Which materials should you not cut with a knife in order to preserve the edge ?

HorseloverFat said:
Thanks for responding. How is life in Portsmouth? I was stationed on Craney Island many years ago.
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Life is good, minus the new tolls they added on the tunnels its a nice area to live. I'm actually right up the road from Craney as a matter of fact. It's snowing at the moment so that makes me happy.
 
The knife on top was carried every day for ~15 years. It was used almost every day during that time. I can't think of any material it hasn't cut, that a knife is capable of cutting.

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In that time, it has
cut miles of small copper wire
stripped miles of cable - large & small
hulled a 55 gallon drum of native pecans
skinned, quartered, deboned lots of animals
cleaned a tractor trailer full of fish - fresh & saltwater
opened dozens of food cans in place of a can opener
dropped to concrete floors dozens of times
never broke

My job requires on at least a monthly basis, to cut through plastic, rubber, and fiberglass materials with steel underneath, which the edge comes in contact with - hard.

The above is normal for me.
To spare the squeamish, I won't mention all it's done.

It's been sharpened alot, but considering the duty it's seen, still in excellent condition. Blade steel made the biggest difference in how well it held up - too bad blades aren't made of it anymore. Take for instance the bottom one... it woulda been completely trashed in less than one-third the time with same duty. I've tried quite a few, briefly.

What was the question again?
 
Shotgun said:
Maybe the question was just worded poorly? To me it's really important on knowing what to avoid that will dull the knife faster or what could damage the edge. i.e. Cutting up a vegetable on a wood cutting board:thumbup:. Cutting a vegetable on a ceramic plate:thumbdn:.

First off. Your knife will get dull. It just does. If you learn how to freehand sharpen you don't have to worry as much on your knife getting dull because most of this list I'm going to list can actually be used to sharpen the knife as well. Freehand is freeing.

Things to avoid is mostly stuff harder then your knife edge. Most of these will cause edge damage as well as dulling. This is not an all inclusive list but it's a start;
rocks
sand
dirt in general
ceramic
glass
other metal(even aluminum cans) My Swamp Rat M6 took edge damage from a soda can.
twisted or knotty grain in wood
cardboard
wire
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Indeed it was. Please don't report me to my former English professor. Thanks for the detailed reply.
 
Hacked said:
Life is good, minus the new tolls they added on the tunnels its a nice area to live. I'm actually right up the road from Craney as a matter of fact. It's snowing at the moment so that makes me happy.
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Be a rebel by running 'em. :D But just be careful in the snow. :)
 
things I'd avoid:

food.... that's on a ceramic plate.
Don't cut with any sort of stone, glass or ceramic beneath the material
drywall
carpet
most metals

I happen to LIKE cutting (stranded) data and electrical cables with my knife (unplugged!), but you'll want a hardness of 58Rc+ before you do that regularly.

Good luck on your learning-to-sharpen journey. :D
 
"That which can be cut with my knife, will be cut with my knife"- Killgar Nietzsche :D

Once you get some good sharpening tools, and learn to sharpen, the world will be at the mercy of your knife. You can dull your blade cutting all manner of things, then re-sharpen it, and start cutting all over again.
 
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