Ceramic Knives

Mark Thorson said:

Dave Smith said:

I used to think that I did a reasonable job of sharpening my steel
knives, but they do not compare with my ceramic knives. They were
extremely sharp when I bought them, and after many years of use
without sending them out for sharpening, they are still are very
sharp. Very, very sharp..

If they are that good, why do they not make razors that way.

Kyocera tested the ceramic razor blade, but it turns out that it was too
sharp and instead of gliding over skin while cutting hair, it shaved off
skin, too. Says on the web site:

KITCHEN: Frequently Asked Questions About Ceramic Knives
[...]
The peeler is great! How come you don't make a shaver?
Too dangerous! A metal razor blade has a relatively "rounded" edge
(under the microscope) which prevents the blade from cutting into the
skin. A ceramic razor blade, however, does not have a rounded edge and
slices into the skin. Thus, a ceramic shaver would be too dangerous to
use. Several engineers in Sendai who tested prototypes can confirm this
painful fact!
<http://www.kyoceratycom.com/FineCeramics/Products/kitchen_faq.htm#q16>

Quoted message said:

I use an antique Rolls razor, because I like having a razor which
lasts forever (but it requires stropping with every use).

For more information on the Rolls razor, go here:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/3541/Rolls_Page.htm

I still have (but don't use) a gold-plated Gillette safety razor along
with several old straight razors from grandfathers (which I also don't
use). When I tried to explain to my son about them, he just looked
baffled. The only blades he's ever seen were stainless steel and disposable.

I shave with one of the multi-blade razors (since deleting the beard)
and shaving gel. They do a better, faster job than anything I've used
before. Everybody's MMV.

Pastorio

Pastorio

Dave Smith said:

Mark Thorson said:

If they are that good, why do they not make razors
that way. I use an antique Rolls razor, because I
like having a razor which lasts forever (but it
requires stropping with every use).

Good question. I have my grandfather's straight razor somewhere around
the house. I remember the double sided "safety razors" of a few decades
ago, and men walking around in the morning with little pieces of tissue
stuck to the nicks to staunch the flow of blood from the morning shave.

I find myself getting fewer cuts and less razor burn
from the Rolls razor than from disposables. I think
that sharpness of the edge may be overrated, as compared
to other factors that affect shaving. A friend of
mine who is quite susceptible to razor burn claims he gets
best results with the disposables by breaking-in the blade
by running it against something before first use.

Mark Thorson said:

Dave Smith said:

Mark Thorson said:

If they are that good, why do they not make razors
that way. I use an antique Rolls razor, because I
like having a razor which lasts forever (but it
requires stropping with every use).

Good question. I have my grandfather's straight razor somewhere around
the house. I remember the double sided "safety razors" of a few decades
ago, and men walking around in the morning with little pieces of tissue
stuck to the nicks to staunch the flow of blood from the morning shave.

I find myself getting fewer cuts and less razor burn
from the Rolls razor than from disposables.

Um, you're supposed to *dispose* of the disposable well before 100
shaves.

Quoted message said:

I think
that sharpness of the edge may be overrated, as compared
to other factors that affect shaving.

Yes, ya cheap [censored], yer supposed to use shaving cream, and turn on
your hot water heater.

A friend of

Quoted message said:

mine who is quite susceptible to razor burn claims he gets
best results with the disposables by breaking-in the blade
by running it against something before first use.

Yeah, like brillo... probably onliest razors that wimp gets to use are
his wife's bikini cut discards.

Sheldon Lava

Bob (this one) said:

The only blades he's ever seen were stainless steel and disposable.

Disposable blades are not stainless steel. They are
carbon steel with an extremely thin chrome plating.

Mark Thorson said:

I find myself getting fewer cuts and less razor burn
from the Rolls razor than from disposables. I think
that sharpness of the edge may be overrated, as compared
to other factors that affect shaving. A friend of
mine who is quite susceptible to razor burn claims he gets
best results with the disposables by breaking-in the blade
by running it against something before first use.

I should have been more specific about the disposables. I consider al the
blades that you use for a week or two and then discard as disposables. I
have not cut myself shaving with those things for years. The Bic
disposables, on the other hand, are guaranteed to draw blood on me.

aem said:

And I don't want a 'never needs sharpening' knife if what that really
means is 'i can't sharpen it.' Cutting food eventually dulls my
knives, even though you would think that meat and fruit and vegetables
were softer than hard stainless steel. So then I sharpen them and I'm
good to go again. What would I do with the ceramic knife then, throw
it away? -aem

That is my attitude as well. But, we have had ceramic-bladed Y peeler
and two simple plastic mandolins (non-adjustable) for two or three
years now and they work just as they did new..

I had trouble keeping knives in god shape on the boat in our 5-month
cruise this summer, and I have been thinking of trying ceramics there.
A pairing knife won't break the bank to try for a while, so I may do
that. If I do, I'll post results after a few years.

You don't throw them away. If they get edge damage you send them back
to Kyocera where they can be sharpened. I expexct that is expensive,
but rare.

Rodney Myrvaagnes J 36 Gjo/a

Kansas--working to become a science-free zone

Mark Thorson said:

Bob (this one) said:

The only blades he's ever seen were stainless steel and disposable.

Disposable blades are not stainless steel. They are
carbon steel with an extremely thin chrome plating.

I stand metallurgically corrected.

Pastorio

Rodney Myrvaagnes said:

aem said:

And I don't want a 'never needs sharpening' knife if what that really
means is 'i can't sharpen it.' Cutting food eventually dulls my
knives, even though you would think that meat and fruit and vegetables
were softer than hard stainless steel. So then I sharpen them and I'm
good to go again. What would I do with the ceramic knife then, throw
it away? -aem

That is my attitude as well. But, we have had ceramic-bladed Y peeler
and two simple plastic mandolins (non-adjustable) for two or three
years now and they work just as they did new..

I had trouble keeping knives in god shape on the boat in our 5-month
cruise this summer, and I have been thinking of trying ceramics there.
A pairing knife won't break the bank to try for a while, so I may do
that. If I do, I'll post results after a few years.

You don't throw them away. If they get edge damage you send them back
to Kyocera where they can be sharpened. I expexct that is expensive,
but rare.

Actually, they can be sharpened by knife professionals who have diamond
wheels. The manufacturers will grudgingly give you names of certified shops.

Pastorio

Sheldon said:

[snip] ...one could probably do light touch ups at home with one of
those fercocktah diamond hones that idiots use to ruin perfectly good
steel cutlery... diamond hones were developed for dressing fully
hardened tool steels and carbides, not the relatively soft steel used
for cutlery, soft steel will load up with diamond particles and then in
use will continue to accellerate dulling itself forever, the loaded
diamond particles can never be removed... such a knife will literally
destroy itself and a knife steel... never switch a diamond honed blade
back to a knife steel. [snip]

Where does this idea about diamond particles loading up the knife come
from? Source? -aem

In article <[email hidden]>, Janet Bostwick

Quoted message said:

What's the deal with ceramic knives? I know nothing about them. They're
touted as never needing sharpening and unbreakable. I'm not interested in
buying any more knives, but I just want to know something more about them.
Janet

Never heard that they were unbreakable. In fact, just the opposite;
Ming Tsai says they are susceptible to chipping and knicking. Don't
know if the factory can repair a chip.

Stark said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Janet Bostwick

Quoted message said:

What's the deal with ceramic knives? I know nothing about them. They're
touted as never needing sharpening and unbreakable. I'm not interestedin
buying any more knives, but I just want to know something more about them.
Janet

Never heard that they were unbreakable. In fact, just the opposite;
Ming Tsai says they are susceptible to chipping and knicking. Don't
know if the factory can repair a chip.

Unless their warranty stated otherwise regarding 'chips and misuse'
they would probably simply replace the knife... yer talkin' like 39¢
worth of sintered ceramic, the handle is worth more than the blade. I
just wouldn't expect this service more than once.. the S&H ya know.
The thing to embed in ones miniscule skull is that ceramic bladed
cutlery is more for show than go... why would anyone other than an
obtuse slope-browed dago imbecile want to go way way back to what is
essentially the Neanderthal flint knapping era.

Sheldon Auel

"Bob (this one)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Disposable blades are not stainless steel. They are
carbon steel with an extremely thin chrome plating.

I stand metallurgically corrected.

Man, THAT sounds painful....

Bob M.

Sheldon said:

Stark said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Janet Bostwick

Quoted message said:

What's the deal with ceramic knives? I know nothing about them. They're
touted as never needing sharpening and unbreakable. I'm not interested in
buying any more knives, but I just want to know something more about them.
Janet

Never heard that they were unbreakable. In fact, just the opposite;
Ming Tsai says they are susceptible to chipping and knicking. Don't
know if the factory can repair a chip.

Unless their warranty stated otherwise regarding 'chips and misuse'
they would probably simply replace the knife...

Given that websites have been posted several times, before blowholing
like you do, it might be revelatory for you to actually read something
besides those books you plagiarize.

They regrind the knives.

Senescent fool

Pastorio

Quoted message said:

yer talkin' like 39¢
worth of sintered ceramic,

Right. Research is too tedious, right, Cookie? You'd rather rely on your
50-year-old misinformation.

Quoted message said:

the handle is worth more than the blade. I
just wouldn't expect this service more than once.. the S&H ya know.
The thing to embed in ones miniscule skull is that ceramic bladed
cutlery is more for show than go...

Spoken like the full-fledged buffoon you are.

Quoted message said:

why would anyone other than an
obtuse slope-browed dago imbecile want to go way way back to what is
essentially the Neanderthal flint knapping era.

Because any one of them is smarter than you.

Pastorio

Bob Myers said:

"Bob (this one)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Disposable blades are not stainless steel. They are
carbon steel with an extremely thin chrome plating.

I stand metallurgically corrected.

Man, THAT sounds painful....

Well, it is. First they have to convert your Bessemer then they
Fahrenheit your Celsius. And that's all before the correction even
begins. And don't even get me started on what happens when they Range
your Mesabi...

No, seriously...

Pastorio

Sheldon said:

The thing to embed in ones miniscule skull is that ceramic bladed
cutlery is more for show than go... why would anyone other than an
obtuse slope-browed dago imbecile want to go way way back to what is
essentially the Neanderthal flint knapping era.

Balderdash. You obviously haven't used one, and you obviously don't know much
about modern ceramics if you liken it to flint knapping.

Dave Smith said:

Sheldon wrote:

Balderdash. You obviously haven't used one, and you obviously don't know much
about modern ceramics if you liken it to flint knapping.

Flint knapping is still done by hobbyists/artisans. This site has some
neat pictures and a good description of it. For modern ceramics I
suppose you'd go to Kyocera's website but I doubt they reveal all their
secrets there. -aem
http://www.msu.edu/~doneycar/fkpg/fkpg07.html

aem said:

Dave Smith said:

Sheldon wrote:

Balderdash. You obviously haven't used one, and you obviously don't know much
about modern ceramics if you liken it to flint knapping.

Flint knapping is still done by hobbyists/artisans. This site has some
neat pictures and a good description of it. For modern ceramics I
suppose you'd go to Kyocera's website but I doubt they reveal all their
secrets there. -aem
http://www.msu.edu/~doneycar/fkpg/fkpg07.html

'Zactly, still lots of flint knapping affectionados, a true art form,
many do excellent work.

Kyocera is NOT a ceramics expert, far from it... they are strictly
ceramic cutlery *marketers*, they know exactly ZERO about ceramics
applications, they are hawking hype and handles is all... their faq is
rife with bs... I guarantee they don't sell many ceramic bladed knives,
no normal brained person is going to spend upwards of a hundred bux on
a widdle paring knife that has a lifetime of one fall to the floor. To
learn the truth about ceramic cutters search <ceramic machine tools>.

http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/049903.html

http://www2.ceramtec.com/Index_Flash.cfm

Sheldon

Sheldon said:

Kyocera is NOT a ceramics expert, far from it... they are strictly
ceramic cutlery *marketers*, they know exactly ZERO about ceramics
applications, [snip the rest, maybe get to it later]

No. When the game was investing we did pretty good research on
Kyocera. They achieved their first major successes as an industrial
ceramics company before they branched by acquisitions into other lines
of business. They may well be the best in the world at creating,
modifying, and finding uses for technical ceramics. At one point they
were most of the way to building an automotive engine entirely out of
ceramics just to show that it could be done. Oh, and at the time, yes,
we did quite well with our Kyocera investment.

In the western part of your state in the small town of Alfred lies
Alfred University, which touts itself as having one of the world's
leading ceramics programs in its engineering department. The endowment
from Kyocera's founder that enables that program is described on their
website. -aem

Sheldon said:

Kyocera is NOT a ceramics expert, far from it...

<http://global.kyocera.com/> The name of the company is formed from
KYOto CERAmics.

Quoted message said:

they are strictly
ceramic cutlery *marketers*, they know exactly ZERO about ceramics
applications, they are hawking hype and handles is all...

You delusional moron, they're a huge company dealing in a very wide
array of products, many of which rely on ceramics. Knives and other
cutlery are essentially a throwaway department for them.
<http://global.kyocera.com/ir/index.html>

Quoted message said:

their faq is
rife with bs... I guarantee they don't sell many ceramic bladed knives,

Your "guarantee" isn't worth the cowshit it would take to bury it, you
blowhole ignoramus. How on earth would you know how many knives they sell?

Quoted message said:

no normal brained person is going to spend upwards of a hundred bux on
a widdle paring knife that has a lifetime of one fall to the floor.

Right. Mr. Normal-brained Sheldon-person speaking...

A lot of professionals use them. Apparently they sell enough of them for
some very large distributors to carry them.

Quoted message said:

To learn the truth about ceramic cutters search <ceramic machine tools>.

http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/049903.html

http://www2.ceramtec.com/Index_Flash.cfm

These sites have nothing to do with the sorts of ceramics under
discussion and the applications are a universe away.

Pastorio

Sheldon said:

Kyocera is NOT a ceramics expert, far from it...

<http://global.kyocera.com/> The name of the company is formed from
KYOto CERAmics.

Quoted message said:

they are strictly
ceramic cutlery *marketers*, they know exactly ZERO about ceramics
applications, they are hawking hype and handles is all...

You delusional moron, they're a huge company dealing in a very wide
array of products, many of which rely on ceramics. Knives and other
cutlery are essentially a throwaway department for them.
<http://global.kyocera.com/ir/index.html>

Quoted message said:

their faq is
rife with bs... I guarantee they don't sell many ceramic bladed knives,

Your "guarantee" isn't worth the cowshit it would take to bury it, you
blowhole ignoramus. How on earth would you know how many knives they sell?

Quoted message said:

no normal brained person is going to spend upwards of a hundred bux on
a widdle paring knife that has a lifetime of one fall to the floor.

Right. Mr. Normal-brained Sheldon-person speaking...

A lot of professionals use them. Apparently they sell enough of them for
some very large distributors to carry them.

Quoted message said:

To learn the truth about ceramic cutters search <ceramic machine tools>.

http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/049903.html

http://www2.ceramtec.com/Index_Flash.cfm

These sites have nothing to do with the sorts of ceramics under
discussion and the applications are a universe away.

Pastorio