Sharpness Tester for Christmas

[chevyrulez1]

My son got me one of the Edge-on-up electronic sharpness testers for Christmas! I was so excited, I have seen knife reviewers and such use them on YouTube
I have been practicing my free-hand sharpening skills for several years, and knew that I could get my blades really sharp but of course it is hard to quantify that with arm hair and fingernails.
So, I grabbed my Case Swell center jack, and it tested at 200 grams
My ZT-0450 came in at 225

For comparison, I took a new Utility knife blade and tested it, at 225 grams


So I guess that validates that I must be doing something right in my sharpening technique, but I guess I would have to spend more time on the strop and polishing in order to get a truly "razor sharp" edge.
I love this tester, and will be able to check blades going forward when I run into some issues and need to see exactly where I am at

 

[Another Shepherd]

I've had one for a few years, and it's one of my favorite toys. A couple points:

Increase pressure slowly as you are cutting the thread. If you chop fast, results will be erratic.

Knife blades are never equally sharp everywhere along the edge. I usually test 3 spots spaced along the blade when I am checking on progress while sharpening. When I think I'm done, I usually test 5 spots. I also test every new knife at 5 spots or more.

New knives from reputable manufacturers such as Benchmade and Spyderco average around 200, with a range of about 100 to 400, occasionally higher. Some manufacturers do a lot better, such as Bradford and ESEE in the low 100s.