J. Richtig of Clarkson, NE is the knifemaker alluded to I believe. He was written up in Ripley's as being able to cut up steel bolts with his knife without it affecting the edge.
 
Well apparently I have no clue how to sharpen a knife. Cause I have a knife shaving sharp then cut through cardboard a few times and its not shaving sharp anymore. Obviously i'm not doing something right.

And I just dont see how you could cut through steel and not effect the edge of a knife.
 
timsclips said:
Frank J. Richtig of Clarkson, NE is the knifemaker alluded to I believe. He was written up in Ripley's as being able to cut up steel bolts with his knife without it affecting the edge.
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Yep, that`s the guy (I could`nt remember his name....CRS, y`know :) ....I just dug out my copy of Ken Warner`s KNIVES `88, and there`s a 5-page article on Mr. Richtig in it....what an amazing talent....it`s a shame that he never had an apprentice or someone to pass those skills on to....
 
realitycheck said:
Well apparently I have no clue how to sharpen a knife. Cause I have a knife shaving sharp then cut through cardboard a few times and its not shaving sharp anymore. Obviously i'm not doing something right.
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We all have to start somewhere. Got to our Maintenance forum and talk about your sharpening results. You will get good advice on what you may be doing wrong.

The first problem I think of is a wire edge. If you've sharpened properly to a very thin edge, that edge will bend when you cut a few things, and feel dull. What you have to do is break off that wire, that is, that very thin final bevel, and you will have a more robust cutting edge.

That's why we will sharpen to a 30 degree inclusive angle or less, then put a 40 degree microbevel on it for strength.
 
realitycheck said:
And I just dont see how you could cut through steel and not effect the edge of a knife.
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Don`t feel bad....this man was probably 1 in 10 million (or more), with wizard-like skills when it came to heat-treating....in 1938, he was asked to appear before more than 200 members of the National Blacksmiths and Welder`s Association, and explain and demonstrate his system & techniques, and to perform his steel-cutting demo. They were so impressed, they bestowed the title of Master Ironsmith on him.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
We all have to start somewhere. Got to our Maintenance forum and talk about your sharpening results. You will get good advice on what you may be doing wrong.

The first problem I think of is a wire edge. If you've sharpened properly to a very thin edge, that edge will bend when you cut a few things, and feel dull. What you have to do is break off that wire, that is, that very thin final bevel, and you will have a more robust cutting edge.

That's why we will sharpen to a 30 degree inclusive angle or less, then put a 40 degree microbevel on it for strength.
Click to expand...
Thanks esav, I actually joined this forum to learn how to sharpen, and got tons of great info from this site. I put a microbevel on all my knives with my sharpmaker. First I reprofile with DMT stone and then add the microbevel like you said, then just maintain with the sharpmaker. I guess on some of them i'm leaving a wire edge like you said. VG-10 is the one that usually does it to me. I have a strop do you suggest removing it this way or can I just do it with the sharpmaker? Thanks for the help.

waterdogs said:
Don`t feel bad....this man was probably 1 in 10 million (or more), with wizard-like skills when it came to heat-treating....in 1938, he was asked to appear before more than 200 members of the National Blacksmiths and Welder`s Association, and explain and demonstrate his system & techniques, and to perform his steel-cutting demo. They were so impressed, they bestowed the title of Master Ironsmith on him.
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Well I guess the samurai sword makers have been doing it for centuries. Being able to cut through bone and not deform the edge.
 
Almost anything is possible in this modern era of knives.

Someday, we'll have lightsabers that will cut through anything and will still be able to shave things off. :D
 
realitycheck, two ways to deal with a wire edge: stropping is very good. With the Sharpmaker. go back to the fine rods and instead of drawing the edge down a rod with the blade held vertically, do it with the blade held parallel to the opposite rod. You see, at a more obtuse angle. Do a few strokes on one side, then the equivalent on the other.

Here's how I test for a wire edge: strop the blade on my shirt sleeve or pants leg one one side, then on the other. Next, I run my thumb along the edge but away from it. If you run exactly parallel, you'll slice yourself, and won't feel the wire anyway. If you do have a wire edge, you won't feel it on one sid of the blade, but you will feel a slight drag on the other.
 
Very interesting article in the New Yorker of all places not too long ago about a custom knife maker (chef knives) who was trying to replicate Richtig's feats. How to strike the best compromise between hardness and toughness comes down to choice of steel and the heat treatment.

Regarding the original question of the thread, yes it is possible, I have seen it done, and in order to get qualification as a master bladesmith one must create a knife and demonstrate that it will do just that, plus afterwards you must bend it 90 degrees.
 
Richtig used 1095. I don't particularly want to pay $30 to get the paper, but there was an analysis done f a couple of his knives. A large one was quite soft, and from the comments I've read, it seems he was austempering the blades. Significant since this was before the discovery of bainite, but could explain the remarkable toughness.
 
How come more production folders arent built to this standard? Is it the price it costs to create this?
 
realitycheck said:
Well apparently I have no clue how to sharpen a knife. Cause I have a knife shaving sharp then cut through cardboard a few times and its not shaving sharp anymore. Obviously i'm not doing something right.

And I just dont see how you could cut through steel and not effect the edge of a knife.
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also consider that cardboard is one of the more abrasive medias one could cut with a finely honed edge.

cardboard typically has all sorts of materials other than paper within its fibers.
 
Folders generally aren't used for really heavy-duty cutting. The construction constraints limit them -- pivot, the open handle for the blade channel. A full-tang fixed blade is just inherently stronger, so it makes a better platform for exotic capabilities.

But there are folders that promise and deliver exceptional strength, even production folders, but they aren't at the cheap end of the marketing spectrum: Strider, Extrema Ratio, for example.

I don't know that heat treating in really large production batches is suited to this.
 
Seems like his knives could cut through steel bars. Amazing. Some of his knives are still for sale, I see. The question is can they, or can't they, duplicate that performance today?

72c.jpg
 
waterdogs said:
Yeah, it`s possible....back in the `30s, there was a knife maker (kitchen & butcher knives mostly) who traveled around the country towing a trailer full of scrap metal, selling his knives by demonstrating how they could be hammered through solid steel car axles and still cut ribbons of newspaper. Unfortunately, he took his amazing heat-treating secret to the grave with him.
Click to expand...

Really, that's awesome. Just like the salesmen thing, where one person could go through each state without going through one twice.
 
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