Sharpness Test

[reg]

OK Gang, I read the post on lending Spydees and noticed that the question of sharpness testing came up with often frightening results. So, other than treating every knife like a gun (assume it is always sharp just as a gun is always loaded) how does one safely test for sharpness? I have heard of the “does it shave the hair on the arm method” any other (better) suggestions. Thanks.



Beyond this there must be dragons!

[Joe Talmadge]

I have some thick (&gt;1&quot<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0> hard poly rope. I always do a slicing test on it. Once you test on the same medium over and over, you begin to get a good feeling for how sharp the knife is. In my case, if it gets halfway through the rope in one slice, it's among the best for production knives, for example.

The other nice thing about this rope slicing test is that almost every other test that people will recommend will be a push-cutting test (arm hair, hair on back of head, fingernail test, slicing paper test, rubber band test). A knife that push-cuts fantastically well may not slice very well, so it makes sense to have both a push cutting and a slicing test. Most people forget the slicing test.

Joe

[vampyrewolf]

One thats always fun, is fillet o' paper.

A good sharp knife will slice the letters off a businesscard.

My Word, My Honour, is my Life.

[reg]

Thanks Guys. I try to keep mine sharp I have found that the ceramic V stickes work very well.

Beyond this there must be dragons!

[Sword and Shield]

I just cut until the performance starts to suffer. Then out comes the steel (or the back of my hand, or my jeans), and more cutting.

Never underestimate the impossible.