What exactly is “shaving sharp”?

G

GunnersFan

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Sep 10, 2022
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Hey everyone-

I’m fairly new to the knife game, so please take that into account. But after reading many, many threads here I’m puzzled about something.

I have three knives- a PM2, an ESEE-4, and a Civivi Baklash. All three factory edges are “shaving sharp” in the following sense: I can scrape the blade against my forearm skin and I can see hairs left behind on the blade, but I wouldn’t say it’s effortless; when I say “scrape” I mean it. I really have to drag the knife to get hair to show up on the blade.

Is this shaving sharp? From my reading experience here, it seems like when people talk about shaving sharp they’re talking about something much more effortless that what I have to do.
 
To answer your question, no. That isn't what is meant by "shaving sharp." That term would describe essentially effortless shaving. Whether that type of edge is necessary or desirable is a separate question.
 
I think shaving sharp doesn't really require any effort to shave.

You should look at the BESS edge sharpness chart to get an idea of how sharp your knives are. Carful though sharpening knives can be an expensive / time consuming rabbit hole to go down.
 
Get yourself a good working edge, something easy to maintain
A hair popping razor edge should be for straight razors only
 
When I sharpen, I test the edge on my hair hair (and leg hair when I shave all my arm hair off) to be sure it’s sharp, but more so to be sure it shaves from both sides, ensuring there is no birr. That’s shaving sharp for me.
 
Interesting- I hadn’t fully realized that this sort of edge isn’t necessarily desirable. I suppose that’s what is meant by “working edge”? My ESEE in particular has seen a good deal of fairly hard use in the last few months, still has the factory edge, and is still as sharp as it was when I got it.

Am I on the right track here?
 
I think when most folks here talk about “shaving sharp” they mean that the edge will shave arm/leg hair without much pressure.

Knives at this sharpness level won’t shave your beard comfortably.

When I sharpen, this level of “shaving sharp” is generally what I’m looking for - even in a chopper/axe. Higher levels of sharpness are reserved for straight razors, defensive knives, and a couple of my kitchen knives.

Here’s the sharpness ranking system I use:

Dull
Hair scraping (~working edge)
Shaving (arm hair)
Hair popping (arm hair)
Tree topping/face shaving
Hair splitting/hair whittling

“Tree topping” refers to a blade that’s sharp enough to cut arm hairs without touching your skin. This is approximately the sharpness at which you can shave your face comfortably.
 
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Also when most people shave hair off their arm or leg it’s different than shaving your beard or underarms or other delicate areas. 😆 I wouldn’t try that with any knife no matter how sharp it is. 😂

I used to test my knife sharpness shaving hair off my forearm but eventually I realized that it made me look like I had the mange or a mental illness. 😝 Now I use the neighborhood cats or dogs or my sons cows but they are a bit more dangerous.

A couple years ago I was disinfecting my Buck 55 knife after shaving an abscess on the cows neck with my marksman and dropped that freshly sharpened 55 and it managed to stab my inner thigh very near my artery. 😮 blood gushing out badly, A quick trip to the ER and packing it with ice it quit bleeding. Whew that was scary and close. The moral to this story is be very careful with scary sharp knives. Use paper or other inanimate objects!
 
I used to do somewhere between 15 and 17 DPS. These edges will split hairs, but cease to do so after it's first use. Nowadays I do that same acute angle, but put roughly a 25 DPS micro bevel to turn it into a working Edge. Edge usually lasts a while and is super easy to get back considering the secondary bevel is so acute.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. It’s much more clear now. I’m happy with the edges I have for the tasks I use my knives for, and I think I’ll forgo trying to get them truly shaving sharp. I assume that regular stropping should be sufficient for keeping those edges in good shape.

Happy New Year everyone!
 
GunnersFan said:
I assume that regular stropping should be sufficient for keeping those edges in good shape.
Click to expand...
Mmmm - yes and no.

If you use a knife regularly it will eventually need to be sharpened with something more abrasive than a strop.

Stropping can prolong the intervals between sharpening sessions, and can bring an already sharp blade to a higher level of sharpness.

I get great edges from homemade strops. I like 0.25 micron diamond spray on smooth leather attached to a block of wood with double-sided tape.

I highly recommend that you find and read the “sticky” thread about stropping in the Maintenance/Tinkering section…

…And then read a bunch more/watch some YouTube videos about sharpening! ;)

Focus on:
1) apex (how to confirm it - light reflections are very helpful),
2) Burrs/wire edges,
3) grit progression (coarse >>> fine),
4) sharpening angles/blade geometry - more acute angles/thinner grinds = edges with greater potential sharpness and higher edge retention/cutting ability through normal materials, but that will be more fragile during hard use or cutting tougher materials.

Happy New Year!
 
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