Normal Day, toughest stuff to cut?

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
27,994
During a normal work day, what material do you find to be the toughest stuff to cut?

I find the 3M glass type wrapping tape to really knock down an edge quickly.

Tye-wraps, knife has to have a sharp edge, chisel edge knives have an advantage on plastic material, serrated knives which have chisel edges cut this material fairly easy.

What else? Normal work day, not Dooms day stuff...
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G2

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"There are no dangerous weapons;
there are only dangerous men."
.......... Robert A. Heinlein, 1959


G2 Leatherworks
 
Well I dunno about everyday cutting, but Kevlar fiber is one of the toughest things I've cut. Dull real quick! Those Ginsu knives work great on concrete though.
 
Cardboard boxes. The thick kinds that I have to saw through can round the edge on a knife easily. Maybe I should get a miniature saw for boxes, anyone have experience with stuff like little Gerber saws?
 
It didn't dull the edge too bad, but some of the anti-shoplifter plastic packaging is incredible. I exerted so much force opening a new Micra package that once I broke loose I shaved about an inch of "epidermal" vinyl from my truck seat before slicing through. The vinyl shave was pretty neat though, as I could tell my knife was really, really sharp.

David
 
Anyone ever tried cutting the shrink wrap around skids of concrete and stuff? Doesn't seem to dull the edge much, but no matter how sharp the knife is you pretty much use it to tear the stuff away. It stretches like crazy.
Another thing is fiberglass insulation. It actually cuts really easily, but kills an edge fast.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
Sharpening pencils. It seems like nobody else uses regular old #2 pencils anymore, so we don't have any pencil sharpeners in the office. Also packaging tape... it doesn't dull the edge but makes it sticky, and you have to clean it well before it'll cut after cutting a lot of that stuff.

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For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23


 
Tie-wraps are a good one, but I end up using my knife on 12AWG THHN copper wire and 12/3AWG SJO cable pretty often. Just too lazy or in too much of a hurry to go grab a pair of dikes, er, Diagonal Cutting Pliers, like I know I should.

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James Segura
San Francisco, CA
 
Question for stjames: have you ever dinged up the edge of a knife cutting copper wire? I used my large sebenza to cut a piece of 20 AWG aluminum wire and it took a small chip out of the knife edge! I know this is misuse, but luckily the folks at CRK fixed up the edge for me. If I ever cut wire with a knife again, I'll make sure it's with a BM or something else with a relatively obtuse edge grind.
 
Matt, funny, the only knives I have had trouble with chipping on copper wire was an ATS-34 BM AFCK and a 440V Spyderco Military, both very prone to chips. No problems with my CRK Sebenzas, Griffith Sniper, Dozier K-9 or the M2 version of the AFCK.

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James Segura
San Francisco, CA
 
I agree with ryan
PENCILS are just a hassle to sharpen and can really wear out an edge of a knife until it is super dull.....

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My Email is - Hero47@juno.com -
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[This message has been edited by MICKEY77 (edited 01-08-2000).]
 
Heavy thickness plastic wrap seems to be the toughest material that I normally encounter. Even with a really sharp knife the material will bunch up and offer a lot of resistance unless it can be held taught, which isn't always possible.
 
cardboard boxes will dull the blade...so i
like a knife with part serrated blade...
the saw sounds like a good idea...
bryan
 
We have several turn of the century press that run off a main jackline with HEAVY leather belts. These get veery hard. glazed surface with lots of grease and tiny bits of dirt, metal shavings etc. A hacksaw works about as well as anything.
 
We have several turn of the century press that run off a main jackline with HEAVY leather belts. These get veery hard. glazed surface with lots of grease and tiny bits of dirt, metal shavings etc. A hacksaw works about as well as anything.
 
The BS that is coming out of Ottawa, Canada, Washington DC and Moscow, not to mention myriad other governments around the world. That **** is really tough to cut! Maybe Excalibur, or the Blade of the Horde...
 
I'm with Alberta, red-tape & the like is the toughtest crap I have to cut daily. Really dulls the mind, like they intend. As for stjames, careful when you're grabbing a pair of dikes that you don't end up on the butch end...


Brandon

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"Do or do not, there is no try..."
 
Poison ivy vines,grape vines,thorns.Lets just say vines,vines,and more vines!
Take care,

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Jay
Life is like a box of chocolates,never know what your gona git!
 
Ryan, I forgot about pencils, but I don't seem to dull the edge, just really like sharpening pencils! When the knife has a keen edge it really whittles the pencils with nice precision, I tried to get one of my daughters to take a pencil into school once that I had sharpened, the facets of the pencil shape were followed out to the point so instead of a rounded sharpened point it was faceted, I wanted her to pretend to sharpen the pencil and then look in amazement and show the teacher what the sharpener had done, of course she would mean me as the sharpener but the teacher would assume the one she pretended to use, but I couldn't get my daughters to do it! oh well I thought it'd be funny
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G2

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"There are no dangerous weapons;
there are only dangerous men."
.......... Robert A. Heinlein, 1959


G2 Leatherworks
 
I got a small Sebenza from my wife for
Christmas and the toughest thing Ive used it on is an envelope. The blade appears to be unscathed with no chipping or rolling of the edge and it's still sharp. I'm going to try it on manila next.

rk

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As for me and my house...

Joshua 24:15

 
Couple of different things where I work will really give an edge a workout. One is the various types of high pressure hose we use; another is 1/2" poly rope that is braided, very slippery; then there is all kinds and guages of wire. I put a tiny ding in my Military edge, but mostly cause the surface I had the hose against was metal(ouch). I rolled the edge on my Buck custom 110 (BG42) in a similar situation. But both edges have been restored and now I'm more careful about what's under what I'm cutting!!
Brian
PS to Gary
When you get your Talonite Carnivour, do some mental imagery towards a horizontal carry pouch, like the Sebenza style, cause at the end of the year when I get my Carni from Rob, I'm gonna be calling you!!

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