Thread: Who has honed a knife then shaved with it?

As far as I know, John Juranitch out of Minnesota, aka Razor Edge Systems, still holds the record for shaving with an axe. I seriously doubt it's a BBS shave, but hey... gotta give the guy credit.

Video of the shave is on the Razor Edge System website, but not Youtube unfortunately.

Regards

Kaptain "Thanks, I'll pass on the axe, hand me that straight razor" Zero

While I am sure you can, I don't really see why you would, a knife that is genuinely razor sharp would be a fairly useless knife. There are videos of guys shaving with axes, hunting knives and apparently even a spoon, I am happy to use my razor to be honest.

A gent by the name of Larry (Posted as Gramps) over on SMF, once posted waaay back about a shave he did with his knife. I do not know what has happened with him since as this was posted back in the mid 2000s but I thought I'd share it here as the topic suits:

I thought I'd tell you a story.

Ten years ago (eleven?) I was at the deer-hunting camp.

An arguement started among some of the guys about how to sharpen knives... and the best methods/stones/leather to use and of course, who had the sharpest implements in the camp.
It became a pretty loud (more to do with booze and testosterone I think) exchange and I did my best to stay out of it. You see, I KNOW my knives are sharp and had nothing to prove. (I also am a Karate and Jiu Jitsu instructor and am not real intersested in a fight with drunk hunters!)

Well I went quietly into my trailer and came out with my stainless steel shaving bowl, soap, towel and a small pot of water to heat up on the BBQ.
A couple noticed, but the crowd went silent when I started to lather up. It is supposed to be tradition to not shave at the camp... pooh with tradition LOL.
Then I pulled my Western Cutlery blade out of the sheath on my belt, back-stroked it twice on my boot and commenced shaving.

The arguement ended right there without me saying a word! They remained totally silent until I finished my shave. Everyone of them had to have a look at my face after and the only thing one said was, "Your neck looks a bit red" Hahaha
And the topic never came up again.... for the next 5-6 years... that's when I stopped hunting. But even now, a couple of the guys still get me to sharpen their knives before the hunt!

I know it's a story more about knife sharpening than shaving, but thought some of you might enjoy i


(Yes there was SOME irritation after that demonstration!)

Regards

Christian

Until you guys shave with a spoon you ain't got nothing to brag about. Do not forget to sharpen only to 6k and strop on cardboard or you are not manly men.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Until you guys shave with a spoon you ain't got nothing to brag about. Do not forget to sharpen only to 6k and strop on cardboard or you are not manly men.

My razors are only sharpened to 6k. I used pasted balsa and leather to strop. I guess I'm a girly man.

Originally Posted by DduckyMark

My razors are only sharpened to 6k. I used pasted balsa and leather to strop. I guess I'm a girly man.

Until you spoon your face you ain't a real man
P.S there is a back story to what I am posting here.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I suppose I should clarify that I did not shave my entire face. I just lathered up and did enough of my cheek to prove that it did in fact shave.

It was a 3/4" chisel.

And no, it was not razor sharp, but it was sharp enough to shave well enough to impress my father in law and that rarely happens. Since then I have been allowed to sharpen all of their kitchen knives every year.

Allowed to sharpen them? Lol
To answer the OPs question, I have sharpened a knife to 10k before but it was a pain and I won't do it again because for knives that edge won't last.

Just for kicks one time I put a shaving edge on my trusty Buck 110 and shaved with it. It's no big deal to shave with a knife; they're just kissin' cousins to a straight razor.

Originally Posted by dghardyjr

Just wondering, because I honed my knife to 'near' straight razor quality. Blasphemy i know.

I'm about ready to try this bad boy out!

When I was first learning to sharpen knives and once I got relatively good I decided to test my limits. This turned into me honing up a butter knife and giving it a go. I did it just bare skin with no shave soap or water and ended up having to sharpen the thing at least 6 times and I got razor burn bad jut to get one pass, but in the end it worked. Then I learned how to use a straight and tried it out with a spyderco.... that time it worked just fine.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Until you spoon your face you ain't a real man [emoji14]
P.S there is a back story to what I am posting here.

Challenge accepted