# The sharpest knife?



## chefboy2160 (Oct 13, 2001)

So do you knife geeks and gurus know what knife is the sharpest that you can use to cut with that requires no sharpening?


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## knifesavers (Oct 5, 2011)

Obsidian. It isn't practical but experimental scalpels have been made of it.

I've seen some "caveman" knives made of it.


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## mike9 (Jul 13, 2012)

I'd love a 240mm Obsidian Gyuto, but I'm not holding my breath.  All edges need sharpening at some point.  If you are lazy about sharpening then Aogami Super, or Devin Thomas's AEB-L is for you.  BUT - at some point you will need to take them to the stones.

Hmmm . . . a professional chef asking this question . . . someone might be Trolling.


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## galley swiller (May 29, 2013)

I'm half tempted to say "Kiwi Knives". just to provoke a reaction. See: http://www.cheftalk.com/t/64354/kiwi-brand-knives Begin at Post #26.

Seriously,

The only way you can have a knife that requires no sharpening is to have a knife that is never used to cut anything. Then you can be guaranteed that it will never dull.

In the real world, the use of any knife results in the eventual dulling of the edge and the subsequent need to sharpen. That's just part of reality

GS


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## nyikeen (Mar 29, 2014)

I think the Goko Damascus 240mm Gyuto is the sharpest one period.


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## chefboy2160 (Oct 13, 2001)

Obsidian is the correct answer. Eye surgeons use these scalpels as they do not tear and leave the scar tissue that surgical stainless ones do. The Spaniards reported that the Aztecs war Swords could cut of a Horses head. And that knife which cut out the hearts of uncounted numbers of sacrificial victims was made out of good old Obsidian. Historians are now speculating that the reason the very advanced Indian cultures of this area did not develop metallurgy to the extant other parts of the world did was that they had no need to due to there wealth of Obsidian and its ability to do the cutting tasks needed by there cultures. Here is a good read on the subject http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1086.htm. Enjoy! Oh and now you know what the sharpest knife really is.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

Sharpness is only one aspect of a knife, and arguably not one of the most important.  An obsidian indeed can be made "sharper" than a steel one but is otherwise inferior in almost every other way.  Knapped tools are not nearly as durable as good steel.  Glass, like obsidian, can be staggeringly sharp; the edge can be about as thin as a single molecule.  But you don't see glass knives used for much outside of the laboratory because they're not all all durable.  Chirt, obsidian, glass etc also can't be reliably resharpened to the degree that steel can.

I'm not knocking obsidian but I doubt we'll see it making inroads into the culinary knife market.


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