The sharpest of the sharp?

I try to put those blunt knives out of my mind, so I'll have to skip that part of the question for the moment. An aside, that question reminded me of butter knives, which reminded me of flatware or tableware. I was unbagging some table knives once, which were each in their own little plastic bag, and got cut. I did not know they came that sharp!

When I think sharp the first thing that comes to mind was when I received my Spyderco Moran convex edge knife. The second knife that springs to mind is my Umfaan from Chris Reeve Knives.

A friend came over one night and decided to test the Umfaan's sharpness on his arm hair. He got a little carried away, and by the time he left, I don't think he had much arm hair.

Fred often has useful insights, but I disagree, to some extent regarding the sharpness of knives. I find that if a knife comes sharp, so far I have always managed to keep it sharp. Perhaps it is something to do with edge geometry or the way the bevels have been ground.

There may be some manufactures who are using very low angles to win the "sharpness contest," that are difficult to maintain in a using knife, but at least I know it is possible to get it sharp. If it comes just sharp enough to use, but not enough to make me happy, I usually find that it is easy to do a little honing to get it sharp enough. After all, the maker should have the equipment to get it sharp.

Regarding the Busse comments above, my straight handled Battle Mistress came shaving sharp, very impressive for a knife that big and a 1/4 inch thick. After that I have had mixed luck with other Busses and if they come dull, I have a hard time getting them sharp, or at least as sharp as I want.

When I ordered a Zero Tolerance zero edged or convex edged knife set, I mentioned this, and Jerry promised to have them screaming sharp, and they were. I used them for making some fuzz sticks out of fatwood, along with some other assorted knives, and perhaps because of the convex edge, 3/16" blade, along with the width and mass, I found liked them the best, of the handful I was trying, at that time. I am not sure which factor was the most important, but I did find that in a pinch, I would be able to use a rather large knife, a piece of fatwood, and a ferrocerium rod to start a fire. Some year, I'll even be able to afford to get sheaths for this set. :rolleyes: Meanwhile I have fit them into the sheaths of other knives, when I need a sheath. :D
 
Originally posted by Gary W. Graley
The NEW style Benchmades have about the best edge profile out there, thanks to a new sharpening machine at the factory, outstanding edges are placed on their knives now...G2
Click to expand...
This is good to hear... FINALLY.
Originally posted by ExamonLyf
... that CATRA machine Benchmade is using does put a nice edge on knives one the learning curve is over. Pro-Tech uses the same machine.
Click to expand...
I knew CATRA made a machine for testing blade sharpness... but didn't know they are also in the industrial knife sharpening business. Sure enough:

http://www.catra.org/products/prod_sharpening.htm
 
Sharpest out of box, used to be the c52 in PE vg-10... just topped that last week though.

Fb05 temp fixed, flat ground vg-10... been using it for a week, and it's still sharp enough to shave in single pass.
 
Sharpest knife out of the box that I've had is the Spyderco Delica in VG-10. I had the combo edge version and both the serrations and plain edge sections were amazingly sharp.
 
I've been happy with my Spydercos, but not really too impressed. I was impressed by my CRKT M16, the edge bevels weren't too even but it was sharp enough that I carried it for a week before sharpening it. Usually sharpening is the first thing I do to a new knife. The one knife I've gotten that truly scared me out of the box was a Marbles, 52100 steel with a thin convex edge. It was truly amazing how sharp that knife was. Unfortunately the edge was a little thin and I tore it up pretty badly splitting the breastbone of a whitetail deer with it. I'm going to reprofile it sometime though, hopefully make the edge a bit tougher but just as sharp. Probably the dullest I got out of the box were a pair of Delta Z pivot knives. They're a chisel ground but the bevel was at about 70 deg! I needed to do some work with the Edge Pro to lower the bevel, but they eventually took a good edge.

One comment about sharpness as an indicator of quality. While it's true that I will eventually sharpen the blade myself even if it is scary sharp out of the box, my concern is how much work I have to do to get the bevels even and low enough to cut well. I spent well over an hour on both Camillus EDCs I've had grinding the bevels down and attempting to get them even. That is a major PIA, and lowers the value of the knife to me because I have to invest a lot of time and energy, not to mention wear out my stones, trying to get the thing to do what it was built to do in the first place, namely to cut things. As a general rule, a company that takes the time to put a good sharp edge on a knife before it leaves their factory is going to do it right and I won't have to do so much work to even up the bevels (the bevels will inevitably be crooked but I can deal with that, it's a matter of how bad instead of right or wrong). Spyderco's don't need to be reprofiled straight out of the box because their edges are already thin enough. That saves me a lot of time and energy and is worth a few extra bucks when I'm making a knife-buying decision. That's how I look at the issue, YMMV.
 
THe Marbles with the 52100 are the sharpest out of the box that I've seen and the knives with the dullest are the New Queen with the D2 steel. THe D2 is very hard and does take a good edge with about 1/2 hour on a large diamond stone.:D
 
Ever since my technique developed to the point where I can put VERY sharp edges on my knives, I've reevaluated what knives I think are "sharp" when bought new. Knives I used to think of as sharp are not as sharp once you know how to use a hone and use it well.

In my experience, which I must stress does not encompass buying far-and-wide varieties of models from any given manufacturer, many knives simply do not satisfy me right out of the box. I have several Spyderco Delicas going back as far as 1993, and as recent as perhaps 2000 (my latest ones still do not have the Boye detent in the lockback) and most or all of them did not come with adequately sharp blades. I did work on all of them prior to putting them in a carry rotation. There is an exception: the most recent Delica I bought for a girlfriend came very sharp and I actually gave her the knife as a gift *without* "fixing" the edge. I have reason to believe that Spyderco is putting out quite sharp knives now.

My first few Benchmades did not impress me when I got them, in exactly the same way as Spyderco. I got a pre-production Mini Griptilian that was only "ok," and then I got a TK-1 neck knife which needed "fixing" too. Then I got an H2OS dive knife and did some work on that too. But in recent weeks, I got two additional Mini Griptilians -- one for self and one for brother -- and they were pretty sharp right out of the box and I forwarded his on to him, making special note in a letter that I had not had to do anything to fix the edge.

Now, it seems, (and bears further experience and investigation) both Spyderco and Benchmade have it together and are selling sharp NIB knives.

For the dullest I've had... Several spring to mind. First, the old Tekna boot knife I had since high school (1989) and lost in 1999 or so. That thing was just a big railroad spike, essentially. The edge bevel was SO HIGH that even after I learned to put a good edge on a knife I still couldn't really help it. And *who knows* what kind of steel it was made of anyway! Then there is my Glock Anti-terrorist Knife, which feels like it's made of raw iron, it's so rough-edged. I did some work on that edge but didn't pour my soul into it, so it's just ok. Like the Tekna, the grind is very high and therefor it will probably never feel like it really slices nicely. I love that double-rowed sawback, though.

Finally, I just got a $10 Gerber Mini Para-frame from walmart, and its edge was crappy as I expected. I spent some time with it and my Profile and now it's able to shave hair.

Those who learn to use a Spyderco Profile don't need much worry about how sharp a knife is out of the box. :p

---Jeffrey
 
Sharpest I remember- in no particular order:
Lum Chinese (VG10)
Mora Swedish utility
Martiini Pukko
Calypso Jr
Vaquero Grande (ultra-ugly serrations)

Topping the list is perhaps Bob Dozier, R J Martin and/or Phill Hartsfield for handmades.
 
In my experience, I have found that the sharpest knives out-of-the box consistently are the Microtechs.

Nonetheless, my thinking of what is "sharp" took on a whole new perspective when I read this comment by Sal of Spyderco.
 
For me, the sharpest out-of-the-box knives are Spydercos. :D :eek: ;)

Most blunt? The WORST was a CRKT Ryan Model 7 that couldn't cut soft butter. :barf:
 
Hi all...
I'm kinda new here but I would like to toss an opinion out there. The sharpest knife I have seen 'out of the box' was an Emerson Hard Wear Endeavor manufactured by Seki of Japan which I've read are the same maker of the Spyderco line(I may be mistaken). Hair popping scary sharp knife. Second sharpest would be a tie between a Gerber SLG with ATS-34 blade and a Kershaw Whirlwind.
 
I bought one of the special Buck 112's with BG-42 steel that was unbelievably sharp.
As to the Busse comments above, I've read that because their blanks are laser cut, the edge hardness is a little low. After several sharpenings, the edge should stay sharp for a long time.
My Steel Heart E proved this out.
I wasn't really impressed either with its sharpness or ability to hold it when new.
I ground away the compound edge to a normal V edge at 40 degrees.
Did this several times.
Now, the edge is amazing. It takes all kinds of abuse and is probably the easiest knife to sharpen and keep sharp. It literally stays "hair poppin' sharp" for a long, long time.
Amazing for such a huge chunk of steel.
Lenny
 
Some of the Spyderco line is indeed produced in Seki. My sharpest Spydie though, my Native, is from Golden Colorado, USA.
-Kevin
Edited to Add: Yea the Seki stuff is amazingly sharp too though!:eek:
 
My sharpest out the box was my Spyderco Calypso Jnr Lwt.

Naturally when a new knife arrives by post you spend a few minutes (at the very least), working the action and seeing how it feels in the hand. Finished playin... er... examining the knife, clipped it to my pocket and that's when I noticed the trail of blood running down one of my fingers.
To this day I'd swear the knife didn't go anywhere near that hand :confused:
 
I see a pattern developing with the answers mentioning the vg-10 steels.

This morning I picked up two Enduras I had ordered which came in vg-10 from japan. They were indeed sharp. But then they hit the sharpmakers ceramics and now they are scary sharp.

The vg-10 did not take long [ 6 passes each side for each knife ]to be scary. One was converted to left hand carry and they are now my dual setup [ one on each side ].

I'm getting away from the linerlock folders lately [ this last year ] and feel better carrying the lockbacks where possible lock releases during use are concerned.

BTW--I do not feel inadequate in my defensive position by carrying these in lieu of the MTs, Mods, etc.

Brownie
 
Sharpest production knives out of the box:

MT Amphibian
Benchmade AFCK M2, Benchmite, 770 Osborne in D2
Gransfors Wildlife Hatchet (sharper than most production knives)
Buck Mayo
Marbles 52100 fixed blades


Dullest production knives out of the box:

Busse Basic 7
Ceramic kitchen knives
Benchmade Stryker M2
 
Originally posted by Geode
Gransfors Wildlife Hatchet (sharper than most production knives)
Click to expand...
No doubt! I didn't even think about my GBs. My small Forest Axe didn't come as sharp as some of my knives, but it would shave out of the box, and after just a few strops was popping hairs.
Whenever I show it or the Scandinavian FA to someone, I'll find a piece of paper, hold it up by a corner, and "chop" straight through it lengthwise.
For some reason it freaks people out seeing an axe do that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top