Just How Sharp Are YOUR Knives?

Waco Kid said:
My brother's an army doctor -- anyone have knives that would embarass him? ;)

-kid
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easily! :D

let me quote TAI GOO (link):

"...
I've finally divided degrees of sharpness down to a little backyard scale:
#1. Shaving sharp= almost sharp, but kind of dull.
#2. Scary sharp= a little sharper than shaving sharp.
#3. Popping a 1/2 inch hair loop= sharp enough.
#4. Cleaving a standing hair= tree top sharp.
#5. Cleaving a free standing rolling paper tube= 9th chakra sharp!
..."

so this would be a 9th chakra cut (free standing cigarette paper roll):
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around 7th chakra (free standing newspaper rolls):
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maximus otter, i am sure that you can get those blades even sharper! splitting hair means that the blade wasn't able to go through the hair at a right angle. but you are pretty close! maybe a carbon steel blade, acute angle and honed on jap. waterstones could do it! however, cool pics! (and skye is a beautiful place, been there several times!)

hans
 
My 710 D2 and my Cold ASteel SRK will "push-cut" newspring one inch or more from the hold point.

When a knife starts to shave arm hair, without dragging, it's about halfway to being sharp.
 
I encourage anyone to try the cutting test I posted in that video. Its a beast of a test to replicate. Perfect test of not only screaming sharp edges, but also edge polish and cutting form. The most minute problem in any part of those will cause the remainder tube to fall over. heck, even the swing of your arm can cause enough air to knock it over. The goal is to cut the paper tube so effectively that there is almost no force transferred to the paper and the blade slides through it so smoothly that the top of the tube just slides to the floor.
 
Great pics - I love a sharp knife and enjoy freehand sharpening with diamond plates, waterstones, and loaded leather strops. I just took a 5-3/4" by 3" piece of notepad paper, folded it once and stood it on the corner of my desk, took a swipe at it with my M2 Ritter Grip and it cut cleanly in half. Sharp enough I guess.

Here's a plastic bottle cut with a Busse SH-e - this knife did some serious work cleaning out shooting lanes deer hunting a couple weeks ago, got it to slice through a couple 1-1/2" poplars with one swipe (some of the scrub was much harder than these) and after a couple minutes stropping could do this again.

 
I hear reports of people cutting single ply toilet paper. I would love to see a video of that.:cool: :thumbup:
 
Here is a pic of a blunt Strider SMF I thinned just a bit and convexed with nothing more than sand paper and leather. It too can Split hairs.

Its really amazing what can be done given enough time. I am still looking around for some even finer abrasives.

I am not sure why I am on this quest. One thing is for sure.... its a whole lot easier to do this on fine grained tool steel with a thin primary grind. It takes HOURS to get this done on a Blunt CPMS30V "tactical" folder.

More the better...there are not many that own a SMF that will remove facial hair as smoothly as a razor. I guess we do it for pride.
splithair.jpg
 
question on the edge pro. how does one decide between the apex models? I dont really see the difference for that extra 40 dollars.

Thanks!
 
Hey Maximus, I just got myself an Apex. Do you have a special technique when you sharpen or do you just follow the basics ie: workdown through the grits working the burr and finish with the polish tapes??
 
bailes said:
Do you have a special technique when you sharpen?
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Nope: Just as you describe.

I have also made a "strop stone" from a description posted by a fellow Blade Forums member a couple of years ago. Get a spare aluminium blank for the Apex. Glue a 6" x 1" section of old leather to it, rough side out. Impregnate the leather with a steel polish (I use a UK version called Solvol Autosol), then use this as the final stage of sharpening.

Pull away only from the cutting edge at the same angle as you used to sharpen the knife. It gives that final finish to an edge.

maximus otter
 
This is one of my all time favorite threads. Sorry I have no pics but got knives that will split hairs though. Gotta run. I'm going to spend a few hours on the DMT's.:thumbup:
 
I am very impressed by some of the test done. I tried to duplicate them and all I accomplished was to send rolls of paper and water bottles across the room. I use a knife every single day, and for me the test of sharpness is how well the blade slices through a piece of meat. While I consider myself an expert in sharpening, I am always willing to learn more from others.
 
Thank you to everyone who posted on this thread!:) :) :)

VERY interstng information.

BUT::mad: :mad: Dammit, the more I learn, the more I come to realize how little I really know!:mad: :mad:

(OTOH, I guess it's better to KNOW you're ignorant, than to be ignorant, and NOT know it:D )
 
I've got blades that cut thru a soggy goat carcass at high speed. The femur looked like it have been severed by a laser. Made this little "tink" sound as the blade went sailing thru, one shot.

Sharp's one thing, a dueable impact-resistant and sharp edge is another is another.
 
Parker said:
I've got blades that cut thru a soggy goat carcass at high speed. The femur looked like it have been severed by a laser. Made this little "tink" sound as the blade went sailing thru, one shot.

Sharp's one thing, a dueable impact-resistant and sharp edge is another is another.
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Interesting. Can you expand on this a bit? I am wondering what the difference is between your sharp knives and those that other people have.

I am of the opinion that given a steel type, particular edge geometry and sharpness there is not much mystery left. But brother if you got some special voodoo, I kneel at your feet to learn. WAZZZZUP?
 
I keep a coarse edge on my work knife, so it saws a little. my brother, pete1977 can hone a mean blade.

can I ask why we're cutting up soggy goat carci?:D
 
I've got a long way to go before slicing free-standing zig-zags, but my revitalized CS master hunter took my foot hair off, as well as leaving a painless slice. I figured out the stropping bit, but I could still make do with an Edge Pro.
stropfoo.jpg
 
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