Knife Sharpening Health Risks?

Status
Not open for further replies.
jwh said:
It all depends. Being on day +71 of a stem cell transplant I still have few platelets and a high risk of infection. There is no one size fits all answer.


JWH
Click to expand...

I work in a BMT lab. I hope everything goes well for you and that your counts come in. Hang in there.
 
I've sometimes had some sinus & throat irritation (coughing) when doing some dry grinding of blades on stones or sandpaper, for re-bevelling or whatever. Though there's not necessarily a 'cloud of dust' in such activity, it only takes a few particles to cause some irritation that can linger for a while. At times, I can even 'smell the steel' when stropping blades, and if it goes long enough, my sinuses can even get somewhat irritated from that. If it can be smelled, there's obviously some particulate matter in the air.

I wouldn't think a respirator is necessary for non-powered sharpening activities. But, depending on how sensitive your sinuses or mucus membranes might be, some decent ventilation, or a simple dust mask, or wet grinding (water, oil, etc) would all help to minimize how much dust gets inhaled.

If using powdered abrasives for stropping, I'd be more careful with those. As fine as the powder is, it makes a real mess if it gets spilled & airborne, and none of this stuff is good for the lungs. When I use mine (powdered chromium oxide and silicon carbide), I mix it with some mineral oil for application to strops. Take only the tiny amount needed from the jar, and immediately put the lid back on it. I cringe to think of the mess it'll make, if I manage to dump a 1-lb. jar of green chrome-ox powder.

cheesemaster said:
I'm not talking about dust. I'm asking if there are any health concerns related to absorbing them through the skin. I use the Bark River black white and green, which I understand are mostly chromium oxide, aluminum oxide.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about skin contact/absorption or even ingesting small amounts of it. Chromium is sometimes listed as a nutritional supplement in vitamins, and it's delivered to the body in it's natural state, as chromium oxide.

I'm sure any of these could be eye irritants, if rubbing tired eyes with dirty hands.


David
 
Last edited:
If you aren't doing this 8 hours a day, I don't see any risk tbh. The exposure is just to little to cause any effects. I mean, how often will you really sharpen your knives - once a a week ? You can go a long way with just stropping. Even if you use a Spyderco sharpmaker or a similar device for touch ups, you are removing very little material.

Filings are to large to breathe in anyways and if you are using wet stones to sharpen your knives, the water will bind the smaller particles.
I wouldn't worry about it, there are so many things in our world that are detrimental to your health (hormones in the water, polluted air, softeners in plastic bottles and what not) that sharpening your knives should be the last of your worries.
 
If this was a work place analysis:

Inhaled: Wear a face mask if you are using a belt sander or bench grinder that throws particulates into the air, and goggles or a face mask.
Occasional use of a sharpening stone that does not put particulates into the air around you, the risk is too low to warrent protection
Ingested: Not a risk
Absorbed: Thin latex, silacone, or nitrile gloves against a possible risk from fine metal particals suspended in oil or water
 
Clanton -- there was a recent experiment in dentistry . They polished teeth with nano particle silica .The teeth became so smooth that bacteria had very little chance to grab on to the tooth !
 
Problem with Nano stuff it's not researched properly yet.
Normal carbon, magnesium, zinc,... is harmless but if it's so small that it can enter your cell without any problem than there's no information on what it can do there. Disrupt enzymatic reactions interfere with DNA synthesis cause cancer?
 
I think that all the alleged toxins, e.g. red dye #1, non-stick pan flakes, aluminum in underarm deodorant, smog, rhetoric from Al Gore don’t mean diddlysquat when you reach a certain age. Sorta like a teeter-totter…depends where you’re standing. Starting out or finishing the race.

All the junk that’s been falling out of the sky onto my head and shoulders all my life; the UV penetrating the layers of skin; the stuff I’ve snorted into my lungs intentionally or inadvertently during my life time and I can still see outta my third eye.

I nick myself from time to time while touching up my knives. I make sure to dab some alcohol on it to ward off possible infection. But you know…just a matter of time and we’ll be warned of the dangers of alcohol skin absorption.

You know, I’m saying this tongue-in-cheek. We all should be careful to chemical or possible toxic exposures. Personally…I don’t stress over it.

I don’t mean to diminish at all what you’re going through jwh. There are certainly many people with compromised immune systems, for whatever reasons, that must be extremely careful of their environment.

So before you beat up on me for my insensitive response to a serious question, please read my 2 previous paragraphs. I will poke fun at myself – attempted humor.
 
If you use oil when sharpening, then that will trap most of the fine metal and abrasive particles. Alternatively, you can use a little liquid dish soap which will trap the particles in foam. (Choose honing oil and/or soap depending on your type of stone. Of course, just plain water for waterstones.) For stropping, I sometimes use thin latex or nitrile gloves.
 
No. The only health risks are from possible cuts. Which can happen if you don't pay attention. I've personally cut myself by accident while sharpening a blade.
 
I often have a problem when doing 'super sharpening.'
I get the edges so sharp that my eyes bleed when I just look at them...

But probably the biggest 'real' danger to the home sharpener is finger cuts. A band-aid and some topical antiseptic takes care of that.


Stitchawl
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top