Sharpness testers.

[O,just,O]

Does anyone else here find that generally when you hand someone a knife,they will test the edge with their thumb. Holding the knife in one hand while drawing the pad of the thumb of the other, across the edge.
No matter how sharp this edge may be ( or how sharp you thought it was ) very rarely do they pass this test.
For some reason no one now living can sharpen a knife as good as their grandpa or some one else they knew in about 1942.
You do know. don't you, that, they dont make knives like they used to.
NO! they are now much better.:D
O.

[clovisc]

i gauge mine on my fingernails, and then test on paper. if it can slice paper, next question is... can it shave text off of the paper?

i've had some good "work edges" that can't shave paper, but can handle EDC chores reliably for quite a long time before requiring touch-ups. a lot depends on the angle.

but yea... i've seen some foolish sharpness "tests." usually paper-shaving reverses whatever ill opinion people may have formed of my edge... :D

[vampyrewolf]

but with a practiced touch you can get a good gauge of how sharp the edge is (between the feel and sound of the edge). I've only got a couple that fool yah.

my ss 'fly won't shave but it'll cut through just about anything... edge is so low I have to put the flat on the stone to sharpen it.

my zdp caly jr won't shave but it slices clam packs like paper :eek: Was having a hell of a time getting a god edge on it, took about 15min on my 500/800 before going back to the ceramics to clean it up. Maybe another 45min since the last effort. It may not shave, and sure doesn't pass the touch/sound test, but I sure as hell don't want to cut myself with this one after opening a few clampacks today :eek::D

Usually filleting paper is a good test but this zdp caly with my edge on it wouldn't have to work at all.

[tonydahose]

i have been hanging out on a food forum where they spend alot of time and money on expensive kitchen knives...they way they test, well one way at least, is to get some printer paper and place the knife like you are going to slice thru it but just let the weight of the knife cut through it...no pulling or pushing the knife in a slicing action. obviously a big heavy chef knife will do better than a parer but i was surprised at how some of my "sharp" kitchen knves didnt do well on this test at all, even my homemaker which i thought was pretty sharp. the masamoto i bought went through almost 2" where the homemaker did 1/4". i really dont think it is the knife's fault but mine because i dont sharpen on water stones. the sharpmaker gets knives sharp but the water stones bring the edge to another level and yes i have the extra fine stones for the sharpmaker. i think putting these kind of edges on pocket knives is overkill because they probably wont last too long but on kitchen knives it is fun prepping food:). one of my ways to test the sharpness is to feel the edge after i wash the blade off (kitchen knives) and they are still wet. if it still feels sharp then it is still good to go imo.

[FLYBYU44]

I recently received a prototype from another company that I signed up for to test. It was a small fixed blade made from 4140 steel and hardened to around 55 RC. It was super easy to sharpen to the point where it shaved off arm hairs like nothing, easier then any Spydie I own. I think that has something to do with old knives getting really sharp, it was just easier to sharpen an old steel knife that was a little bit softer then current blades.

[duff72]

how many of you have no hair on your left forearm:D

[jzmtl]

I use dollar store notebook papers, since they are really really thin. Slice very thin sliver off it, if it can be done turn paper 90 degree try again (slicing along or across the paper fiber makes big difference), also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA7f5ifLWPM . Try both directions as well.

[yablanowitz]

Does anyone else here find that generally when you hand someone a knife,they will test the edge with their thumb. Holding the knife in one hand while drawing the pad of the thumb of the other, across the edge.
No matter how sharp this edge may be ( or how sharp you thought it was ) very rarely do they pass this test.
For some reason no one now living can sharpen a knife as good as their grandpa or some one else they knew in about 1942.
You do know. don't you, that, they dont make knives like they used to.
NO! they are now much better.:D
O.

I've watched six different people cut their thumbs trying that with my knives. Telling them "careful, it's sharp" when you hand it over practically guarantees they will hurt themselves.

[vampyrewolf]

how many of you have no hair on your left forearm:D

upper arm, thigh, just above the knee, fingers... or sal's suggestion: testing on the back of your head and the back of your neck.




I've watched six different people cut their thumbs trying that with my knives. Telling them "careful, it's sharp" when you hand it over practically guarantees they will hurt themselves.

You only have to give them a scary sharp edge once ;) After they open themselves up they usually learn.

[fret]

I used to shave the hair off my arm but now I use my finger nail to test it. If it snags on the edge then I know the edge is bent over. I have read a lot about getting rid of the wire edge on the blade. I like to straighten that wire edge and use it. It is sharp if I get it to not lean to one side and when I use the knife the wire edge usually wears off and leaves a sharp edge that stays sharp for a long time. I am usually cutting cardboard boxes and this works great for me. I put the tip of my finger nail onto the side of the blade and draw my finger nail down to the edge. I have never cut my finger as my finger is not touching the blade at all. My friends always ask me to sharpen their knives for them at no cost. I like sharpening their knives and tell them to bring them back when they get dull. I had to learn how to sharpen my knives as my Grandfather could not sharpen a knife at all. He always used a grinder and ruined a lot of good knives. I can't see taking off more metal than necessary. I gave my Grandfather a nice Case knife for Christmas and he took it out to the garage and put it on the grinder. It made me ill seeing the blade go down to the size of a toothpick in half a minute. The next time I bought him a knife I told him that I'd do the sharpening. He let me and that's how I started to learn how to sharpen a knife.

[O,just,O]

I've watched six different people cut their thumbs trying that with my knives. Telling them "careful, it's sharp" when you hand it over practically guarantees they will hurt themselves.


Good. I like that. Maybe they have a sore thumb, but I'll bet that their hearing has improved. :D
O.

[BuffaloBill]

when i use the fixed blade "kitchen" knives at work, i give them an eye inspection because a lot of people dont like to use cutting boards and cut materials right on the stainless steel counter tops. so you can go through any bunch of knives and find a bunch that the edge is all beat up on. then i'll gently run my finger on the edge to check.

with my pocket knives i'll shave arm air, and if it does that easily, it's sharp enough for me.

[cobrajoe]

how many of you have no hair on your left forearm:D
That's Me :D

I'd be willing to bet that the old knives that they think were sharp back in the day were just a coarse edge. If you sharpen on those old whetstones, they'll leave a toothy edge. The ceramic stones (and possibly polishing compounds, strops, and steels) will leave an edge much finer toothed, or completely polished. These edges are much harder to feel with a thumb.

[yablanowitz]

Good. I like that. Maybe they have a sore thumb, but I'll bet that their hearing has improved. :D
O.

The really funny part is, even after they cut their thumb on my knife, they are surprised that I carry Band-Aids. :D

[O,just,O]

Band-Aids :D Yea that is funny.
Might have to blunt those loaner Spydies down a bit there Yab :)
If some one hands me a knife it's usually gripped by the handle & pointed right at me:mad:. Did no one teach them ? After avoiding being cut or stabbed, in the hand over, then I proceed to cut whatever it was that needed cutting. That soon tells me if that knife is sharp, & so too do the appologies, by the owner, for the state the knife is in.
Any one else notice that quirk of blunt knife owners.:)

O.

[MountainManJim]

O Just O,

I use a flashlight to check sharpness. If I can't get at reflection of the edge I know the two sides of the edge have met and I can stop sharpening. The flashlight also helps to see if a burr has formed.

I use my thumbnail to determine when it's time to resharpen. With the blade held at about a 45 deg angle and moving in a chopping direction (not slicing), if the edge doesn't catch on the nail, but instead slides off, the blade needs to be sharpened. Note: very little force is needed for this test.

Jim

[Billy]

Hmmm, for most of my spydies, I test several ways:

- can it "fuzz stick" or whittle hair?
- can it fillet paper?
- can it cleanly slice/"fuzz stick" newspaper?

For my bigger knives like my Rock Salt and HI Khuks, if I can get them to pop hair and slice copy paper cleanly, I'm very happy.

[yablanowitz]

Band-Aids :D Yea that is funny.
Might have to blunt those loaner Spydies down a bit there Yab :)
If some one hands me a knife it's usually gripped by the handle & pointed right at me:mad:. Did no one teach them ? After avoiding being cut or stabbed, in the hand over, then I proceed to cut whatever it was that needed cutting. That soon tells me if that knife is sharp, & so too do the appologies, by the owner, for the state the knife is in.
Any one else notice that quirk of blunt knife owners.:)

O.

Many of them simply don't know how to sharpen a knife, and they are often quite embarassed by their deficiency. Some of them seem quite proud of how sharp their knife is as they use it to saw through a piece of teflon tape (true story). Those are the people I feel sorry for, since they obviously have never used a sharp knife and have no idea what they are missing.

Oh, yeah. The first person I saw cut his thumb testing the edge of one of my knives was the man who taught me to keep my knives sharp - my Dad. ;)

[Echo63]

how many of you have no hair on your left forearm:D

i have plenty of hair left on my left arm, my right arm is a whole different story (im a lefty)

if a blade will cut what i need cutting easily, then its sharp enough.
if im sharpening, then it has to cleanly slice newspaper both with and against the grain