# The sharpest knife.



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

I wasn't going to do it, but you know salesman Ken Schwartz. He's so slick he can sell you back your own truck and also bill you for new floor mats.

Most of my business is in jackknives, fishing knives, and knives for law enforcement and deployed soldiers. Sure, he sold me stuff to take an average jackknife from as dull as Jammer to as keen as a plastic surgeon's scalpel with just 3.2 million nanodiamond slurry. Heck, a real-deal Samurai sword in a museum can only go about 100,000 grit.

But you know the drill. Ken catches me at a weak moment. He bemoans that his entire family is down to eating just A5 Kobe Strip Steak. And choking back the tears he pleads with me, _"Chico, ya' gotta help me, my Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo is making a pinging noise!"_

What could I do? I said, _"Okay, Ken, what do I have to buy today?"_ He gasps something about 'very tiny diamonds.' Claims he giving them to me and losing money.

So, the box comes. A little two ounce spray bottle containing some form of dark gray slurry. I look at the metric numbers, get out my wife's calculator and factor the gibberish into real Amurkin numbers. I look at the zeroes, gulp, and try the numbers again. Same data.

I'm holding a bottle of nanodiamonds, except these are at 5.4 million grit. Yikes, NASA uses something called _Mr. Clean Optima_.

So until Ken sells a second bottle of this jungle juice, the knife below might be the sharpest cutting tool in America. And it's in the hands of a maniacal biker. (Click on the picture to make it bigger).


----------



## SerenityTactical (Aug 17, 2015)

I just purchased an Apex pro sharpener as I'm not skilled with a whetstone. I might even be able to get an edge back on my Shiro...









Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Buy lots of black magic markers, and make your first adjustment very high. It should take a little black off the edge. Dial it back slowly until you hit the edge where the bevel becomes part of the decorative portion of the blade. The Japanese refer to this as "the shinogi line."

BTW, my favorite part of those pictures is taking a very sharp edge and setting it right in the middle of the Queen of Heart's eye. If it's been shined perfectly, you don't recognize it right away.

Oh, and call Ken Schwartz, 209-612-2790. If he doesn't have it you won't need it. One of the most honest men I know.


----------



## Urinal Cake (Oct 19, 2013)

You can Can Brush you teeth in the reflection of that edge!
Nice Job!


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

By the way, that edge is so sharp that I photograph them with the edge half-way on the Queen's eye. That really impresses people on how keen that edge is.


----------



## SerenityTactical (Aug 17, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> By the way, that edge is so sharp that I photograph them with the edge half-way on the Queen's eye. That really impresses people on how keen that edge is.


What are you using as a sharpener ?
Nice work.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

SerenityTactical said:


> What are you using as a sharpener ? Nice work.


You shape with an Atoma 140, then use a progression of stones until you get to 10,000 grit. I was thinking about going to 20,000 grit but the blade steel wasn't as grainy as the ones I used last week. Then I polished with two kinds of Alumina, and a black PDP emulsion. I had some 3.2 million grit nanodiamond slurry. It looked pretty flawless by then, so I took a gamble and did the finish polishing with 5.4 million grit nanodiamond slurry.

These are all Ken Schwartz products, and I've never found anything better.


----------



## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

How durable is a blade when that sharp? If , for say cutting meats, and such.


----------



## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Very impressive @The Tourist


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Steve40th said:


> How durable is a blade when that sharp? If , for say cutting meats, and such.


Polishing a blade does not effect its Rc rating. This knife will slip through any meat, even sushi. Even muggers.

Looks of people think that a polished knife is "too pretty" and must be "too fragile." It's the same knife, it just slices better. To my knowledge, I hit the ceiling on this one. I don't think they make a finer number than 5.4 million grit.


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Slippy said:


> Very impressive @The Tourist


Thank you Slippy. This was my first knife using the new slurry. Yikes, it is too sharp to even lightly touch.


----------



## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

The Tourist said:


> Polishing a blade does not effect its Rc rating. This knife will slip through any meat, even sushi. Even muggers.
> 
> Looks of people think that a polished knife is "too pretty" and must be "too fragile." It's the same knife, it just slices better. To my knowledge, I hit the ceiling on this one. I don't think they make a finer number than 5.4 million grit.


What would you charge to sharpen a knife, such as my Spyderco Salt


----------



## SerenityTactical (Aug 17, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> Thank you Slippy. This was my first knife using the new slurry. Yikes, it is too sharp to even lightly touch.


I wish I had a little of your sharpening savvy...

Anyway I'm going to attempt to operate this Apex Edge Pro machine and just hope I don't completely butcher my Shiro's 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Steve40th said:


> What would you charge to sharpen a knife, such as my Spyderco Salt


How bad is it? I usually work on time and materials. But I never charge a member a lot. Do you have a picture?


----------



## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

The Tourist said:


> How bad is it? I usually work on time and materials. But I never charge a member a lot. Do you have a picture?


Its not to bad. I use it allot for cutting cardboard, lines. It dulls fairly quick, I think its the card board. Utility knifes with the removal blades dont cut as well as this did when new.
Its just a solid work knife.


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Reply, yes it is the cadboard. Paper and cardboard made in the USA usually has some form of stone mixed into the liquid paper before it even becomes paper. Usually it's for color, but sometimes for strength. The process smells if you've ever been around a paper factory.

I'll be happy to polish the knife, but if you're going to use a cutting tool to for cardboard, I'd suggest getting one of those razor blade knives with the disposable blades. I paid three or four bucks for mine and I bought a Stanley 100 pack of razor blades about ten years ago, and I have 2/3s of them left. When one end dulls, you turn the blade around and use the other end.


----------



## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

The Tourist said:


> Reply, yes it is the cadboard. Paper and cardboard made in the USA usually has some form of stone mixed into the liquid paper before it even becomes paper. Usually it's for color, but sometimes for strength. The process smells if you've ever been around a paper factory.
> 
> I'll be happy to polish the knife, but if you're going to use a cutting tool to for cardboard, I'd suggest getting one of those razor blade knives with the disposable blades. I paid three or four bucks for mine and I bought a Stanley 100 pack of razor blades about ten years ago, and I have 2/3s of them left. When one end dulls, you turn the blade around and use the other end.


It has stone in it. Never thought it would have that in it. We do have a paper mill here in Charleston. It was a tell tale sign we knew we were coming home as the smell would come into the submarine...
I have a Milwaukee razor knife.. I will use that instead.. Thnx


----------



## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

The Tourist said:


> Polishing a blade does not effect its Rc rating. This knife will slip through any meat, even sushi. Even muggers.
> 
> Looks of people think that a polished knife is "too pretty" and must be "too fragile." It's the same knife, it just slices better. To my knowledge, I hit the ceiling on this one. I don't think they make a finer number than 5.4 million grit.


I think the question is, "How long will it STAY that sharp once it starts getting USED?"


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Back Pack Hack said:


> I think the question is, "How long will it STAY that sharp once it starts getting USED?"


As long as it did before. Polishing is not "grinding." When I finish a knife I do not have chips on the floor, I have dirty smudges on a rag.

The reason most people grind is that they do not know how to sharpen. They grind away perfectly good metal until a knife gets sharp by accident.

Look at Samurai swords. Many of them are over 800 years old. They have been in countless battles, chipped, scratched and dulled. But a togishi cannot remove much metal. Most of the sword is made of soft steel called "tamahagane." The softer profile means the sword won't crack or snap if it hits armor. The hard steel called "shingane" is the part that is sharpened. And considering the time period it gets very sharp.

But the hard layer is very thin, and if a togishi grinds through it into the soft steel the sword is worthless. Polishers use the same principle. I just opened a new box of Kershaw Barges. On one of them the right side bevel was fairly even, but on the left side the "grinder" had removed twice the amount of metal to make the tip. Not only that, the entire bevel had coarse, grinding marks. I have tools and stones to fix this, and _*here is the rag from the repair*_.

A polished knife is just as strong as the rough knife it was. And since it slides through meat, skin or simple cardboard, the knife will probably last longer.


----------



## Steve40th (Aug 17, 2016)

This is what our society is missing. Craftsman. People that know their craft extremely well.


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Steve40th said:


> This is what our society is missing. Craftsman. People that know their craft extremely well.


Some Japanese togishis refer to polishing as "the curse." The reason being is that you will never get the edge 'perfect.' In my favorite YouTube interview with a Japanese Togishi, he said that in the ten years with his master plus the 15 years on his own, he was _only satisfied once_.

I have a good client who is a veterinarian in Tennessee. We had this same conversation, and he asked me if in the +20 years I ever made a perfect edge. I told yes, I had four of them, locked in my walk-in safe. Without a moment's hesitation on make, model or price, he said simply, "Send them."

I've come very close since then. I only use stones from Ken Schwartz and I flatten my stones and clean everything like it's surgery. And, yes, Japanese chefs have used my folded steel.


----------



## SerenityTactical (Aug 17, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> You shape with an Atoma 140, then use a progression of stones until you get to 10,000 grit. I was thinking about going to 20,000 grit but the blade steel wasn't as grainy as the ones I used last week. Then I polished with two kinds of Alumina, and a black PDP emulsion. I had some 3.2 million grit nanodiamond slurry. It looked pretty flawless by then, so I took a gamble and did the finish polishing with 5.4 million grit nanodiamond slurry.
> 
> These are all Ken Schwartz products, and I've never found anything better.


I need a "Matrix" style download to integrate that specialist skill set...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

I just send my knives to Chuck Norris. He doesn't even have to open the box and look at them. Just_ being near him_ makes them as sharp as possible. :tango_face_grin:


----------



## okey (Sep 13, 2018)

and you dont dare take them into the bush and use them enough to know if they're any damned good, cause you're so scared of losing or damaging one. What's the point of that?


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

SerenityTactical said:


> I need a "Matrix" style download to integrate that specialist skill set...


Think of the numbers as you would the grades of sandpaper. The lower the number, the more coarse the grit. The Atoma 140 is actually a piece of steel. Almost all knives are crooked, or have uneven bevels. The Atoma allows you to make bevels uniform front to back, and left to right. The edge then goes right down the middle of the blank. Once the shaping is done, each level of stone makes the edge more and more refined.


----------



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

okey said:


> and you dont dare take them into the bush and use them enough to know if they're any damned good, cause you're so scared of losing or damaging one. What's the point of that?


Who told you that? My knives go everywhere I do. Right now I'm rotating three knives, a Kizer, a Barge and a Spline. They are true EDCs. If something needs to be sliced, it gets sliced.


----------

