Sharpness

My personal preference, because of my ability / inability to sharpen, is that a knife be able to easily shave hair. If it gets hair  popping sharp, I am thrilled, but usually settle for hair shaving.

My skills are still developing, and I believe my equipment is a factor. I need some more sharpening gear.

A sharp knife is a safe knife.
 
I stopped chasing the sharpening dragon some time ago. Generally, my EDC can shave hair to some degree. Whether it pops or just lays them over, that's an edge good enough for any utility task.
I do have a couple of multi-blade slip joints that have one blade honed and stropped to where they can shave newsprint on one of the blades. My grandfather always kept his like that. He had a Barlow with a clip point that was 9 kinds of chewed up. Sharp enough to cut, but it was busting twine or scraping gunk or any manner of chore most people would use a pocket knife for. However, the pen blade was gnat's ass sharp. That's the one he whipped out to dig a splinter out of your finger 😉
 
There is no practical purpose to having a knife THAT sharp. As soon as you use it once, that edge is gone.

I sharpen to about 600 grit, and stop. I want a long lasting edge, suitable for extended use.
 
I suppose it depends what you intend to cut

I typically go 30 deg main bevel ~35 deg on all my knives

For me at least it it gives me the best of both worlds between sharp and lasting edge
 
CarolinaJack said:
I am 58 years old. Been using a whetstone since I was 5 or 6 years old. Won't say I was using it correctly at that age, but everybody has to start somewhere.

Anyway, to the point. I always read about folks getting a knife "hair popping sharp", implying this is the sharpest we can get a knife.
I don't think this is correct. I like it better when the hair just gets cut and lays back on the blade, implying a cleanly severed hair, no stress as it is cut, it just lays down, kinda like a sharp sickle bar does with hay.

Change my mind......
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Once I can split hair dragging it from tip to root across the blade im done.

Cutting hair by simply touching the blade to it and it laying down is past this level of sharpness, probably sub 50 on the bess scale. I've never had a knife that will do that but I have split hair while it's still on my leg.

If you can get a knife to cut hair by touching it to your blade your long past shave sharp and a true master.
 
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Gary W. Graley said:
I recently sharpened this one up highest grit was 8k shapton


Cuts through leather easily too
G2
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This is good to see an actual demo of sharpening results (other than slicing paper). A lot of people consider an edge "shaving sharp" when they can scrape hair from their arm with it (which often isn't very sharp at all) and some people are too modest and downplay their results, referring it to just "shaving sharp" with it can treetop or whittle hairs.

Of course, unless you're actually using the edge to shave your face (ahem), most of this is just different degrees of parlor tricks. I will admit, though, there is a specific satisfaction when an edge effortless cuts through something, even if you know you're going to have to do maintenance on it soon to get it back that way.
 
It gives someone something to do, a goal ;) and even if the edge diminishes right away, the polished edge bevels will aid in slicing through material easier. Arguments on 'degrees' of sharpening are ongoing and seldom end with either side having their mindset changed.
When I finished sharpening that blade, a 14C28N steel btw, I was pretty happy with the outcome and the sun coming through the window showed the hairs popping off neatly, and so I made that video and dats all there is to dat.
G2
 
Gary W. Graley said:
It gives someone something to do, a goal ;) and even if the edge diminishes right away, the polished edge bevels will aid in slicing through material easier. Arguments on 'degrees' of sharpening are ongoing and seldom end with either side having their mindset changed.
When I finished sharpening that blade, a 14C28N steel btw, I was pretty happy with the outcome and the sun coming through the window showed the hairs popping off neatly, and so I made that video and dats all there is to dat.
G2
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LIKE!

Plus now we can also debate polished vs. toothy edges in addition to sharpness/how thin the apex is.
 
I suppose if you are cutting a lot of meat even vegetables that super sharp razor edge will glide effortlessly through. A fine razor edge is also good for push cutting I read as opposed to slicing but can handle both well as long as what is being cut is not abrasive or too hard (too hard will dull any edge.)

If you start slicing coarse stuff like ,for example, cardboard, rope, sheet rock (a real edge grinder) or glance off a ceramic plate by accident when eating or hit anything substance that is too hard the fine edge will not be so fine anymore. The coarser edge is supposed to work better when slicing more abrasive materials as well as work good although not better than the fine edge when slicing softer materials and push cutting but good enough.
 
One 'test' I do to see if I've reached the apex, as I don't have one of those flossy machines, is to see if it can push cut down through paracord cleanly, if not, then the edge is ever so slightly rounded and it will dent the paracord but not go through.
Since I make a lot of lanyards and keychains, just something I really like making, I rely on a very sharp edge to cut the paracord cleanly. Also in my leather work a mirror polished edge bevels are important to help cut through the leather.

I don't cut a lot of rope, so I can't speak to that, but I will slice up cardboard most every day and my edges just glide through the cardboard easily.

G2
 
I guess it boils down to the age old question when it comes to getting any kind of tool (and a lot of other things too) what do you plan to do with it.

I do intend to use just about every knife I own but I wind up doing a lot more staring, drooling, and incessant flicking and fidgeting so take my opinion with a grain of salt because I can appreciate both types of edges based on that alone.
 
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