Calling Larrin

[TkoK83Spy]

...waiting for it

[Bolster]

Light the Larrin-Signal. I imagine it’s the pair of
glasses in his logo on the night sky.

[JSumm]

Light the Larrin-Signal. I imagine it’s the pair of
glasses in his logo on the night sky.

Nice! Please save this for random drops after steel discussions.

I think Larrin's comment about Science of Sharp is spot on. This would be a great article for his page.

[sal]

I've always enjoyed Todd Simpson's work. how do we get him to join our forum?

sal

[prndltech]

It’s same gnomes that steal socks in the drier

[JSumm]

Sal, he has an email on his website. I bet he would respond to you.
scienceofsharp@scienceofsharp.com

[BornIn1500]

I wonder if it's mostly psychological. All the effort and time some people put into sharpening convinces them that their resulting edge is sharper than it really is. Then, when they take the knife back out after awhile and they've forgotten about their blood/sweat/tears sharpening investment, it's not such a screamingly hair-whittling edge that they believe they had.

They wanted it to be... therefore it was.

[Fireman]

It’s same gnomes that steal socks in the drier

Sock Drawer Gremlins


I’d like to see a test done with H1, some stainless steel and a variety of high carbon steels

[JRinFL]

I wonder if it's mostly psychological. All the effort and time some people put into sharpening convinces them that their resulting edge is sharper than it really is. Then, when they take the knife back out after awhile and they've forgotten about their blood/sweat/tears sharpening investment, it's not such a screamingly hair-whittling edge that they believe they had.

They wanted it to be... therefore it was.

Memory is malleable. Without testing before and after, how can one really tell if the sharpness has changed?

[tonijedi]

Can't be corrosion, as we've salt series steels.
I'm not saying it doesn't happen, as I have had this experience even with H1 (both SE and PE) but I'm inclined to the psychologic hypothesis playing a big part.

[JoviAl]

I wonder if it's mostly psychological. All the effort and time some people put into sharpening convinces them that their resulting edge is sharper than it really is. Then, when they take the knife back out after awhile and they've forgotten about their blood/sweat/tears sharpening investment, it's not such a screamingly hair-whittling edge that they believe they had.

They wanted it to be... therefore it was.

This makes a great deal of sense. Up until this point I had a sneaking suspicion my wife was sneaking my freshly sharpened work knives out at night and blunting them, likely as some sort of psy-op retaliation for me leaving my morning’s tea cup on my bedside table all day.

In seriousness I have found since applying anti corrosion chemicals after sharpening my knives do seem to retain that hair flensing edge when I pull them out of storage after a week or so.

[JD Spydo]

An item of discussion that I've personally noticed over the years has to do with what I deem as really low quality, dime store, discount house knives that you can get at your local "Rip-Mart" store. The Stainless steel in these blades is like working with soft, non-ferrous metals.

I've had so many of these discount blades given to me over the years including the ones I've gotten at garage sales, thrift stores and a few "giveaway" scenarios. I like checking out low quality items to see how they match up with well made blades.

What I've noticed over the years is that no matter how meticulous your sharpening skills and no matter how carefully you sharpen these pretend blades is that you can't keep them sharp no matter how much work you apply to their edges. Even serrated blades made with these inferior blade steels can't perform for any length of time. Any consumer with even a double digit I.Q. can see that these super cheap knives ( culinary or general use) are so inferior that you really can't get any significant use from them.

I'm sure you all know the cheap items I'm referring to. I don't even know how they can call these Rip-Mart blades a viable tool or a functional knife. Discount knives are truly one of the biggest rip offs in the entire consumer world.
PROVE ME WRONG!!!

[Christian Noble]

This happens with stone too. Unmodified flakes at the time they are knapped are at their sharpest (period). Easy to recognize if you are flint knapper and I can personally attest to this phenomena - that and flint knapping is one of the first bloodsports - bandaids are you friend.

All that said and using an obsidian edge as the best example, it’s so thin (down to 3 nanometers) you are at the molecular level - a DNA strand is 2.5 nanometers by comparison. As it was explained to me, the edge is almost liquid like in that the particles of a super thin edge immediately start settling and making it less thin, therefore not as sharp.

Would think it would be to a similar, albeit lessser, extent the same with metal knives (in addition to oxidation).

[prndltech]

This happens with stone too. Unmodified flakes at the time they are knapped are at their sharpest (period). Easy to recognize if you are flint knapper and I can personally attest to this phenomena - that and flint knapping is one of the first bloodsports - bandaids are you friend.

All that said and using an obsidian edge as the best example, it’s so thin (down to 3 nanometers) you are at the molecular level - a DNA strand is 2.5 nanometers by comparison. As it was explained to me, the edge is almost liquid like in that the particles of a super thin edge immediately start settling and making it less thin, therefore not as sharp.

Would think it would be to a similar, albeit lessser, extent the same with metal knives (in addition to oxidation).

Wow… I learn something new everyday here.

On the other hand you could all be lying to me and I wouldn’t know the difference

[Fireman]

I have done paper test and it loses edge feel “Bite” Ceramic won’t have this issue

[sal]

Thanx Jeff.

I emailed him.

sal

[sal]

I think that some seriou testing could be useful.

sal

[Wartstein]

This happens with stone too....

Thanks, this was a truly Interesting read!

And thinking of that the very first "knife" "guys" and "knife: users in the stoneage probably had their edges getting duller if not used (well, better EVEN if not used ) too is kind of fascinating...

[Bemo]

Amazing thread. Again. Yet as usual around here. I knew knapped obsidian was sharp, but that's another level of sharp.

[RustyIron]

This happens with stone too. Unmodified flakes at the time they are knapped are at their sharpest (period). Easy to recognize if you are flint knapper and I can personally attest to this phenomena

Whaaaat? Do you make stone tools? WAY cool! If you wouldn't mind posting a few pics, I'm sure we'd all like to see.

One of my boyhood mentors, nearly half a century ago, was a heroic sort of character who did everything a young boy admires: race cars, motorcycles, aircraft, spacecraft, and an expert on Native American culture in the Southwest. He tried to guide me into making tools, but obtaining raw material, antlers, and leather were quite a challenge for a young city boy in the olden days. One of the books he got me to read was Manual for Neanderthals -- somewhat of a primer for aspiring... Neanderthals. Alas, I never gave it much effort. I still don't have enough motivation to try, but it sure looks like fun.