Nowhere did I say that SHARP wasn't important. The point I was making was simply that shaving is not a very effective measure of a well designed and executed edge.
This really deserves to be a topic by itself. Yes, a small dagger should be razor sharp. Daggers are seldom dueling instruments and should be more edge-refined than a larger knife, which will certainly encounter hard objects and possesses other assets, absent in a dagger. Daggers are not much used to lop off limbs or parry opponents blades. They are handicapped by having little leverage and can achieve velocities only slightly greater than the wielder's hand speed. A larger blade, has more leverage and its point and forward edge velocity will be significantly faster. A small knife will mostly likely get caught in bone; a large knife can cut through it. The dynamics are very different. Sharp is a more critical requirement in a small knife than a larger one. This isn't rocket science, but it certainly is more complex than shaving, which measures only the degree of finish on the final bevel.
In another thread on these forums, Les Robertson discussed the prize winning rope cutter in an ABS competition. I forget how many ropes it cut through, and still
shaved, but it was a lot. The first time that same blade was used on a piece of wood, it blew a chunk out of the edge.
Donna, by your criteria, that would have been one of those fantastically sharp shaving edges. By my criteria in the measure of a tactical blade edge, it would have been junk, which is exactly what it ended up being.
Obviously my knives are sharp. I even test them all by shaving, witness that I went to the Blade Show with no arm hair and a bald patch on my left leg, but all that tells me is the quality of the finish on the final bevel. It has only limited meaning in the total context of will that be an effective fighting edge.
Yes it will cut through leather or denim or even the Mona Lisa, but will it cut through harder substances, will it survive almost any impact, and will it serve its user in almost any intended tactical purpose, besides shaving. There are of far greater importance in my mind.
I will not put a 12 degree bevel on CPM-3V or any other steel. In my judgement it is a weak bevel that, while fine as a utility blade, is not capable of sustaining the kind of hard abuse a tactical blade must sustain. That's my philosophy. I believe that, but others may well disagree, and that is why those of you who purchase knives have so many diverse and excellent choices. There are many outstanding knifemakers, most of whom haven't been mentioned on this thread. Each is different in his or her approach to edge geometry. Each has reasons for how they do it. All likely use shaving as a test somewhere in the process. All look for different qualities in how that final result is defined. It's their right to do whatever they think is correct. It is your right to buy whichever you think is best. I really don't think about competing with other knifemakers. I compete only with myself in achieving what I am trying accomplish. That's all.
Now, just for the record. When Gaucho tested my 8-1/2" CPM-3V Millennium Fighter, he gouged chunks out of ratan, cut through duct tape wrapped foam, completely severed a whole leg of lamb diagonally through 2" of bone, and chopped through a double denim wrapped chunk of meat. That was just my second CPM-3V blade and I had yet to learn how to refine the edge as well as I do now. That knife just barely shaved. Go figure.
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Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com