Is there too sharp ??

3

3one5

Joined
Jun 8, 2012
Messages
94
Yes that's what I said. I use a smiths sharp maker and a leather stop with a black past on it. I can get my blades shaving sharp. But there is the problem when I'm done with the strop it will shave but the next day ill go cut a couple pices of rope break down some cardboard then after that I can't even cut my way out of a plastic bag. It's like it's razor sharp then I cut something other then hair or newspaper. And it rolls the edge and I'm done for the day. I have even thought of getting a strop for my work van! That's when I said to myself maybe its too sharp for what I need? I mean what do you think is a good working blade?

I'm also in the market for some new stones I'm thinking to get a DMT 6" or 8" duo stone In Coars and fine! Do you think that that's all ill need? I'm wondering if I need a 8" or if a 6" is big enuff. I mostly carry a 3" pocket knife and a 3.5-4" fixed blade for edc. But I also use a 7" and a 9" that use quite a bit that I need to sharpen.

Being that I carry a pocket and a fixed ill probly keep my pocket knives shaving sharp. And just back off on the fix to get them to hold a edge longer.

And last I know your going to ask my pocket knives are bench made, spyderco, and microtech, so steels like 440c, elmax and such. My fixed are Damascus and busse's SR101.
 
Sure, you can make a knife too sharp for a given cutting task but you also have to look at what you are cutting. Cardboard is one of the toughest things for a edge to withstand and rope is often not much better. Both can quickly leave you with a dull edge.
 
Too sharp...if indeed such a state does exist...would be better desrcibed as "too acute". A very acute angle is in fact going to be very sharp if it is apexed correctly and the burr removed but because there is so little metal actually up there at the front immediately behind the edge itself, that acute angle is not nearly as structurally strong. So it will chip, roll, or for that matter wear away through abrasion more quickly. Take what might be considered some of the sharpest knives...surgical scalpels. They are extremely acute...just super thing slivers of steel. The thing is, they are not at all concerned about durability. A surgeon will make very few cuts with a scalpel and then get a new one. Conversely a butcher or a wood carver will have only one or maybe two of each type of knife they're using and they have to stay sharp a long time...at least all day with maybe just some quick touching up. They will achieve that with both the quality of the their steel and the kind of edge they put on there. My father owned his GI Surplus Collins Machete for probably 3 or 4 years, used it hard every weekend, and it was never sharpened until I got bigger and showed an interest if files and whatnot. I don't know if he even noticed the difference the way a machete is used.
 
Or maybe you are leaving a burr. It will feel sharp at first, then when the burr folds over its dull again
 
There can be too acute an edge, and too polished an edge (for a given task) but not really such a thing as too sharp, referring to getting the two planes of the edge to meet perfectly without rounding or a burr.
 
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