Can a knife be too sharp?

Welcome to the Wicked Edge Forum Thomas Brannan,

“Sharp” can be quantified with sharpness testers like a “BESS Edge-On-up Tester”.  This I guess is the “absolute” sharpness.  Knives of the  various types and styles there are, are often purpose made for a focused use or choir.

This sharpness your describing is a more subjective sharpness where your edge quality is sharpened for a specific need or specialized purpose, like for hunting.  Because of this the best absolutely sharp knife edge is not what’s the sharpest edge for your use.

There really is not one sharpening plan or process that works best for every sharpening session.  Sharpening knives in a specific manner to get purpose focused results is what I like to call the “art of knife sharpening”.  This ability is learned over time as you try different ways and experience the results.  We always can learn different methods by what we pick up from others that has worked best for them, for your same needs.  That all said, which I’m sure you’re well aware of, drives us to sharpen each knife the best we can for the purpose they’re being used for.

Your hunting knife, (made with that fine S35VN steel), can absolutely be sharpened too sharp to dress your game and be long lasting.  But toning it down too much is not good either. I will see if I can search up an old W.E. Forum thread where Clay, the W.E. founder, shared his knife sharpening experience he learned when he guided hunting trips and dressed their kills.  I will post the link here, in this thread, for you when I find it.

I try to use new knives first, for some time at least, before I try to sharpen these.  I want to believe for a better quality special purpose knife that the knife makers know what they’re doing and their products are designed, ground and sharpened to work best for that purpose.  When I got my first W.E. setup I used to rush to sharpen my newly bought knives.  I knew with the W.E, sharpener I could improve on what I was seeing and often what I was feeling.  I hadn’t learned yet what I know now.  Now I prefer to use my knives as they’re made to get a feel for the maker’s skill and  design intentions.  After using them until they absolutely need a sharpening, then I have a better idea what the knife was meant to do and I learn a basis for comparison to the maker’s edge to emulate when I do sharpen them.

I recognize some knew knife edges may feel disappointing.   After first inspecting the new, out-of-box edge, with a USB Microscope, I can actually see how the grinds looks.  I can say after doing it this way, for years now, most of these almost crappy looking and poorly sharp feeling knives are still great performing. Surprisingly great performers, despite it.

When I just sharpened them all up, I never felt the maker’s edge.  Just my sharpening job.  I had no basis for comparison to know what I should expect it to feel like.  Something to strive for when I finally need to sharpen them.  I barely did more then a paper slice or maybe shaved a little arm hair with some fairly expensive knives before I put my take and my edge on it.

The other side was with these poor practices I was removing and wasting a lot of brand new, never really used premium steels as I profiled these knife edges to be better. In my mind.  That steel was lost, wasted.  The worst experiences were when I didn’t like how my newly purchased pricey knives cut with my newly sharpened edges. After I ruined a couple really nice knives as I repeatedly reprofiled them chasing after my best plan, I quit that practice.

Now, for a real under performer, out-of-the box knife,, I may take it to a hand strop.  This quick and un-invassive step usually brings the new edge back out.  Then back with my plan to use my new knives until they really “need” to be sharpened.  When I finally need to sharpen these knives I know exactly how they were meant to feel.  I can also look at the USB photos I saved from when I first inspected the new knives.  That gives me a plan for the sharpening grind style I want to apply that best copies how the knife edges were applied when new.

Here is the thread where Clay shared his knife sharpening experiences learned while guiding.  This may not be exactly what you need to do for your knife when you choose to sharpen it.  But it does go to the point I’m attempting to make, above.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Marc H.