Who makes the sharpest?

kamkazmoto

kamkazmoto

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Sep 14, 2002
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I dearly love sharp knives, in fact it is one of the criteria I use in deciding wheither or not I am going to buy a knife. Now I define sharp as being able to cut a single free hanging hair or alternatively to be able to shave (not necessarly confortably)a 2 day old beard. I realize that a stropped edge is necessary to do those things but I want to ask. Does any maker of custom folders puts out an edge capable of shaving straight from his shop?
 
Kamkazmoto,

I recently bought a folder from Kirk Rexroat and it arrived with the sharpest edge I've ever used, literally razor sharp. I could almost hear the hairs popping as I passed it across my arm to test the edge...:D

The sharpest I've had before that was some Japanese "blue steel" kitchen knives, but Kirk's knife was noticeably sharper. I remember thinking I could use it to shave my beard.

-Jose
 
I never knew that he made folders but after visiting his website he makes some darn nice folders!
 
I believe the definition of sharpness depends on what the knife is designed to do. A razor sharp knife from a very famous knifemaker might not be that 'sharp' compared with Ed Fowler's Pronghorn in skinning a game. On the other hand, EF's Pronghorn might not that 'sharp' in hair shaving contest.

Just my .02

The sharpest utility knife I own is a fixed blade made by R.J. Knives in Montana. It has a concave (not convex) very thin O1 blade. Used it a lot, and still amazed at how sharp it is.

As for skinner, I would have to choose Ed Fowler Pronghorn. That thing is a beast.

:)
 
any knife by Jimmy Fikes. I have been fortunate to own several of the mans knives and they are truly unequaled in sharpness. I used a small Cabin Boy for years as a carry knife and the edge was easily maintained and always SHARP!!

I am a big fan of Phill Hartsfield and his are also among the sharpest. Matt Lamey is definetly a maker who likes sharp and I have a small utility that has been cutting cardboard for a couple of years and the edge is still outstanding. Not suprising that Matt is a fan of Jimmy Fikes.

Win
 
There are a lot of good makers that are shipping sharp knives. My vote goes to R J Martin. I have several of his knives and I am honestly afraid of the edge on them. You won't even feel them cut you.
Dan Farr
 
If you look up the word sharp in the dictionary, you will see a little picture of R.J. Martin smiling back at you. That man knows how to make a knife sharp! I have several of his knives, and hope to have many more.
 
Ray Kirk down in Oklahoma knows how to put an edge on a knife. I bought one of his neck knives in 52100 that was and is insanely sharp.
 
I have to agree with Win about Jimmy Fikes.Fikes puts a really great edge on his knives.Goes thru cardboard like a hot knife thru butter.Ray Kirk also knows about sharp edges.His knives also come shaving sharp.His edges are also great.They don't chip easily.Ray has won 2 -3 ABS cutting competitions.Both of these makers make very sharp blades.
 
Beluga,

I agree, it depends on what the knife was designed to do. Ed's knives are able to shave hair too, but the Rexroat cuts through them like a laser beam...:D My Rexroat folder is a light duty knife so it's able to take a razor sharp edge. It wouldn't hold up as well as my Fowlers under heavy stress, like cutting through thick hide, and maintain it's sharpness though.

Ed flexes the edge of all his blades along a sharpening steel so they'll even stand up to chopping through bone. If you're looking for a knife to use on small odd jobs like cutting cardboard boxes or opening your mail you don't need that kind of strength, but if you want a knife that's going to hold up when your life is on the line, hair-popping sharpness isn't a necessity.

I'd like to run some tests though to see if we could come up with the maker with the best sharpness to strength ratio. Anyone out there willing to donate some knives so I can test them to destruction?:p

-Jose
 
Mike Snody and as mentioned RJ Martin . Have both and they are scary sharp . I don't let but a very few folks use them as I learned the hard way some just don't understand when you say scary sharp. One other maker not mentioned is Dozier , the man knows sharp . You could shave a six month beard ( close ) with his D2 knives .
 
Yes.., RJ's knives are certainly sharp! Charles Marlowe in Omaha Nebraska gets 'em awfully darn sharp, and makes some darn nice knives too.

Historically.., I've never seen knives as sharp as Jody Samson's older fixed blades in the late 70's when he worked exclusively out of his own shop in Burbank, California (after Mr. Cooper sold Cooper Knives)..., and prior to knocking out blades for Balisong, USA (Pre-PCC, and Benchmade).

Over half the swords folks order from him at Albion Armorers now are requested "unsharpened".., but I've handled a few that darn near made me start bleeding looking at the edge...lol.

Jody is one more guy that can do the "Crazy-Sharp" thing.


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
Another Edge Master is definitely Walter Brend !

His grindage will make you think twice on how to handle his wares ! :D
 
Kaz,
I learned early in my fulltime maker career from a customer that it should be expected that a custom knife should be shaving sharp when it is shipped. Originally,I intentionally didn't put a razor edge on my knives but they cut well. This client called me and said he spent some period of time taking that up to razor sharp. I heard! There is very little hair on my forearms as a result of making sure each knife edge is shaving sharp before it leaves my shop.
In the non-folder arena, I was showing a new Dee Holder hunting knife to a friend, I dropped it, and even though over carpet, instinctively grabbed at it an caught it...bad decision..caught it by the blade and the only thing that kept it from cutting off a finger is the bone in the middle of my index finger...it was so sharp that the wound didn't hurt until after I saw the blood. Ed Fowler's are so sharp as cutting tools, the one I have almost scares me....it is so smooth at the convex edge it doesn't look that sharp..it is though.
Other customs I have from Frank Centofante, Alan Elishewitz, A.T. Barr have all been capable of shaving arm hair without any touchup after purchase. There is a fellow in Kentucky that does Japanese style steel in his straight knives. The work is beautiful....the edge is frighteningly sharp...and stays that way!
I think you should be able to expect a custom to be at least arm hair shaving sharp when you receive it from the maker.
 
John,

I agree that when you are spending $400 + for a knife that it should be able to shave the hair off your arm but unfortunately in some cases it can't. That being said the ones' that interest me are the ones that are scarrrrrry sharp, capable of shaving a two day old beard.

I have not handled a lot of customs, about the only place I get to play with them is when a knife show is in town so please don't take this next question as a slam toward anyone's knives it is only a display of my ignorance. What happened to makers like Anderson, Smith, Obernauf, Fredrick, Mayo, Onion, DDR and Carson? Their knives are certainly well known, would they qualify for this list too?
 
Not to be heretical or anything, but sharpness is less a function of knife maker and steel than it is edge geometry. You can make bronze razor sharp, it just won't hold that edge. Using an EdgePro and diamond polishing strips I can put a super narrow bevel on a $10 knife that's "sharper" than the sharpest maker delivered edge.

OK I'm trolling a bit (and mean no disrespect AT ALL to the makers enumerated above), but I think the basic point about sharpness is worth making.

Gabe
 
Gaben,

All you say is true but it is the maker that determines the material, the edge geometry and is the one who decides just how fine an edge to put on his creation.
 
I also nominate Randy Martin as my sharpest fixed blade custom knife.
Every time I handle one of his blades, I try to remember to go into my own self-imposed "condition orange"; When I forget to do this, I usually end up in "condition red" trying to open band-aids with my teeth and my uncut hand!:eek:

For sharp production knives, I had a TiNives damascus auto that you could actually shave with. Incredibly sharp!

Frank:cool:
 
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