"Sharpness" Tests, What do you use??

Cigarette butt, If I can make fine slices lengthways through the but without pulling fibres, its sharp.
 
I use the thumbnail, arm hair and paper methods. I also like to touch the edge lightly to my forefinger; I curl it like I'm pulling a trigger and lightly push the edge into the bent part to feel the edge grabbing my skin.

Unlike knife-show morons, I touch my skin very lightly and have never cut myself. I wouldn't do this with anybody else's knife though - they'd think I was a knife-show moron. :D
 
EDIT

I use leg hair and thumbnail methods for the work knives. I test shaving edges by trying to cut leg hair above the skin level.
 
I shave gnats:D :D :D

seriously, I check it against my thumb. 15yrs of freehand sharpening has trained me well.
 
vampyrewolf,

i read "i shave gnats" quickly as "i shave goats" which...is akin to the "more different s" of strongbad fame.

to add, i do test on paper sometimes. after i'm all done sharpening, just to see what my stuff can do.
 
when yall say that you use your finernails do you just hold your thumb straight down and then put the blade at like a 45 degree angle from horizontal and see if it sticks to your fingernail??
 
It must easily shave arm hair. I also test edges on all four sides of yellow legal pad paper. The grain/weave of the paper usually makes it more difficult to slice along the sides rather than the top and bottom. If I can slowly slice very shallow strips thin enough to make them form spiral curly-ques then I know it's pretty sharp.
 
Blackwatch said:
vampyrewolf,

i read "i shave gnats" quickly as "i shave goats" which...is akin to the "more different s" of strongbad fame.

to add, i do test on paper sometimes. after i'm all done sharpening, just to see what my stuff can do.
Click to expand...
Well, I do shave goats, but thats a discussion more suited to W&C.:eek: :D
 
Bunch of things. I pushcut and slice styrofoam peanuts, styrofoam cups, etc. That is a good indicator of edge alignment, and shows problem areas. If you can pushcut a styrofoam coffee cup from top to bottom, and cleanly cut through the bottom as well...your knife is sharp. Extremely sharp.
Pushcutting paper, and push shaving are good indicators of sharpness, IMO, and comparing both sides makes it easy to see if one side of the edge is burred or not.
For cutting ability, I use thick rubber hose, thick cardboard, and plastic, as they present different challenges to a knife blade, and I want to be able to use my EDC knife (particularly my work knife) on all those things.
Basically my standards are the things I cut on a normal basis, and am familiar with.
Half the time my edge is dull by the time I've made sure it's sharp enough :rolleyes:
The fingernail test doesn't do much for me. Even knives that can't do any of the above things will readily grab a fingernail.
 
Thanks for the great replies! All excellent methods but the thumbnail test is one I hadn't tried before. Nice, quick, fairly safe method that I plan to use in the future.
Cheers,
og :)
 
I do a snap cut on a falling, flattened plastic bag (the crinkly kind). If the edge is right, it will cut through both sides of the bag, and the bag will not "hang" on the blade. With a hawkbill through to a wharncliff, I aim at the center of the bag. With anything having from a drop point to a skinner, I aim much further toward the outer edge.

For wire-edges, it's a backward pull against my thumbnail.

I've also tried shaving the print from a rolled piece of paper. That's always a good crowd-pleaser.
 
I read something about shining light on the angle of the edge from the little instruction booklet I got with my Hunter Honer (field sharpner for deployments). If it is shiny it's not sharp enough, if it's dull and dark it's good enough. Seems to be a pretty good judge. But I never trust it all the way if I have the time to burn and get a knife good and sharp and I do the fingernail and arm shave like my dad taught me.

To the person who asked about a 45% angle and how to do a test with your fingernail/thumbnail...I don't know how others do it...but I just get it really flat and go forward....if you slide the blade down it's also a quick judge for minor burs and what not.
 
Stockman said:
Cigarette butt, If I can make fine slices lengthways through the but without pulling fibres, its sharp.
Click to expand...

That one is a good indicator. If the blade is really sharp you can also take a cross-slice off the end without any tearing while holding the butt in your hand (laying it on a hard surface is no test at all -- any half-sharp blade will cut a clean slice off of a butt laying on a piece of wood).

Shalom,
Mark
 
Thumbnail, shaving hair off my arm, paper cutting
 
GarageBoy said:
My edges SQUEAK through paper (420 Stainless)
Click to expand...

You keep talking about that dumb gerber which is pretty sharp as it is... you're not gonna get that thing any sharper.
 
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