Slicing Paper?

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Vivi

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Why is this used as a sharpness demonstration? To me it's more impressive to push cut the paper. Slicing paper can be done with pretty so so edges in my experience.
 
I'm actually working on something because of the prevalence of these video demonstrations
 
Vivi said:
Why is this used as a sharpness demonstration? To me it's more impressive to push cut the paper. Slicing paper can be done with pretty so so edges in my experience.
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IMO it's a demonstration aimed at the many people out there who either don't, or don't know how to, sharpen and maintain their knives -- which, sadly, probably includes the overwhelming majority of people. If you were to go to ten of your neighbors' homes and ask to test the sharpness of the knives in their kitchen, I bet you'd find very few that could slice paper cleanly.

Of course I agree slicing paper is a very minimal test of sharpness, from the perspective of those of us who know better. But we blade enthusiasts are a pretty small minority.
 
From that perspective it makes sense DoW, but I find slicing paper mentioned quite frequently on here, which is where I'd expect standards to be higher I guess. But I suppose even here, edge fanatics make up a small minority in the knife knut grouping if you will.
 
Probably because there really isn't another good "general" way of saying "my knife is sharp." You've got hair shaving and paper slicing. If I told people my knife could push cut newsprint they'd look at me like "What's he smoking?"

I'd probably get the same look if I told them it's cut 3/8" manila on a two inch draw. :D
 
Vivi said:
Why is this used as a sharpness demonstration? To me it's more impressive to push cut the paper. Slicing paper can be done with pretty so so edges in my experience.
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Well I think it's not as much used as a demonstration, as it is a test of the entire edge.
And while it looks good it's not a visual test. You feel the how the knife cuts trough the paper, to feel if any part of the edge is different then the rest.
You also listen to the sound of the cut, to hear if any part of the edge is different then the rest.

When shown in a pic or vid' it's only natural that one focuses on how it looks and not what is really going on.
 
Well actually I was just thinking about some of this last night. I'm just wondering Dog of War, and hardheart, how do you guys test how sharp your knife is?
I'm not meaning this in a negative way, and im not poking fun. I'm seriously asking how you guys test your knifes. And I mean just for your EDC's after you get through sharpening your knife, you do what to see if it ready's to go out with you the next day?
Because like josh said all I know about is shaving hair and slicing paper.
 
Well I think it's not as much used as a demonstration, as it is a test of the entire edge.
And while it looks good it's not a visual test. You feel the how the knife cuts trough the paper, to feel if any part of the edge is different then the rest.
You also listen to the sound of the cut, to hear if any part of the edge is different then the rest.
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i agree with this. i use a paper slice and paper push in conjuction. the slice will tell me if i have a nick in the edge somehow, or a part of the edge that i somehow missed in sharpening. i use the pushcut to tell me if my edge is really sharp.

also, by looking at how smooth the slice is, you can tell how sharp the knife is. i can get a dull knife to slice paper usually, but the edges of the cut will have small micro-tears and be a little bit fluffy. the edges of a paper cut with a sharp knife will look and feel as crisp as the knife edge itself.
 
I will slice paper, and shave hair, but also slice newsprint, toilet paper, cigarette rolling paper, pushcut, shave paper, split hair, and inspect under loupes and a usb microscope
 
I take either newspaper or pages from a phone book and push cut. The farther from by point of hold, the sharper the knive. Anything over 3 inches is sharp to me. I push straight down, not away from my holding hand.
 
Do you push cut the toilet paper or slice it? I dont think i've gotten that sharp yet. Of course I havent tried that test in a very long time. Back when I first started sharpening I tried it.
 
I've always used the paper test as a rough judge of where my edge is. Just like Hawkings said, I feel and listen to how it cuts which shows me any areas that need work. This may not be the ultimate test but it suits me just fine. :thumbup:
 
It's an easy way to tell if there are any nicks in the blade, but if the blade is sharp, it will cut the paper with alot of ease and zip right through it, if it's not as sharp, it will take more effort.
 
Good point regarding nicks in the blade. I agree the paper slice test works well for that, and I use it much the same way. It's also a quick way to test the full length of the edge to ensure you didn't poorly sharpen a certain area.

My question was posed more towards videos or people you see that are simply showing off how sharp they can get a knife, not testing the edge for nicks and dull spots.

I am much more impressed, personally, seeing people push cut newsprint far from the hold or cigarette rolling paper push cuts. TP slicing is pretty neat too, especially if it's some bottom of the barrel single ply that falls apart when you try to use it. :D
 
Slicing or push cutting paper can tell you a lot about your edge. Those videos of people showing off also tell a lot about the people.:D
I don't have a microscope, but I go from a normal sheet of paper over newsprint to cigarette paper, which is not easy to cut. Hairsplitting also occurs every now and then.
One thing I need to mention because it is important to me: Testing the sharpness is fun! Sometimes the whole floor under my chair is covered with myriads of little pieces of paper after a sharpening session, but cleaning up this mess is worth the fun I had.;)
 
I like to watch shavings coming off a 2x4. If those shaving are thin and curling up as I cut then the knife is sharp enough. Also there is a particualr sound I like to hear when the blade is cutting. The paper test works well if you don't have anything else at hand.
 
Vivi said:
TP slicing is pretty neat too, especially if it's some bottom of the barrel single ply that falls apart when you try to use it. :D
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Lots of people use knives for cleaning their finger nails as well :D:barf:

I think paper is something every one has sitting about so its just an easy test to show sharpnes.
I see as many vids of folk cutting plastic bottles as paper and they are pretty much in every house too.
I personaly cut into the edge of paper but also cut into rolled paper to test an edge.
I usually just use my thumb to feel how much it grabs as well as looking at the edge with a mag.glass, a paper slice just confirms its all good.
 
Haze said:
I usually just use my thumb to feel how much it grabs as well as looking at the edge with a mag.glass, a paper slice just confirms its all good.
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I can see where the magnifying glass would help. I noticed a burr will grab my thumb too, and give me a false positive.
 
realitycheck said:
I can see where the magnifying glass would help. I noticed a burr will grab my thumb too, and give me a false positive.
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I believe that Haze is talking about running the edge against his thumb nail with no pressure. A sharp blade will catch or dig in, a dull blade will skate along the surface.

Its a good test and easy to tell if you've got a dull edge or a working (I heard tell that this terminology makes me lazy :rolleyes:) edge.
 
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