What I need most is a pocket razor.

Jeff Clark

Jeff Clark

Joined
Apr 27, 1999
Messages
6,117
The "quality" knife industry has gone down the road of rugged utility and has diverged from my needs. They try and provide me with a heavy utility tool or rugged "tactical knife" which are things I really don't need. I live in a safe community and work in an office at a computer. What I need in a knife is something I can brag about, not utility. I can't optimally brag about lock strength, ruggedness, serrations, or workmanship because I don't put those into a knife (that's a lot like taking credit for your favorite NFL teams performance). What I can brag about is the edge that I put on the knife.

How do you show off an edge in a civilized environment? --By demonstration of shaving ability. So basically the most "useful" blade for my purposes is the one that performs the most like a straight razor, not the one that performs like an axe. Where are the 1/32" to 3/32" thick blades made out of razor alloys that I need? Where are the paper thin hollow ground blades?

Sure I can remove hair with any one of my knives. This morning I was shaving my face with my new Greco Little Companion. Even after spending the better part of an hour thinning the edge and rehoning the A2 steel blade it still gave me a second rate shave compared to my Dovo straight razor.

So my question is, where do you go when your primary need is a bragging blade? Do any other forum members wish they had a knife on them that would outperform a straight razor?
 
Make mine practical, not tactical :^)

The carbon steel pocketknives like Old Timers and such seem to take a decent edge, and for a more razor like edge one will need to put a smaller angle on the bevel. The thin blades on the 77OT Improved Muskrat are probably a good place to start for stuff like that, although with a bit more work any of the blades on other models that are wide enough will work too. The hollow ground blades on some of the Buck BG-42 pocketknives, the Japanese Kershaw AUS-8 and others should work well too.
 
Jeff,

Although for many applications it may not be practical, I also enjoy keeping a razor edge on my knives. I have 50/50 and fully serated knives that I use and carry, but I keep a better than razor edge on my Victorinox Deluxe Tinker. I work at a radio staion where I sometimes have to edit audio tape. Most people use a single edge razor blade for that due to the precision cuts required. I use the small blade on my SAK.

I also have an Old Timer stockman that will do the same job!

Good Luck finding your pocket razor!

Johno, didn't mean to trip over your post. You hit on a real key when you mentioned the sharpening angle.
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Travis Autry
My knives are just like rabbits---they keep multiplying!!

[This message has been edited by TAutry (edited 03-11-2000).]
 
Funny that you should mention this Jeff.

I was on a trip two weeks ago and forgot to pack a razor the night before a ceremony. Stubbles were bothering me too, and my wife kidded me about how I was always talking about "shaving sharp" on my knives so ...

A Buck 501MS made for a passable, but admittedly 3rd rate shave (tho I did manage to finish without drawing blood). Probably will try this again one of these days after a fresh sharpening.

This probably falls under the category of a good test that I wouldn't want to recommend to every kid wanting to brag about his edge.
 
Way back when, in 1973 I believe, while in the US Navy, I had a small Normark folder that took an incredible edge, shaving quality, I know because I used it to shave one day to see just how hard it would be to do it, and it worked great, but I have sinced lost that knife.

The Kellam folks make a nice folder, with an edge that should do the trick and they are nicely made and light knives, check them out.

G2

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"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...


G2 LeatherWorks
 
I've seen a Normark catalog page for a lockback folding hunter with a Sanvic 12C27 (razor steel) blade. I haven't actually seen one though. It looked kind of bulky in the picture. I've got a Normark folding filleting knife that is sort of the right thing, but it's really long. I'll have to look for the Kellam.
 
The Kellam folders I see are made from 440A. My experience is that the 440 series is not fine-grained enough for my purposes.
 
A puukko with a nicely polished edge gives the kind of performance you're looking for. Another approach would be to thin out the edge of whatever knife you're carrying now and then put a very acute final bevel on it -- or just put a very acute final bevel on it, however wide it ends up getting.

If you take any knife and give it an edge as acute as a razor and polish it as well as a razor it'll shave just like a razor. Of course that edge will be as delicate as the edge of a razor, too, but that doesn't matter to you, so go for it!

I always keep several knives like that, and others with strong edges. Strong edges -- thick and obtuse -- are good when you need one, when you don't need that strength a razor edge is the way to go ... it's a good thing we're not limited to only one knife.
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-Cougar Allen :{)
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This post is not merely the author's opinions; it is the trrrrrruth. This post is intended to cause dissension and unrest and upset people, and ultimately drive them mad. Please do not misinterpret my intentions in posting this.
 
Cougar,

I already reduce the bevel on my knives as much as seem feasible. For example, when I got my Greco I reduced the bevel angle by 5-10 degrees, but that still left it over 15 degrees. The final bevel on the blade is now about 1/8" wide. A straight razor is less than 1/2 that angle, down in the 5-7 degree range. You really need a thin full tapered blade or a hollow grind to compete with a true razor edge.
 
Check out David Boye. I think I read somewhere that he takes the blade down to .012" before the bevel. Put an acute angle and polish on that and you should be all set.

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It's only a mistake if you fail to learn from it!
 
People are always suitably impressed when I pull out my Hartsfield with its 1/16" thick blade and effortlessly zip strips off sheets of paper. (It will even shave layers off the flat side of a business card!) I once had to cut a tough piece of rope and the fellow I was with held it like it was really going to be a tough job. When my blade touched it and it just sprang apart, he gave me a really wierd look. So, Jeff, I know just what you mean.
 
My favorite killer edge demonstration was using a broad-bladed Solingen throwing knife that I had thinly ground the edge. It was made from a great carbon steel and stropped to a razor edge. A friend wanted to cut off a pair of jeans to make shorts. I had him line up the legs and twist them into about a 4" diameter rope of denim. I had him hold it out between his hands spaced a foot apart. I told him I could cut it with one stroke, he didn't believe me. He was just astounded when I didn't even generate much of a tug on his hands as the blade whisked through the denim.
 
An Opinel would be a good choice for this. They have thin blades and get nicely sharp.
 
For the most part, a hollow ground blade, made of high carbon steel, that is only sharpened on one side, will give you the sharpest edge. The best steel comes from USA, Germany, & The Philippines, Japan gets their steel from the Philippiens. The problem is, high carbon steel tends to tarnish or rust. Surgical steel or 440 stainless, is really only razor sharp, when it's razor thin, but it does not tend to tarnish. I have seen Pakinstan knives that have been sharpened to be very sharp, but it's still a second rate steel. The problem with a hollow ground blade, is how do you put a point on it, so usually they make it into a one armed bandit.
 
Another variable to consider is hardness, as a harder blade usually develops and holds a fine edge better than a softer one. The Ericksson Mora knives that I have, carbon steel at a nominal RC60, seem to develop what I call an 'unforgiving edge' better than most other budget knives that I have. In fact the most razor like blades that I have are some carbon steel 3.5in full tang blanks by Ericksson, from Ragnar's Forge, as they're only about 1/16in thick. For a bit more money, actually a lot more money, some custom makers offer very nice looking traditional folders in 52100, which can be made with fine resulting grain and fairly hard.

I need to trim engineering drawings on a regular basis and find that my Old Timer stockman does a much better job than the safety knives that are usually laying around the area.
 
Jeff, the Normark I'm speaking of was a fairly small one, about a 3" blade or less, shape like a SAK main blade. I had one of the larger Normark you are talking about and it was a rather large knife, `SuperSwede' rings a bell and I never got that as sharp as the other one I lost.

I made a couple of sheaths for the Kellams and the one I'm thinking of has a pukko type edge, one without a secondary bevel, very sharp, razor sharp pretty much.

G2

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"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...


G2 LeatherWorks
 
Jeff, it is hard enough trying to find a production locking folder with a carbon or tool steel blade, let alone a thin one. However there are traditional stockmans with plain high-carbon blades. You could always go custom and get a gentlemans folder made.

-Cliff

 
I understand where you're coming from. I ordered a utility knife from Hagar (Sgt. Blades...look for his name on BFC as Hagar) that is 1/16" stock. I can't wait to see how well it cuts! I'll report when I get it, which should be in about a week or so...I also got a bead blasted one and a mirror polished one to compare...

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Hello Jeff

I am in a hurry, so I didn't really read carefully the previous answers, but I think that no one has mentioned the obvious answer:

Spyderco Calypso jr. (plain edge, micarta handle)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is exactly what you are looking for, it can slice like a laser!!! Maybe you should check an older post by Joe Talmadge who has made his Calypso sharper than a scalpel by thinning the edge even more.
 
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