What is beyond shaving sharp & why?

cmd

cmd

Joined
Feb 7, 2004
Messages
1,207
I can get blades shaving sharp. More quickly now that I have a sharpmaker, but three benchstones are what I learned with. With some of my blades I keep rather rough on purpose, semi-serrated for lack of a better term.

How do you get better than shaving sharp and why?

Chris
 
Why? Because you can. :) Better than shaving sharp is when the knife cuts hair before coming in contact with your skin. It's fun to get an edge like that but they don't last too long on a pocket knife which is called upon to cut a lot of different materials. A 15 degree or less bevel finished with a very fine hone will give you a sharp polished edge that excels at push cuts like a razor. I wonder if there's a medical term for our obsession to put shaving edges on things that weren't meant to shave? :D
 
I finally went and made myself a leather strop today, and now i can proudly say that all of my knives are beyond shaving sharp! before i could get them to shave, but not all that well. after sitting down with my favorite knives and my new strop for and hour my arm is now missing much of its hair, and my mom and sister are thouroughly grossed out. I am happy though, it it nice to know that i can make my knives as sharp as i want now.
 
I think it was Joe Talmadge who got a Calypso Jr so sharp that he, quite literally, split a hair with it.

How could you _not_ want to do that?
 
JamesA said:
I think it was Joe Talmadge who got a Calypso Jr so sharp that he, quite literally, split a hair with it.

How could you _not_ want to do that?
Click to expand...

OK, I can shave easily with my pocket knives, but how to get to this finer level and WHY?

Yes, dogs lick their bawls because they can but it doesn't mean I would like the taste...

Chris
 
Well, both my Japanese kitchen knives are far past shaving sharp. Murray Carter taught me how to gauge sharpness, and he would know.

Turn the knife edge up and place you thumb (oh so gently) right on the edge. Slide your thumb along the edge. On a super sharp knive you'll feel the edge grab your skin. Anything less and you'll feel the blade slide along your skin instead of grabbing it.

Now, why would you want that? For me, in the kitchen, I want to be able to slice paper thin, cut fish and meat, and prepare soft vegetables. So that super sharp thin edge is important to me.

On a beater knife, I certainly wouldn't want the edge that thin or fragile.
 
What's funny (not really) is while making Thanksgiving dinner I sliced off about 1/4" of the tip of my left thumb. The knife cut right through the nail like it wasn't even there.

I tend not to use much force when cutting with these knives so it really took my by surprise how easily it did it. If I ever smartened up, I'd invest in Band Aid :D
 
Thanks guys, I think I'm starting to understand but am not even close to brave enough to try Chief's suggestion of sliding thumb on blade and feeling for pull.

Chris
 
Chief_Wiggum said:
What's funny (not really) is while making Thanksgiving dinner I sliced off about 1/4" of the tip of my left thumb. The knife cut right through the nail like it wasn't even there.

I tend not to use much force when cutting with these knives so it really took my by surprise how easily it did it. If I ever smartened up, I'd invest in Band Aid :D
Click to expand...
Wow, what kind of knife were you using? Something from Murray?
 
cmd said:
Thanks guys, I think I'm starting to understand but am not even close to brave enough to try Chief's suggestion of sliding thumb on blade and feeling for pull.

Chris
Click to expand...

I don't usually bother going to this level of sharpness with my knives, but I do with my straight razors. :) The thumb test is used to test the straight razors, although I don't need to do that anymore as I can tell when the edge is right by the way it sounds and pulls along the strop.

If you do the thumb test you want to tought it lightly, and I mean just enough so the edge touches your thumb. So if you do get cut it will be less than a paper cut and not be anything to worry about. You'll find your thumb just glides along most edges. When you get that super hair splitting sharp edge you'll feel it bite into your thumb and you're thumb will stick and not want to go. Usually they recommened moistening your thumb first.
 
i just tried this this morning
i stopped the moment i felt the knife start to grip
had a miniscule cut on the outer epidermis
i don't recommend this test for testing knives, too dangerous imo
 
DEA said:
i just tried this this morning
i stopped the moment i felt the knife start to grip
had a miniscule cut on the outer epidermis
i don't recommend this test for testing knives, too dangerous imo
Click to expand...

It's really only dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. You don't want to increase pressure against the edge until it grips or anything. You just lightly slide along it.

Again, this isn't a very pratical test for knives as most knives never reach this level or sharpness, or don't need to. It's is a common test by barbers to test straight razors, but straight razors are much thinner than knives and take a much finer and sharper edge. However, if you tried to cut something other than your whiskers you'd damage or ruin the razor.
 
I agree with Wade. Generally, you're not gaining much unless you're shaving or working in the kitchen. My Japanese knives all have small nicks and damage to the blade after a couple weeks of use, and I only use them on vegetables and other soft food.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top