scary sharp knives

jdm61

jdm61

itinerant metal pounder
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
47,357
Does anyone have any knives that you would consider "scary" sharp? All of my customs have very nice edges, but there are a couple that really stand out and I, as a newbie smith, would give my eye teeth to know how to get a knife as sharp as the Moran and Robbie Hudson knives I have. I also have a P.J. Tomes integral that is close, but the Moran and Hudson are ridiculous. The Hudson is from the early 90's, so it is likely made from W2, but the Moran is the Reno knife and made from 5160 and STILL cuts like a giant razor. On a whim, i wanted to see how sharp it was. There was a thin envelope of the type you get with your credit card statement to send the payment back sittin g on my desk with the flap up. I reached over and slid the Moran across the flap and it cut down about 1 1/2 inches with little or no pressure and no folding of the flap...wow, sez I!!!!!!! lol. Does the full convex grind make that much difference? The other convex blades I have from Jay Hendrickson and Mark Sentz are very sharp, but nothing like these 2.
 
Blackjack knives very sharp straight out of the box and I have also heard this to be true of Barkriver knives both come with convex blades!
 
All of my knives are very sharp, however I had a Dennis Des Jardins fighter which was the sharpest knife I have ever handled. Literally you could hardly touch the blade without braking skin.
 
I think the sharpest knife I've handled was a Shiva Ki spirit blade. Jimmy Fikes gets a very sharp edge as well. Bob Dozier, Tom Krein, Charles Marlowe, and RJ Martin put a killer edge on their knives. I think many makers can put as sharp an edge as you want on the knife but they make a decision on how far to take it based on more factors than sharpness alone. Liability is a concern for some and durability is important as well, for example. A brand new scalpel blade from Personna Medical is sharper than any knife I've handled but after several passes through skin and tissue or after peeling tissue away from bone for a few minutes, it ain't worth a damn! (don't worry guys, I'm a surgeon, not a serial killer ;) ).
 
xuesheng said:
I think the sharpest knife I've handled was a Shiva Ki spirit blade. Jimmy Fikes gets a very sharp edge as well. Bob Dozier, Tom Krein, Charles Marlowe, and RJ Martin put a killer edge on their knives. I think many makers can put as sharp an edge as you want on the knife but they make a decision on how far to take it based on more factors than sharpness alone. Liability is a concern for some and durability is important as well, for example. A brand new scalpel blade from Personna Medical is sharper than any knife I've handled but after several passes through skin and tissue or after peeling tissue away from bone for a few minutes, it ain't worth a damn! (don't worry guys, I'm a surgeon, not a serial killer ;) ).
Click to expand...

I must admit. You had me worried for a minute until I got to the final sentence. :eek: :eek:
 
I would really like to know how Gene Ingram sharpens his knives ? They are razor sharp when shipped.
 
xuesheng said:
A brand new scalpel blade from Personna Medical is sharper than any knife I've handled but after several passes through skin and tissue or after peeling tissue away from bone for a few minutes, it ain't worth a damn! (don't worry guys, I'm a surgeon, not a serial killer ;) ).
Click to expand...

That is very interesting. I always wondered how long a scalpel stayed sharp.

I have a Dozier and a few Bark Rivers that came extremely sharp.
 
The sharpest knife I ever got was from Ron Leuschen of Little Hen Knives. He was a rising star that burned out way to early. His knives were getting really good, and then he just up and quit.
 
I have been using Jantz paper wheels with white rouge followed by a strop on all of my knives and the knives I do for others. It is not difficult to get a "scary sharp" edge with a little practice. I do have people that do not want the razor edge, just a nice regrind of the edge then finished with a strop. The paper wheels polish the side of the edge and help bring the edge to razor sharpness sooner. With my wife's kitchen knives, I just give them a touch up with the paper wheels and strop ocasionally to get them back to a VERY sharp condition.
 
how can you mention "scary sharp" without saying RJ Martin?

:rolleyes:

Ron
 
I have had a couple of Blackjacks and a Bark River and they are, in my opinion, about as good as you get from a factory blade. I know that some folks don't like putting a buffed "razor" edge on a knife for durability reasons, but both the Moran and Hudson have plenty of meat on the edge bevels and the Hudson is 12 years old and has been used a bit and is still nasty sharp. I did a W2 fighter recntly with the flat grind/ convex edge and it is as sharp as some of my custom that are ground the same. It will do nasty things to wood and come out without a scratch, but it isn't a true shaver. I have read that Moran knives have a reputation of being sharp and staying sharp for a long time as long as you maintain them. Another example of Bill figuring out how to get maximum performance in a way that to a layman or newbie, seems almost like voodoo:D
 
Just talking about knives I currently own.Let's see-My Matt Lamey Knives,my Steve Voorhis knives,my Jim Hammond Cobra Gold fighter is Scary Sharp.My new John Fitch JS Reformer bowie is Very scary sharp.and I don't want to leave out my RJ Customs Stag Subhilt because it's Beyond Scary Sharp.Just Too many to list right now,mostly because it's 2am & my Brain's shutting down.That's it for now,see ya tomorrow-Same Bat time,same Bat channel:cool:
 
One of my sharpest ever was a Rob Brown hunter. That thing popped hair like you wouldn't believe.

Roger
 
jdm61 said:
Does the full convex grind make that much difference?
Click to expand...

Only the edge itself matters for the scary-sharp part. I've handled a Fikes knife with a chisel-flat profile and it was tree-topping sharp and RJ Martin's knives often have deep, hollow grinds in them. Yes, the edges are convexed, but the blades aren't fully convexed.
 
I will second the opinion that Jimmy Fikes and Shiva Ki make knives that are 'tree top' sharp (cuts hair off your arm without touching the skin), and will hold an edge under lots of hard use. RJ Martin is another maker whose knives are both very sharp and hold up under use.

Its pretty easy to make a knive scalpel sharp, but they usually stay sharp only as long as that scalpel would, a bad thing for knives.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top