Thread: Help Sharpening a Brain Knife

With the large amount of experience within SRP I am hoping that someone could guide me. I was recently attempting a dissection at the University only to find that all of our brain knives are dull, chipped and the tips are bent (not that I use the tip). I discovered that one professor allowed a class to use them without instruction.
I decided that rather than deal with a request to the department for new knives or sharpening services I will take it upon myself to sharpen them one at a time until they are all good.
While inspecting these I realized that they have a very wide spine and are hollow ground. I couldn't see a bevel at all. All I can assume is that they were sharpened on the wheel when they were ground.
I am really unsure about resharpening these. I don't know if they are meant to be sharpened with the spine rubbing like a razor or if I need to make a specific angle to accomplish the best edge. I have a wide range of hones to choose from including my razor hones (would prefer not to use them), a tormek, a range of lower grit carborundum, diamond and harder synthetics. I'm not really worried about stones, but I am curious how I should go about this mechanically or how high I should go in grit.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

How about some pics and let the "brain trust" in on the thought process. From the description given, they sound like razors to me.

This is the only image I could find of the model we have. It is difficult to get pics since cameras aren't allowed in the lab, but I will try to snatch one anyway. It helps since everyone knows what I'm doing.

Originally Posted by deighaingeal

With the large amount of experience within SRP I am hoping that someone could guide me. I was recently attempting a dissection at the University only to find that all of our brain knives are dull, chipped and the tips are bent (not that I use the tip).
....snip...

Because they are bent and chipped you have your work cut out for you.

I would hunt some disposable knives and if you find some at a reasonable
price go for it.

Do run them through the autoclave before taking a hone to them.
Since pathology is high on the list of risks in your case make sure
they have been fully cleaned before the autoclave (prions).

A long slicing knife is an ideal candidate for a jig to maintain
the angle.

Since yours are hollow ground with a thick spine there is
a very real possibility that you can sharpen them like a
razor. You can just do it or measure the angle and try slicing
cow or pig brains...

Crock stick sharpeners come in two+ bevel angles. The ones
that stand at about 15 degrees can make a good adjunct to
keeping a slicer sharp. Think sushi knife in terms of grits....

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Because they are bent and chipped you have your work cut out for you.

I would hunt some disposable knives and if you find some at a reasonable
price go for it.

Do run them through the autoclave before taking a hone to them.
Since pathology is high on the list of risks in your case make sure
they have been fully cleaned before the autoclave (prions).

A long slicing knife is an ideal candidate for a jig to maintain
the angle.

Since yours are hollow ground with a thick spine there is
a very real possibility that you can sharpen them like a
razor. You can just do it or measure the angle and try slicing
cow or pig brains...

Crock stick sharpeners come in two+ bevel angles. The ones
that stand at about 15 degrees can make a good adjunct to
keeping a slicer sharp. Think sushi knife in terms of grits....

Thank you very much,
Luckily the chips are very small (1/64") and the tips I might just round off.
Most definitely will be cleaned/sterilized.
I do have some sheep brains left over from an anatomy class last quarter. They should make good test subjects, still have meninges.
Thanks again.

How long are the edges on these? Having a thick spine and hollow ground I would stick to the razor process, it seems to me that the correct geometry may be built in.

Technically that is a Liston knife. Really a trivial detail.

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

Technically that is a Liston knife. Really a trivial detail.

Thanks Mike; unfortunately as a grad student I pick up the habits of the senior professors and one of mine has a bad habit of calling them brain knives.

Kelly: they range from 6" or so to around 14".

Is there a brain fork in the set or are zombies expected to eat "cabaljero style"?

deighaingeal,

Years ago I used to sharpen Liston & old autopsy knives exactly like a straight razor. You had to be 'creative' to get the curve around the tip sharpened correctly I used to finish them on a translucent arkansas stone. Seems like so long ago - I suppose it was (thirty odd years !)

In the end we replaced all the 'old' knives with Swibo boning knives !!

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ