sharpest knife ever

[kwackster]

A test i sometimes do just for the heck of it is to see how far from the point of holding one of my chest hairs can still be whittled root-to-tip.
The edge on this modified Cold Steel Shinobu tanto could do it at around 1.18 inch (about 3.0 cm)

 

[DavidABQ]

Wow! That is a polished edge! I never could do that but I am ok with that. I can get a very sharp and workable edge. To be honest I don't want to spend a lot of time sharpening my knife. I use the various stones in my Sharpmaker depending how dull I let my knife get and then strop it with black and then green stropping compound from Bark River
Knives. Quick and easy.

I guess I am lazy.

 

[catspa]

Mine is an old “Village Blacksmith” 6” butcher knife (although half of it has been sharpened away, so I use it more often for boning). Bought rusty at a swap meet about 5 yrs ago, cleaned and reprofiled it soon after. Made by Washington Cutlery Co. of Watertown, WI - I believe it dates between 1906 and 1920. Steel type unknown, but certainly a simple alloy.

I sharpen it using old methods: coarse oilstone, fine oilstone, then leather strop if I’m in the shop or smooth steel if I’m in the kitchen. Either way, takes a nice keen edge and sticks on my fingernail like it was glued there.

Parker

 

[sodak]

Mine is an old “Village Blacksmith” 6” butcher knife (although half of it has been sharpened away, so I use it more often for boning). Bought rusty at a swap meet about 5 yrs ago, cleaned and reprofiled it soon after. Made by Washington Cutlery Co. of Watertown, WI - I believe it dates between 1906 and 1920. Steel type unknown, but certainly a simple alloy.

I sharpen it using old methods: coarse oilstone, fine oilstone, then leather strop if I’m in the shop or smooth steel if I’m in the kitchen. Either way, takes a nice keen edge and sticks on my fingernail like it was glued there.

Parker

Thanks for this information! I have an old Village Blacksmith corn knife that I bought at a farm auction in 1977, been wondering where it came from ever since!

 

[catspa]

You’re welcome. The company incorporated in Milwaukee in 1894, making household cutlery. Moved to Watertown in 06 (or 07, depending on which source you believe), built a new factory there, and expanded their product line into farm hand tools. They weathered both wars successfully, gaining some military contracts. They phased out their cutlery and hand tool lines in the 60s and early 70s, and for a time were owned by McGraw Edison and then by Shopsmith, on the way to becoming Fisher Barton - leading domestic manufacturers of lawnmower blades.

Parker

 

[DeadboxHero]

R Realysm42

 

[Realysm42]

Strong Work, I like the finish those matrix stones make, very bright and consistent on Maxamet yet don't overpolish the apex.


Beautiful job, not something seen very often.


Thanks for sharing

Cheers, kind of you to say so; means a lot coming from a professional too.

 

[Realysm42]

R Realysm42

Lol that's obserd! What's the steel? What sharpening approach did you use?

I'll touch up my para again and get a video.

 

[Ourorboros]

Simple carbon steel Japanese kitchen knifes can get into the straight razor type of sharp pretty easily, usually off a translucent ark. So will the AS steel knifes if I put a coticule in front of the translucent. It’s overkill but why not make fixing dinner fun every once in awhile?

Sometimes I finish on .5 micron. It's nice how it just slips into everything.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Whoa... WICKED!

 

[Bigfattyt]

I enjoy the hair whittling trick.

Here is one I did free hanging..so no tension or support of the hair.

If you look closely at this second photo, you can see rhe hair lying on the second knife before I whittled it...

Home made strop in the pic.

 

[ktataragasi]

Here you go sir:

PXL_20210710_050535859.MP by Martin Johnson, on Flickr

It was difficult to get a good shot through the loupe on 60x using my phone, hopefully this gives an indication of how clean the edge is:

PXL_20210710_050422280.MP by Martin Johnson, on Flickr

I didn't notice until I'd put the picture onto my PC, but the blade is so reflective it shows the pixel lines / flaws from the image printed on the calendar I'm holding it above:

PXL_20210710_045911640.MP by Martin Johnson, on Flickr

One more for luck:

PXL_20210710_045931514.MP by Martin Johnson, on Flickr

How long will that edge last with Maxamet?

 

[Realysm42]

How long will that edge last with Maxamet?

I've tried this finish (down to 0.1 microns) on S110v, s90v, s30v, CTS xhp and Maxamet (all paramilitary 2 / para 3s) and IME they all lose the 'sticky sharp' / 'hair whittling' killer edges fast.

If you plotted this performance out on a graph you'd lose the first 25% rapidly and then it slows down (of course at different rates for the respective steels). Maxamet seems to hold its edge the best which is no surprise.

They all stay sharp enough for my needs - which is nothing too heavy / extreme.

The para 3 in Maxamet is the only I one took down to 10 degrees a side though and you can feel the difference this angle makes - it's remarkable.

 

[ktataragasi]

I've tried this finish (down to 0.1 microns) on S110v, s90v, s30v, CTS xhp and Maxamet (all paramilitary 2 / para 3s) and IME they all lose the 'sticky sharp' / 'hair whittling' killer edges fast.

If you plotted this performance out on a graph you'd lose the first 25% rapidly and then it slows down (of course at different rates for the respective steels). Maxamet seems to hold its edge the best which is no surprise.

They all stay sharp enough for my needs - which is nothing too heavy / extreme.

The para 3 in Maxamet is the only I one took down to 10 degrees a side though and you can feel the difference this angle makes - it's remarkable.

Thanks for the response. How do you maintain and bring the edge back? Do you just use the strops?

I have a Para 3 and Sage 1 in Maxamet. The p3 I took to 1500 kme diamond and stropped and the edge is OK but the bite leaves pretty quick. I'm starting to just mess with low grit stones and strops and like the results so far.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Thanks for the response. How do you maintain and bring the edge back? Do you just use the strops?

I have a Para 3 and Sage 1 in Maxamet. The p3 I took to 1500 kme diamond and stropped and the edge is OK but the bite leaves pretty quick. I'm starting to just mess with low grit stones and strops and like the results so far.

I am using , a 600 diamond, then white formax on a strop, it was pretty dang sharp, then I lightly ran 5 strokes on a basswood spray with .5 micron diamond, it’s cutting toilet paper and paper towel sharp
I loss hair whittle pretty quick, but a breeze stroke on the .5 micron and it’s back

 

[Realysm42]

Thanks for the response. How do you maintain and bring the edge back? Do you just use the strops?

I have a Para 3 and Sage 1 in Maxamet. The p3 I took to 1500 kme diamond and stropped and the edge is OK but the bite leaves pretty quick. I'm starting to just mess with low grit stones and strops and like the results so far.

Wot S S-3 ranch said; diamond strops finished by bare leather, all on my edgepro and I'm back to laser beam in no time! What really helps me is the angle cube here just to keep stropping tolerances tight and consistent- it makes a tangible difference.

I tried my pm2 with a 600 grit finish but preferred the polished edge. It's weird though, I do feel like I should have one 'low grit' finished user. What do you take yours down to? What grit do you strop with to maintain the edge?

 

[ktataragasi]

Wot S S-3 ranch said; diamond strops finished by bare leather, all on my edgepro and I'm back to laser beam in no time! What really helps me is the angle cube here just to keep stropping tolerances tight and consistent- it makes a tangible difference.

I tried my pm2 with a 600 grit finish but preferred the polished edge. It's weird though, I do feel like I should have one 'low grit' finished user. What do you take yours down to? What grit do you strop with to maintain the edge?

Right now I'm finishing with 300 grit diamond and then a 1.5 micron strop. This gives an edge that will still easily shave but the bite stays for a lot longer. I have some really rough stropping compound coming to me though that I'm wanting to try out.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Northwest _knife_guy on here sells some superior supplies, like formax compound, strops, diamond spray
its worth contacting him , he has some content on YouTube also

 

[garry3]

Yeah. My 4 sharpest are from Japan. Here they are in order of sharpness:
View attachment 1597642
I use this razor once or twice a week to scrape off my neck beard. Haven’t used a disposable razor for over a year now. Unknown steel, but probably white as it’s an old blade and I believe white was more common in razors. View attachment 1597643The Cold Steel lives attached to my headboard behind my mattress. San Mai III in VG1 sharpened to a very acute angle. I got a hard one. It will whittle hair.
The small cord wrapped knife is made by Shosui Takeda - one of my favorite makers. It stays close to hair-whittling sharp AFTER CARVING WOOD. Crazy, “scandi-vex-style” geometry in Aogami Super Blue.
Last one is white steel and I have the maker’s name but not at my fingertips. (I’ll find it if anyone wants to know). Being chisel ground, fine grained, and hard, it’s easy to keep around hair-popping sharp, even with fairly regular use.
View attachment 1597645

That Shosui Takeda looks interesting. Where did you get it?

I started out with a Kamisori, I already had an arm load of Arks and I was fortunate enough not to seek out advise on shaving forms. I have discovered that I like the heavy grinds on the old Sheffield razors too. Heavy steel just feels so much smoother than the full hallow grinds do to me. I consider the Kamisori's to be a heavy grind also.

Here are some of my Kamisori's, nothing high dollar, just used stuff I selected based on wear and condition. I knew the makers at one point but it seems to be mostly irrelevant. Perhaps some day I will find one that isn't good but I doubt it.
They are all good but I prefer the smaller ones, just easier to get into some hallows under my jaw. There are a couple of them that are not Arkansas stone friendly, somthing I have not yet encountered with western razors.

 

[scdub]

That Shosui Takeda looks interesting. Where did you get it?

Nice collection of Kamisori!
I found that Takeda on a random site in Japan that had English text. I bought my first one from Arizona Custom Knives though and you can also order some models directly from the shop: Takedahamono.com (including mine which is called just called a “Kogatana” (I added the wrap)).