True or false?

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DS7089

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Oct 13, 2009
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hey guys i heard that cardboard was actually "the worst thing to cut" when it comes to your knife's edge

and im thinking... not likely lol...

but i am a nutnfancy fan ... and he does use cardboard a lot in his knife reviews and tests and such

what is the deal with cardboard? is there some reality to cardboard being bad for a knife's edge?
 
Well, it is inherently abrasive, but it's been blown out of proportion a bit. An old piece of rope or fabric that's been in the dirt would be far worse on the edge due to the larger grit particles. The blunting from cardboard is only an issue if you're one of the people who are incapable of sharpening a knife edge.
 
Cardboard can be pretty abrasive, but it's not the worst thing you can cut. :) I believe cardboard uses clay in the manufacturing process.

Tom
 
Cutting sheet metal and fiberglass will kill an edge pretty fast. I'd hazard a guess that it is the result of hard, fine particulates in the cardboard, like sand or dirt or metal dust.
 
Yep, the particles in the cardboard that isn't actually paper, especially recycled cardboard, has both hard and soft plastic (think tape and zipties) as well as dirt, and some metal (left over staples in the box that then got recycled and ground up in the cardboard) so one cut through card board mine do nothing to your edge while the next cut might hit a piece of zip tie and a piece of staple and put two dings/dull spots in your edge.
 
People I know say "knives weren't meant to cut cardboard or paper". Oh I laugh so hard! Knives are meant to cut! That's it! Somethings better or longer than others.
 
I don't see it. I just think it does the most damage of commonly cut things like cardboard, tape, fruits, whatever and that led to people exaggerating the damage it does. there's a lot of things obviously more damaging like sand in ropes, or some type of wire but for most people that's not an everyday cutting task.
 
DS7089 said:
hey guys i heard that cardboard was actually "the worst thing to cut" when it comes to your knife's edge

The worst thing to cut? No, you get much worse then that such as life electrical wire, other steel etc

and im thinking... not likely lol...

but i am a nutnfancy fan ... and he does use cardboard a lot in his knife reviews and tests and such

what is the deal with cardboard?

It is an abrasive medium

is there some reality to cardboard being bad for a knife's edge?

As with everything these days, you get different quality of cardboard. Some cardboard, normally used for packaging can contain steel from staplers etc. Other cleaner quality can contain far less inconsistencies, however, will cost more, and harder to get hold off. One would have to go to a printing firm or press to get hold of it.
Click to expand...

At the end of the day, cut what you want, dont worry so much about it. An edge will go dull and then you have to sharpen it.
 
Knives are made to cut. Cardboard is probably the most cut thing because so many people (myself included) have to do it for their job. As long as you can sharpen your knives you should be good
 
It'll dull an edge for sure, take a polished bevel to cardboard and watch it go hazy after you cut, in my opinion though a nice thin blade like Opinel will cut just as well as a regular S30V "tactical" blade even though it will dull faster, the thin profile excels at slicing.
 
My Spyderco Salt 1 did not like all the cardboard cutting I put it through last week :D again that's probably because of the soft H1 steel, I got a heavily rolled edge out of it and a whole lot of shredded cardboard, since I have the SE version and do not own a Sharpmaker, I had to resort to a tungsten carbide (to remove the rolled edge) and a couple leather strops, soft leather strop, then harder leather strop, it took awhile to get the edge back. I guess my point is yes cardboard can mess up an edge badly....depending on the steel....my Leatherman in 420HC steel will hold out longer and not get nearly the rolled edge that the softer H1 will because it is harder and therefore can go through more abrasive materials far longer without the edge wearing down or becoming malleable. Just physics.
 
Definitely not the "worst thing you can cut". OTOH, it's possibly the worst, or at least one of the worst, things that people cut on a regular basis without thinking it could damage their edge. It's also not the best media for comparison testing, since abrasiveness can vary widely from one piece to another. The fact "blade A" cut twice as much cardboard as "blade B" means nothing if the cardboard B was cutting was three times as abrasive.
 
To answer your question, I'd say "false". Cardboard is definitely not the worst thing you can cut with your knife, in regards to edge retention. Fiberglass, drywall, rope with sand or dirt in it, copper wiring, leather, etc. are all worse. Even clean denim can be worse, depending on its quality. Sandpaper especially kills an edge; try cutting up some stair tread tape with your folder.

I think nutnfancy (and others) uses cardboard as the standard of measure since it's cheap, readily-available, and is one of the most common objects you'd be cutting on a regular basis. For that, it's an okay test medium, IF you can get a steady source of the same grade and thickness of coardboard.
 
I believe the worst thing you could try to cut with your knife is a blackhole, though I could be mistaken.

on a more serious note whatever that solid blue packing foam junk is a pretty good way to dull your knife.
 
Cardboard has clay in its makeup and clay is just a fine stone powder mixed with water to make it tougher or at least resistant to tearing.
 
Wood has silicates in it. Cardboard and paper are made from wood and also harbor silicates. The amount of silicates varies with different woods and also with the soil in which the tree grew. Whittling will probably be as hard on an edge as cutting cardboard. I use a plastic cutting board (no silicates).
 
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