is there too sharp?

C

coping

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Few questions If a blades whittling hair,

would it dull faster than if the blades just stropped enough to cut paper shapes?
Would a really thin edge deminish faster than a normal sharpen and strop?
would a hair whittling edge just demand a stropping a lot more often?
Does a hair whittling edge decrease the knifes life expectancy, in other words are you using up loads of blade material to maintain it?
Is it for show more than use?
Do you make the edge on your most prized and favoured collectable?
Do you make the edge on your used and retired knife thats helped you the most?

Coping.


Edits.
Would an edge whittle hair at 30 or 40 degrees at any thickness?
Or would it depend on how much burr your straightening when stropping?
 
Last edited:
It's not a question of sharpness.

All edges can be made equally sharp.

It's a question of edge geometry.

An obtuse edge will take more abuse then an acute edge.




Big Mike
 
Big Mike said:
It's not a question of sharpness.

All edges can be made equally sharp.

It's a question of edge geometry.

An obtuse edge will take more abuse then an acute edge.




Big Mike
Click to expand...

Can all abtuse and acute edges can whittle a hair?
 
Think of it this way, a hair whittling edge is almost the maximum level of refinement an edge can take. When an edge dulls, it does so because the very apex degrades (becomes less refined). The more refined an edge is, the further away from dull it is, meaning the longer it will take to become dull. I have hair whittling edges ranging from toothy 1000 grit 50° edges to mirror polished 20° inclusive edges, all easily whittle hair. Since the entire blade does not have to pass through the hair to whittle it, the bevel angle has little to do with an edges ability to whittle hair or cut paper. Now, there is a fairly large group of people, lead by some very reputable sources that say a toothy edge will cut better longer than a polished one due to the microserrations found on a toothy edge, but if properly sharpened, both edge types will whittle hair when they come off the stones.

So in short, no, there is no such thing as too sharp. You want every edge as sharp as possible every time.
 
I just put a 40 degree edge on all of them besides paring knives and small or clip blades of slipjoints which I do 30 degrees. The back bevel can be set up thinner or thicker to taste..if you find your tasks too hard on the specific blade or it takes more pressure than you like at first signs of dulling.
 
Big Mike nailed it!
It's about geometry.
However I'll try to answer Your Q's.

]
coping said:
Few questions If a blades whittling hair,

would it dull faster than if the blades just stropped enough to cut paper shapes? yes
Would a really thin edge deminish faster than a normal sharpen and strop? yes
would a hair whittling edge just demand a stropping a lot more often? yes
Does a hair whittling edge decrease the knifes life expectancy, in other words are you using up loads of blade material to maintain it? not necessarily
Is it for show more than use?not on a razorknife
Do you make the edge on your most prized and favoured collectable? yes
Do you make the edge on your used and retired knife thats helped you the most? yes

Coping.
Click to expand...

Any cutlery grade steel will perform with a proper heat-treatment and the right geometry for the aimed purpose of the knife.
This means You can use a thin stainless paring knife for cutting hardwood,assuming the edgegeometry and heat treatment is right for the steel.
It will not be ideal for this work, but it can do it.

The steel quality is always of lesser importance than the bladegeometry and heat-treatment,but when all three are united in a welldesigned knife, You have a good performer.

Regards

Mikael
 
This is another area of knives where others put a lot more thought into a topic than I do. I have different knives for different tasks, some have finer edges than others. I couldn't tell you the degree of angle of the edge on any of my knives if my life depended on it, including ones I've had for decades and use every week.

If a knife cuts what I need it to cut, and does so easily, then I consider it to be "sharp enough". If I'm going to be cutting twine and plastic pallet wrap all day I don't need a "hair-whittling" edge. Sometimes, depending on what I'm cutting, a rough, courser edge might cut better than a super-fine smooth, polished edge.

When I notice that a knife is not cutting as easily as it was or if I notice a lack of desireable sharpness when I "caress" the edge with the pad of my thumb, then I give the blade a few strokes on a fine diamond hone and it's back to where I want it.

I believe there is such a thing as "too sharp" if it's sharper than you need it to be and if to get it "hair-whittling" sharp you have to remove more steel and as a result reduce the lifespan of the blade. Everytime you sharpen a blade you are removing steel, and your blade only has so much steel to lose.
 
Too sharp is when you try to make your axe into a scalpel. Beyond that, it's really up to the user. For the clumsy guy, hair whittling is probably not safe. For a woodworker, you want your stuff pretty dang sharp.
 
The one place I'll disagree with the "sharper is better" mentality is digging tools. Highly refined edges, even on fairly obtuse angles, would be immediately destroyed the second it hit dirt, and if it hit rock it could cause the edge to roll, causing an "artificial flat" that's more dull than what a thinner bevel of lesser apexity. So in that case there is such thing as too sharp. For typical cutting tasks, however, you want that puppy at least as sharp as allows the task to be accomplished with ease and low force on the part of the user.
 
I wouldn't put a hair whittling edge on a chopper either. I don't really see the point in hair whittling edges, personally. They don't last long, and as pointed out, they can roll easily, leaving you with an edge that's less effective than a regular working edge which can last for weeks or months. To each their own, I suppose. I don't really see the advantage though.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The one place I'll disagree with the "sharper is better" mentality is digging tools. Highly refined edges, even on fairly obtuse angles, would be immediately destroyed the second it hit dirt, and if it hit rock it could cause the edge to roll, causing an "artificial flat" that's more dull than what a thinner bevel of lesser apexity. So in that case there is such thing as too sharp. For typical cutting tasks, however, you want that puppy at least as sharp as allows the task to be accomplished with ease and low force on the part of the user.
Click to expand...

Nice :cool:
 
Knives that do aggressive cutting of abrasive materials are not going to fair very well with a very refined edge. Though it's not going to be the edge in question but the steel and its heat treat. Most often the level of edge refinement is more of a personal preference and the difference between a coarse and fine edge is truly much smaller than most believe.

If the steel is harder then its easier to apply a high polished edge that will last, if the steel is softer a high polish edge will not last (typically). There are truly so many factors to this question you would need to target a single steel to get a in-depth answer.
 
In cases where an edge is going to experience highly abrasive wear, the thickness of the supporting bevel or stock thickness is often more important than the actual apex bevel because once the edge is destroyed you're then eating into that bevel or stock thickness. An edge is essentially a deliberately minimized surface area against which we apply pressure to wedge through material. The smaller that surface area the easier it'll be, and thin stock means that you can often still cut a lot of different materials with a dulled edge because your maximum possible surface area is still very small. Hence why you could cut sandpaper all day with a box cutter but not with the spine of a table knife.
 
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