What is a sharp knife to you?

My current stanard for being done sharpening is smoothly shaving hair off my arm, and/or push cutting paper.
 
How I interpret sharpness sort of depends on "the knife in question" and the jobs that knife has to contend with.

For Example, if a butterknife could cut through a line of rope in one pass, then that would be one heck of a sharp butterknife!

I consider the type of knife, its material, its intended uses, and who is using it.

For my own EDC knives, I expect them all to shave hair resonably well, otherwise they need a little touching up before I'll consider them sharp. That is what I call "sharp enough for me."

After they meet my expectations for being "sharp enough" I still recognize and attempt to achieve higher levels of sharpness, but that is an ongoing project and the sky seems to be the limit. :D
 
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As long as mine shave hair & paper, i'm pretty good with that. I also am still learing & have been sharpening since i was 10---now 47. I have MANY different types of sharpeners. Nothing high end though. Gatco diamond deluxe is my current "high end" sharpening system. It works well.
 
I suck at freehand sharpening, I'd like to find something that would help me keep the blade at the right angle and use my belt grinder. (out of curiosity, knive makers, my belt turns towards the platen from the top, into the rest. If I rested the spine of a knife on the rest the belt would be going towards the spine. is that reverse of how it is supposed to turn?) For most stuff I use a chef something electric sharpener, but now I'm thinking

I always use paper, if it is cutting paper easily it is sharp. I shave with a straight razor so I know what real sharp is. The guy that hones my razors for me uses a set of Shaptons and I think takes them up to 15 or 30k!! I think that much sharpening on a knife for every day use is overkill and more effort than needed for the results you want.

Red
 
I typically sharpen up to a 3 micron belt on my Work Sharp. I see no reason to settle for less because it only takes 15 minutes to raise a burr and fully mirror polish 2 blades, 1 in S90V and 1 in S110V. That said, I don't really bother with stropping since that razor edge is usually lost within a few cuts. Stropping should just be reserved for kitchen knives or knives that only see light use(not cardboard, wood, rope, or other similar tough materials).

That said, anything that slices paper without tearing it up is good enough for me.
 
Keep practicing Dago, you will get it. There is no overkill to sharpening. Once you learn the angles needed to achieve the desired results the envelope can still be pushed. Talk and listen to the guy who hones your razor. He is working at a level above and beyond the knowledge of the majority of people here. All of my knives will shave/whittle hair regardless of the angle. If they do not, they stay at home. How long they will do it under what conditions is the variable. Never let the knife get dull. Touch it up daily when used. Always know for a fact that your knife will perform to your expectations. My sidearms always do, I would expect no less from my knives :thumbup:.
 
I USED to think that hair whitteling was super sharp and it really is. However once I was able to slice free hanging TP (I blame Ankerson) I had found my nervana. Most of my knives arent that sharp but almost all are hair whitteling. I use either a belt sander and paper wheels, stones or the sharpmaker. I dont have an edge pro....yet but its on my list of equipment to make sharp stuff.
 
Acetylene said:
I can tell if it's sharp enough for me by the bite when drug across a fingernail. It usually corresponds to shaving arm hair.
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I use that test to see if there is a burr on the edge. (perhaps im thinking of it differently then you though.)
 
singularity35 said:
There are degrees of hair whittling sharp depending on the hair used. A knife that can whittle coarse hair may not necessarily mean it can whittle finer hair. So I guess that you're right technically speaking.
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this is so very true! the type of hair, thickness, the condition of the hair all make a difference in how it is cut. I once measured the thickness of my hair compared to a blonde girls hair and it was 4X as thick! same goes for push cutting paper as not all paper is made the same. I like to push cut the telephone pages and thats where I start to figure out if im comming close or if i have a burr or what not. either way, when I can shave my hair in to 4-5 peices lenght wise, that is comming close to sharp enought for me. Hair wittling is where I ususally stop as any more and it wouldnt make a difference in what I ususally cut with my knifes (and I put this edge on to all my knifes including my kitchen ones); takes about 5 mins or less on my paper wheels and it usually only takes about 2 or 3 passes on the slotted wheel to get them back to this sharpness after about a weeks worth of use which is not bad considering how sharp they are... takes longer if they have knicks in them from going thru bone but then its just a few passes on the grit wheel and then a few on the slotted wheel and im back!
 
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DaBrew said:
I'm a noob here, so I don't understand what you're saying here. Can anybody explain, or point me in a direction where I can learn about this?

Thanks
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Tear a page out of a phone book. Fold up about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch along any side. When the page is laying flat, that folded part is sticking up. Don't hold it up, just push your knife edge down through it. If the edge bends it or tears it, go back to your sharpening until it cuts cleanly through the folded part without you having to hold the paper in position.

If edge angles are what's unclear to you, then I was talking about the inclusive angle of a pocket knife edge. 30 degrees incl is 15 degrees on each side of the blade. 40 degrees incl is 20 degree on each side of the blade. These are the normal Sharpmaker angles so a lot of us use them.
 
I really like the spyderco sharpmaker and sometimes just use the corner if its a knife like a skinner or has a recurve to get ti hair popping sharp...I then use the ultra fine rods.
 
The Case mini-Trapper that sliced my thumb from tip to mid-joint certainly defines what a sharp knife is to me.

casecvminitrapperyellow.jpg


A delicate edge (razor edge) is not much use to me as most of my knife use is for work chores (ranch/farm). As long as I can cleanly slice a piece of paper or perhaps slice a piece of slami off a salami roll or castrate a calf or pig with a one, quick, clean, slice, the blade is sharp enough for me.
 
eccvets said:
this is so very true! the type of hair, thickness, the condition of the hair all make a difference in how it is cut. I once measured the thickness of my hair compared to a blonde girls hair and it was 4X as thick! same goes for push cutting paper as not all paper is made the same. I like to push cut the telephone pages and thats where I start to figure out if im comming close or if i have a burr or what not. either way, when I can shave my hair in to 4-5 peices lenght wise, that is comming close to sharp enought for me. Hair wittling is where I ususally stop as any more and it wouldnt make a difference in what I ususally cut with my knifes (and I put this edge on to all my knifes including my kitchen ones); takes about 5 mins or less on my paper wheels and it usually only takes about 2 or 3 passes on the slotted wheel to get them back to this sharpness after about a weeks worth of use which is not bad considering how sharp they are... takes longer if they have knicks in them from going thru bone but then its just a few passes on the grit wheel and then a few on the slotted wheel and im back!
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I just love how we are discussing the intricacies of hair type in testing a knife's sharpness. :confused: For me, if a knife cleanly push-cuts copy paper, it's sharp enough for my uses.
 
If the edge will cleanly shave or push cut news paper it's good enough for me.I touch up my users everyday on ceramics or strop to keep them that way.
 
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