Scary Sharp

[Ankerson]

i made a chopper for brian jones that has a thick convexed edge and it would shave just as easily as a thin edge blade. he used it to tear out drywall and it still shaved hair. i have sharpened several busse knives with thick edges and they would shave hair after i was done. lucid is one member who was amazed that a thick edge busse would shave hair.

Oh yeah Busses will shave hair if you sharpen them correctly and they hold it too. :thumbup:

 

[C.S. Graves]

I define scary shar as a knife able to shave hair.

By this definition, most of my collection will qualify.

While I generally can't get the sorts of edges a lot of the folk here can, there's been a few edges I've gotten that have been exceptional for me at least. I managed to get the reverse edge of an Ek M3 sharp enough to slash cleanly through a piece of facial tissue standing upright in the box. I was able to get this kind of edge on an Opinel no. 8 as well.

One blade that feels exceptionally sharp to me is my Valiant Trading Company bendo, though I don't test it like the examples above... it's a kitchen user. Yet the edge has that "shaving cells off your fingertips" feel to it.

 

[Jason B.]

All mine easily shave hair but I have seen a few (not mine) that can actually split a hair. Now that's scary sharp. But I don't think that is practical for thicker, heavier choppers that need more metal behind the edge. Or maybe I'm wrong.

As others have said its more about how you sharpen the edge. I sharpened my mora with a 25+deg microbevel then polished at the same angle, in the end the included angle is probably around 60deg and it will split hair with the best of them.

 

[ColonelX]

i have a Benchmade 555HG minigrip and a Spyderco Jester that i had Convexed at Ross Cutlery here in LA. they both are atomically sharp, ive shaved words off of paper with both of these knives. the only other knives that comes anywhere near these two are my Spyderco Urban, which out of the box was hair popping, and the serrated portion of a Kershaw Chive which i could whittle the edge of a playing card with

 

[tsiloics]

.It's definitely no problem to get a thick/obtuse blade to shave.

The problem I have with hyper-sharp knives for utility is that they don't retain their hyper-sharpness. So why put it on there to begin with? As they say, it's hard to run with the weight of gold.

If I were doing some sort of bench task that required hair-splitting sharpness, I could sit there with a strop and touch the blade up every few passes, but you can't do that with a pocket knife. So, I look for an edge that can be easily maintained in the evening - daily, or every few days. It's practical to maintain an aggressive shaving edge that way, but not really a cigarette paper push-cutting edge - at least not in my experience.

Of course it’s still fun to hyper-sharpen knives, just to see what you can get them to do, but I look at this as more of a recreational/research activity.

 

[Jason B.]

.It's definitely no problem to get a thick/obtuse blade to shave.

The problem I have with hyper-sharp knives for utility is that they don't retain their hyper-sharpness. So why put it on there to begin with? As they say, it's hard to run with the weight of gold.

If I were doing some sort of bench task that required hair-splitting sharpness, I could sit there with a strop and touch the blade up every few passes, but you can't do that with a pocket knife. So, I look for an edge that can be easily maintained in the evening - daily, or every few days. It's practical to maintain an aggressive shaving edge that way, but not really a cigarette paper push-cutting edge - at least not in my experience.

Of course it’s still fun to hyper-sharpen knives, just to see what you can get them to do, but I look at this as more of a recreational/research activity.

Not really, a edge that has been sharpened to that extreme level properly will out-perform a coarse shaving edge any day of the week. The amount of time it keeps that edge depends on the steel and nothing else.

 

[nozh2002]

Amount of time may depends on steel, but in 5-10 minutes range.
Most time take first stage, on coarse stone to restore or reshape edge, actual final stropping to hair whittling sharpness take 30-40 passes each side, changing sides every move.

I just resharpened 4 Mules (CPM M4, CPM S90V, ZDP189, ZDP 189) and 3 Doziers (DozierD2) and one Yuna Hard II (ZDP 189). All whittle free hanging hair without problem and for all of them final stage was same 30-40 passes.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[Masteroffajitas]

All I need my knife to do is catch on my finger nail, or cleanley slice through paper. I understand how cool it is to have that edge, I've gotten them in different trades from more experienced sharpeners, they're pretty fun.

I've always thought of scary sharp as like. "Wow that's sharp!"

 

[cbxer55]

I can't cut TP with a razor blade, therefore, I am skeptical.

See last post on page 1.
There is a link with pictures.

Not mine, I don't do pictures.
No camera, deleted my photobucket account.

 

[T.K.C.]

My RJ Martin Q-36 is the epitome of scary sharp!!

 

[tsiloics]

Not really, a edge that has been sharpened to that extreme level properly will out-perform a coarse shaving edge any day of the week. The amount of time it keeps that edge depends on the steel and nothing else.

Maybe you have a point. It has been a long time since I sharpened a knife all the way up to a polished edge. Over the last two years or so, I've really gotten into the stropped coarse edge thing. It seems to work great for basic pocket knives.

Maybe I'm not making a valid comparison. Will have to 'screw up' one of my pocket knives with a full-bore edge at some point and see.

 

[knarfeng]

We have all heard the term SCARY SHARP when someone is describing a knife. Does any of my Blade of Brothers here on Blade Forum have in their collection a knife that is just that? I would also like to know how this term originated. Many fellow members use this terminology. Could they have cut themselves with such a blade that they are scared to handle it Looking forward to some input !
Thanks

Nope, none of mine scares me. But they do impress my friends.

Apparently alliteration is considered a good thing.




http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliteration

 

[Roger999]

Sharpness is subjective. To someone scary sharp may be a blade that can shave, to another shaving may be just "meh" to them

IMO scary sharp is when you can whittle hair, I've gotten all my pocket knives to whittle hair, I don't know of any sharpness tests after that. I haven't received a knife that is NIB that would be considered scary sharp to me yet.

 

[nozh2002]

To me once I can do any edge whittling hair without too much effort (as anybody else can), I just do not see any reason to stop in the middle and did not finish job. It is like having sex without orgasm. It is really hard for me to understand.

There is not special effort or something - just natural final of sharpening process.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[C.S. Graves]

Sharpness is subjective. To someone scary sharp may be a blade that can shave, to another shaving may be just "meh" to them

This is a good point. Someone that uses a glass micropipette to extract genetic material from single cells might think hair-whittling knives dull as a doorknob! Then again, apples and oranges... A better comparison might be an obsidian flintknapper... the stuff produces a much finer edge than most steels upon fracture.

 

[looker]

How sharp is sharp (or sharp enough) is different and subjective. For me, it goes something like this…

Dull == doesn’t cut an arm hair or tomato.
Sharp == can shave arm hair or cut a tomato with some downward pressure and sawing
Really Sharp == can whittle a strand of hair under tension, or fall through a tomato with just a slight draw stroke
Scary sharp == can whittle a free standing strand of hair, or falls through a tomato on it’s own with just the blade weight
Holy Crap Sharp == touch and bleed; no pain like getting cut by a shard of glass.

I’m stuck at really sharp.

 

[pvicenzi]

I can shave hair with my hatchet. A knife has to be sharper than that to qualify as scary sharp.

 

[marthinus]

I’m stuck at really sharp.

Me too. I need to buy extra sharpening tools to be able to sharpen it further. I finish my polishing on leather, but my finest stone is 1000grit. but cash is hard to come buy!

 

[Little Green Men]

I recently got the Bark River Strop Compound set and it really works great..Scary Sharp..

 

[nozh2002]

I can shave hair with my hatchet. A knife has to be sharper than that to qualify as scary sharp.

Define that what is sharper then this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQPwHu4lxsQ

And I do not see really why axe can not be as sharp as knife? What is difference in terms of edge?

Thanks, Vassili.