Given good quality steel, can a pocket knife or hunting knife be sharpened to a razor edge?

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

Sure, but you probably wouldn't want to --- any blade edge sharpened to an acute angle may be, temporarily, shaving sharp, but the edge will wear quickly, and become dull in short order under ordinary use. At an angle of about 20 degrees, a quality steel will hold up to a reasonable amount of work before becoming dull, but probably won't shave the fine hairs off your forearm. Use a razor for shaving, a knife for knife duty.

Just a matter of curiosity. A customer of mine once chided me about my knife because it wouldn't slice through nylon rope in one pass. Then I got to thinking about those old western movies where the cowboys sat around the campfire and shaved with their Bowie knives.
I have two knives that will shave the hair off my arm. Surprisingly, one is a standard military issue Ka Bar. The other is a German Boker I just recently bought.

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

Sir, FWIW, I have several field/hunting knives that are sharp enough to shave arm hair. Getting and keeping them that sharp can be a lot of work, though, depending on the specific steel and heat treatment.

Most of the stainless steel knives I've had have been difficult to sharpen, and the cheaper ones have also been quick to dull. In an inexpensive knife (say, less than $100), carbon steel is a better choice IMHO--it sharpens easier and holds an edge better.

The military issue k-bar knives, usually made by Ontario or Camillus, are surprisingly good for the money. The old Air Force jet pilot's survival knives are similar. Both types are inexpensive carbon steel, but sharpen easily and maintain their edge well. I have more expensive knives that aren't nearly as good.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Wishin' don't make it so.

I couldn't agree more. Of the many, many knives I own, folders, hunters, skinners, fighters etc. the carbon blades are much easier to sharpen to a working edge and hang on to it after some use, much better than stainless. I have a few from the 1930-45 era that are cosmetically awful, were never expensive, but will still out perform many modern stainless blades with ease.

Cheers;
Lefty

While it is true that a razor sharp edge is not compatible with holding up during extended use you can get kinda close with some knives. First, find a hollow grind as the "new" convex or Moran and flat grinds will not work. Next, even the hollow side of the blade from the spine down to within about a quarter inch of the edge. From there do a 20 degree on the edge surface only and you've got a real sharp edge that will hold up a pretty good during hard use.

To do the above you can use carbon or stainless steel just be sure the RC is in the 56 to 60 range. Anything below that is too soft and anything above that even a pro can't sharpen. Many of the modern production knives can't be sharpened and people blame it on the stainless. It's not the steel that's the problem, it's that it was tempered way too high to be any good.

Bob

Swiss army knives out of the box could shave hair the on your arm, haven't bought one in about 15 years so don't know about now. I wouldn't want to shave whiskers with one for sure.
Steve W.

I like my b k @ t survival knife. Very sharp.

I've got a Kershaw Leek that's like a razor. Just stroke one edge along your stone until you raise a "wire" on the opposite edge. You should be able to feel it with your finger when you brush it on the opposite edge, it will feel like a tiny wire on the opposite side on the edge. Now, just flip the knife over and wipe off the "wire" with a couple of light strokes on that side. Instant razor. Be sure to keep a consistent angle and pressure on your strokes all along the edge.

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"... shall not be infringed."

You can get a 20 degree edge shaving sharp. In my experience, the difference between knives that are easy to sharpen and those that are hard to sharpen is the edge preparation. A Case pocket knife can be brought to a shaving edge in just 30 seconds on crock sticks, straight out of the box. Some major-brand knives need a lot more work because the factory didn't remove enough metal to get the edge ready to sharpen.

Like the man said, those shaving edges aren't durable but they're easily restored.

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VIVERE MILITARE EST

They still do, plus they are easy to sharpen to a razor edge. For the money, I have not yet found a more useful little tool than a swiss army knife. I've used mine for everything including cleaning ducks and game. The only task for which I find it lacking is filleting fish. For that, I use the Dexter white handled knives-but that's for another thread.

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Forum consigliere

Agreed, I could shave with mine. It will cut hair that even dares get close to the edge.

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Dick

My step father took one with him to Desert Shield/Sword/Storm. He gave it to me when he came back. I took it with me to OIF/OEF. Now if I have a kid, maybe it can go for a third tour of duty. You aren't kidding either. I had it sharpened before I left and it will still shave arm hair going on five years later. Supposely the guy used some kind of laser gadget to get it sharp and not have too narrow of an edge.

All you wanted to know about sharpening, and then some.

Knife Maintenance and Sharpening - eG Forums

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You are what you learn.

A friend of mine was going to keep his SAK razor sharp by using some cardboard sharping wheels on a grinder. The kind you see at gunshows and some knife shops. It worked real well for about 3 months, then he noticed his blade was wearing away very quickly.

Best possible advice I can offer is what I learned the hard way...buy an edge guide and diamond hones,{Smith's or Lansky's work perfect} read the instructions and give it a try. I was never able to get a good consistent edge on anything until I did. Now I can take the most difficult to sharpen knife and have it shaving sharp in a matter of 15-20 minutes or so. There is no way to mess up or make a serious mistake. A piece of balsa wood about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick rubbed down with polishing compound makes a very effective strop. I have found that for the average hunting knife 154 steel performs great. The current rage seems to be S30V but I didn't have as good a luck with it. Good ol 440 stainless like the stuff Buck uses is not bad either, once you have the edge guide to get it razor sharp. Good luck.

a knife aint worth a dern if it aint sharp!

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WILL WORK FOR AMMO!