What does sharp look like?

[Mij]

If you can freehand a blade to shaving sharp...I would stop worrying about it. A lot of guys use guides and such to get that polished edge, and THEN don't want to use it. I WORK my knives...they don't stay pretty for long.

No truer words were ever spoken. Wish I could/would have said them.

A lot of folks don’t use a knife enough to understand what a “sharp”/ good knife is.

My best friends are a 35 yr. old, Old Timer folder, and a 40 yr. old schrade fixed blade. Both carbon steel that I can get razor sharp in about 20 seconds.

Nice to see a relative new person state an undisputable fact. Good show.

A lot of folks are afraid to say they are not wed to the latest and greatest toy to come down the pike.

 

[Doug]

The Razor Edge System is the sharpening system that I've used for the past 20 years. Worn out two sets of guides and working on my third set. Still using the same 8" hones, but the coarse hone is really dished ... maybe time to replace it. This system always produces a super sharp edge that is easy to maintain.

I have been eyeing the Wicked Edge system, but man are they spendy.

I actually use the Lansky system most of the time. The things I take from the Razor's Edge book are the idea of having a thin blade behind the edge and a steep angle at the edge itself. That steep angle holds an edge longer than a shallow angle all the way to the edge. The other thing is to steel the edge frequently while you're using it. That keeps it sharp while in use and greatly reduces the number of times you have to rebuild the edge.

 

[Mij]

I’ll sharpen (tri-hone) my wife’s kitchen knives about once every two years, my own once or twice a year depending on feel, when they will not get to where I like on a steel it’s time. Most folk don’t know what a steel is or how to use it. My most used steel is a Case XX about 100 yrs. Old, My dads, other is a POS Henckels that my wife bought because some tv dude said it was good. Then a razor strop. (If I’m in the house).

 

[Mij]

Addendum: If you want to know if your knife is sharp, place the sharp edge on your thumb nail, rear of blade on nail, now grab the very rear point of the handle and slowly start pulling the blade across thumb nail, if you stop it’s sharp. If you keep pulling till it falls off, you need to go back to school.

 

[jbombelli]

Addendum: If you want to know if your knife is sharp, place the sharp edge on your thumb nail, rear of blade on nail, now grab the very rear point of the handle and slowly start pulling the blade across thumb nail, if you stop it’s sharp. If you keep pulling till it falls off, you need to go back to school.

For me, if a knife won't shave the hair off my arm it's not sharp enough. That's my test. Lol.

 

[Mij]

For me, if a knife won't shave the hair off my arm it's not sharp enough. That's my test. Lol.

Ya, the OP said that up thread, and I agree. But sharp is a matter of opinion. He is talking about a knife that sells in the hundreds of dollars I think. Now what is sharp? And how long and how much abuse should it endure before it’s no better than a 50 dollar knife? The question is “ what does sharp look like” witch is open to conjecture. I’ll let others express there own opinions, I know what mine are. And I truly would like to hear others speak on the matter. Particularly “look like” this is a very interesting subject to me. Thanks.

 

[shootersix]

I’d say sharp looks like this!

 

[Mij]

I’d say sharp looks like this!

I must agree, but doesn’t really advance the thread in an appreciable way. For serious blade steel aficionados it is a legitimate concern and merits serious discussion. As always JMO.

edit to add the obligatory

 

[Mij]

Meh, crickets, thought I’d hear some pros chime in here. Don’t keep all that savy to your selves. Help your INGO friends, please.

 

[Doug]

I recommend this book:

View attachment 224650​

https://shop.razoredgesystems.com/collections/books/products/razor-edge-book-of-sharpening

It teaches theory and technique.

You could just read the book written by a professional.

 

[Dean C.]

A lot of things go into it, heat treatment , overall blade steel composition, blade thickness , how the blade is ground and what kind of secondary bevel is applied. Then all of that really depends on the purpose of the knife. I myself am a big fan of roughly .125 blade stock with a full flat grind with an 18-20 degree per side bevel. Generally prefer my heat treat to be between 61-65 generally going for as hard as I can get, I use my knives as knives and am not concerned with chipping.

Now my Strider with it's .190 thick blade stock of S35VN with a Paul Boss heat treat to 61HRC I reprofiled the secondary bevel to a fine 16 degrees per side making it a razor sharp prybar. I would not recommend that steep of an angle with thinner blade stocked knives.

Premium powdered metal tool steel is the way to go for decent grain structures and a very even carbide distribution across the entire blade. Plus when you get into knives at that price point you are almost assured a good heat treat which is every bit as important as blade steel quality. I would take a good heat treated 1095 over a bad heat treated Elmax blade any day of the week (see the old news ZT Elmax steel debacle).

 

[TJ Kackowski]

Looks like the crickets have spoken ... no futher questions? Maybe everybody is still digesting the latest information posted by the pros.

FWIW, there's more in the archives ... if you do some searching.

 

[erasure]

You're all wrong, even the guys posting ZZ Top, sharp looks like this


it's not actually THAT sharp. I'm using Lansky 4-rod turn box, it gets my knives good enough for the paper test, not quite shaving sharp. Any suggestions on how to improve? maybe strop on something other than pants?

 

[Jaybird1980]

You're all wrong, even the guys posting ZZ Top, sharp looks like this
View attachment 230457

it's not actually THAT sharp. I'm using Lansky 4-rod turn box, it gets my knives good enough for the paper test, not quite shaving sharp. Any suggestions on how to improve? maybe strop on something other than pants?

They do make a leather strop for the lansky. Use to be about $10, maybe give that a shot if you want to try a strop.

 

[erasure]

They do make a leather strop for the lansky. Use to be about $10, maybe give that a shot if you want to try a strop.

That's for a different Lansky system, I'll get it when/if I upgrade.

Here's what I've been using
amazon link

REALLY impressed with it, especially for the price.

 

[Doug]

That's for a different Lansky system, I'll get it when/if I upgrade.

Here's what I've been using
amazon link

REALLY impressed with it, especially for the price.

I recommend buying a Razor Edge steel, like this one, to polish your edge. Set the angle to the blade a little steeper than the angle on your sharpening rods.
https://shop.razoredgesystems.com/collections/steels/products/raz-r-steel
I use mine to touch-up the edge between sharpenings and it works for me. It never wears out.
Doug

 

[erasure]

I recommend buying a Razor Edge steel

Interesting! Thanks, I'll look into getting that.

Yesterday I finally managed an edge good enough to shave with

Spoiler

and right away cut myself on it

so I think that's basically that. Knife is sharp enough, now it's the bonus round. That mirror up there is very impressive, let's see if I eventually do as well.

 

[rooster]

Not gonna claim to be the best at sharpening knives but I did run a small business doing it for a while.

That said sharp looks like a smooth cut into a fresh garden tomato, it looks like a clean cut through standard printer paper.

I’m also no expert in steel composition but I’ll tell you that in my opinion high carbon tool steels like old case knives and old timers hold a sharper edge for longer under heavy duty conditions (ie field butchering a deer) than other newer stainless steels. Don’t get me wrong, they are a pain in the **s to sharpen if let dull completely and they do require oil and care. Newer alloys are better in some ways just not holding an edge in adverse conditions.

 

[erasure]

Well, now it's shiny, but not much sharper at all. It cut paper before, it cuts paper a little better now. Still fails push test and just crumples the edge of a paper towel sheet.

 

[Frosty]

View attachment 231419
Well, now it's shiny, but not much sharper at all. It cut paper before, it cuts paper a little better now. Still fails push test and just crumples the edge of a paper towel sheet.

I sharpened a knife I made for my son free hand on my diamond stones, got it shaving sharp, but if you look at the edge you’d think it was a blunt object, dull and just rough looking.