Reasons not to sharpen to a fine edge

1. Last w/e: axe and kindling. Normally I can steady a kindling billet while bringing down the axe or hatchet, and get the paw out of the way in time. Nope. Not this time. The axe not only took off hairs it took off the thumb cuticle. Blood all over the shop. Alcohol wipes stung like b*ggery but did the job.

2. A #6000 edge newly ground on a good knife. On a new stone. The edge cut capsicum like it wasn't there but oddly felt harder to push through meat compared with a 3k edge. Ran the index finger gently down the edge. Found it cut skin and more just fine! Dammit.

Behaviour change required :rolleyes:

Jaysus Ern! I can see how #1 could happen, and I'll bet that gave you a nice hit of adrenalin. Always been concerned about the same thing.

As for #2...:think:....p'raps I won't comment.

Quick recovery.:2tsup:

Ern, you might find that you are the problem, not the edge. Keep your body parts out of the way, knucklehead!:q

ERn's index finger running down the edge to see if its cuts.....actually for a number of milliseconds the brain says "That's not sharp. Can't even feel the edge" You then have enough time to draw in a breath only to have its exhaled along with "S-H-I-T....that is sharp!!" Followed by ouch!!!
We used to put through kids to do work experience when I was working. A truck of melamine shelving would arrive and it was usual practice to get these lads to help. I always warned them how sharp the edges were and to be careful sliding their hand/fingers down the edge of the board. And yep most would end up with lacerations. They then realised that the fart did know something after all
Oh and cold weather! Ern your convalescents will be slow and painful. I hope I'm wrong.
By the way, I once complained that there were no sharp knives in the kitchen drawer to cut meat properly. Wifey said she didn't like real sharp knives because she could injure her self.....women

Rod, yeah, that's zaccly how it happens with a good edge.

Pat, yup, I'm the prob alright. Growing older and not adjusting accordingly.

Brett, in that vein, that's 2x the same cockup.

Can only say that my apprenticeship in sharpening was with turning tools and you learned to feel the edge. Which with std kit then was a wire edge.

They talk about muscle memory. Slowly I'm developing skin memory :rolleyes:

Click.

For years I used to have a blunt knife mainly because I never had a grinder. I now have a grinder and do sharpen the axe but after getting an edge I then run the axe on the concrete to take the razor sharp edge off. As that's what I am used to. :p

This has saved my fingers, hands, legs etc on several occasions; but not from bruising. :doh:

Maybe I need to buy a chainsaw?

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Originally Posted by Christos

For years I used to have a blunt knife mainly because I never had a grinder. I now have a grinder and do sharpen the axe but after getting an edge I then run the axe on the concrete to take the razor sharp edge off. As that's what I am used to. :p

This has saved my fingers, hands, legs etc on several occasions; but not from bruising. :doh:

Maybe I need to buy a chainsaw?

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:roflmao:

There's just no helping some people Christos.

Starve the lizards Ern!! You are right into this self harm are you not?? Don't need to see a counselor do you! :D:D

Hahaha,
coming from a family of butchers & meat industry types.
The old saying was always keeps your knives sharp as a razor, as they hurt less when you cut yourself. I can vouch for this a sharp knife cut hurts way less than a dull knife, a sharp knife stings for a bit & gives you a surreal feeling of OOHH SH@T I've cut myself were a dull knife leaves you in know doubt of what you've just done. A sharp knife cut heals a lot easier as the cut is a lot finer where a dull knife is more of an uneven/rough surface.
The point is sharper hurts less!!:U

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The point is sharper hurts less!!:U

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It also get in quicker and deeper. DAMHIKT:C

Sharp or blunt is always a discussion with our students , sometimes making a tool sharp is a form of procrastination and they spend so much time sharpening , the job could have been done 5 times over with a tool that is slightly less sharp than perfect razor sharp !

There are two very different types of axes in the forest industry: a "cutting" axe and a "splitting" axe. Try them in a piece of wood.
I have become very proficient at keeping my fine wood carving tools "carving sharp." Since I have no design plans for carving fingers, I don't test with my fingers. Instead, I have a piece of the wood (being used in the particular carving) for test cuts.
Sorry to read that you got whacked.
Your career as a meat cutter is off to a good start.

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Originally Posted by AnselmFraser

Sharp or blunt is always a discussion with our students , sometimes making a tool sharp is a form of procrastination and they spend so much time sharpening , the job could have been done 5 times over with a tool that is slightly less sharp than perfect razor sharp !

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When I was a student I was one who used sharpening as a means of procrastination, but it was also 'thinking time' that I could use to resolve a design problem.
Now, I still like my tools really sharp, but I get them to that state as quickly as possible.

One thing that always annoys me is the way Tradies treat their tools. How can a Chippy possibly drive a nail straight when the face of their hammer has more curves & bends than a sheet of corro in a hurricane?

As oft as not, if I had to borrow a tool I also needed to spend more time cleaning it up than actually 'using' it... eg. 10 mins flattening a hammer face on a block of old concrete so I could drive one or two small brads in straight. :rolleyes:

Of course, I made the most of these 'working breaks,' tending to sit in nice, quiet, out-of-the-way spots while I pondered the whichness of the why. (As one does when maintaining & sharpening tools.)

Which led me to overhear one of my old Bosses on site one day, during a delivery...

"You looking for Andy? He's over there, sharpening his hammer."


I think it's fair to say I was NOT going for scary sharp. :U

Just by way of clarification ...

The axe normally only gets used for splitting kindling. With a newish sharpening system I'd put an edge on it like it had never had before and never really needs. I steady the billet with the left paw while the axe comes down, letting go at the last moment. Coordination wasn't good enough on this occasion.

With the Japanese knife, sharp is good as long as micro-serrations remain. I was just doing a reflexive finger wipe. Dumb and dumber as it was the 2nd time.

After 2 weeks dry and bandaged both cuts have healed well.