I thought you all might find this video interesting. He shaves his head and face with a ceramic knife sharpened on diamond papers. Must be sharp!
Kyocera Ceramic Knife Shave - World's First! - YouTube
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I thought you all might find this video interesting. He shaves his head and face with a ceramic knife sharpened on diamond papers. Must be sharp!
Kyocera Ceramic Knife Shave - World's First! - YouTube
I was just wondering, at this point in tech. history, are we going to see ceramic Str8 razors any time soon??
What kind of honing regimine would a blade like that require??
Would it ultimitaly be TO sharp to be practical for face shaving??
What sort of price in euro's / peso's / US Dollars would some thing like that run??
It's 01:44Hrs [Est] time, should I be in bed with SWMBO's before I start getting those looks?
I'm tired now, 'Night to all.
tinkersd
WOW that dude is good.
Ceramic blades have been around for quite awhile. They really shine in static installations like say a roll splitter for plastic film. I have tried them in the kitchen with disappointing results as the edge quickly degrades and there is something in me that recoils at the thought I am eating ceramic chips no matter how small.
I read somewhere that the sharpest blades are made from obsidian for micro biology and only hold their sharpness on soft tissue for a few inches of cut.
My speculation says the edge wouldn't be tough enough to make the best shaver. Toughness as in plasticity.
I might be wrong but I don't think so. Once I thought I made a mistake but I was mistaken.
A better mousetrap ? ... Maybe, but I'll shave with my razors & cut food with my knives :p
And the point of the shave was?
I would have to agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mvcrash
On a dare I shaved my face with the knife I carry daily. It can be done, but its is basically silliness to prove something (usually how stupid a guy is for taking a silly bet).
I can also split wood with the knife...but it is not the best tool for the job;)
From what I gather ceramic is rather difficult to sharpen and the video shows that with Ken's fairly new cbn compounds combined with Tom's sharpening skills ceramic can be sharpened by hand to a pretty high level.
Shaving with knives seems to be more a test of sharpness than a quest to dethrone the traditional straight razor.
jaswarb: I think that particular brand of ceramic knife was key in getting a good edge, it's not just any old ceramic blade.
There's no shortage of people shaving with knives, swords, spoons, obsidian etc. Until Tom uploaded this a few days ago the general consensus from those that had tried was that it couldn't be done.Quote:
Originally Posted by unit
Really? I have a few friends that are quite skilled at sharpening ceramics and their edges would accomplish the task admirably (at least as well as any steel knife I have shaved with;))Quote:
Originally Posted by Proinsias
I applaud their sharpening efforts and the method they chose to demonstrate the sharpening media and technique.Quote:
Originally Posted by Proinsias
Nonetheless it is a ceramic blade. They don't have any bend in them. When the edge gets to the stress point of failure it breaks or chips even if only at a microscopic level. Kitchen knives get that kind of abuse routinely. There is at least one TV chef who shills ceramic knives from Kyocera and if you watch him carefully he is frequently reduced to sawing his way through a task. The camera does its best to hide this but it is quite evident. There is a reason ceramics haven't replaced metal in many applications.
Having said that until our numbers(straight shavers) grow much larger it is unlikely any company will take on the challenge of manufacturing a ceramic straight razor. Even if they were available, the fact that ceramics preclude stropping and all the other fussing about which I so enjoy concerning straights prevents me from having much more than curiosity.
YMMV
Bingo!Quote:
Originally Posted by jaswarb
Plus, a straight is supposed to look a certain way. I suppose I am admitting the nostalgia aspect of my interest in this, but a straight razor is supposed to be metallic silver (and in some cases blued, or gold) and should not have electronic gizmos such as vibratory mechanisms, or laser guidance systems...just a very basic tool, honed to a level that is FAR from basic, performing a trivial task in a manner that is far from mundane.
Nothing against any of the modern marvels, I just like the basic high alloy steels...
All that from a company who sold Contax/Yashica cameras at one time.
Bob
That it can be done, I would guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mvcrash
There's no doubt that that knife is definitely sharp. It whisked the hair off his head in a long smooth stroke without hesitation. My question would be how long could you expect the edge to hold up?
I also doubt his claim that it's the "world's first ceramic knife shave", but I digress....
I liked the video, personally. I just kept saying to the screen, "you missed a spot" until someone off camera pointed it out to him. lol
Unit: I wasn't aware people were getting ceramics that sharp. I stand corrected. I like a traditional straight too but I like to keep an eye on those trying new things and pushing things just for sake of it. Can't see me going ceramic, I like my carbon knives and razors but could see a place in the shaving world for a blade that doesn't need stropped. The only attempt I seen at a ceramic razor was pretty basic without lasers or batteries.
this sums up the video pretty well imho.Quote:
Originally Posted by unit
jaswarb : Metal is great at cutting things but we've been making metal blades for quite some time, maybe the ceramic industry just needs another few hundred years to mature. The test vid comparing it with a few other ceramic knives does show some flex in all, and a greater flex in the kyocera, video nicked from elsewhere, skip to about 4.20 for the comparison test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0hVn4EQ7AY
It's certainly not the first attempt at a shave with a ceramic blade, but it's the first time I've seen someone being pretty happy with the result.
Well that is proof absolute(as though everyone needed proof) that I don't know everything.:fim:
My nephew will love seeing this in print.:roflmao
I would never have thought that ceramic blades could be that flexible and not break. I might have to look into one.
Bob
I'd imagine eventually the cutlery companies'll beat the "shiny steel" guys with a ceramic core/edge with a steel outer layer bonded to it. The armor on the M-1 Abrams and current British main battle tank are layers of steel and ceramic sandwiched together, so it can probably be done.
Ceramic armour is not a new idea and has been around for a good long while. I don't see why a cutlery company would need to sandwich ceramic between metal. If ceramics can hold and maintain an edge why would the steel be necessary for? The blade in the two videos seems to be ready for regular use. I would like to see an all ceramic straight razor make an appearance.
Bob
I like it, it would be cool to have the blade look like a traditional blade though. Although that looked much easier to maneuver than a straight to me.
Ceramics are just too brittle. Maybe a new ceramic material? it seems to me a better effort in research would be with exotic metals to get a razor that is proper sharp and stays that way for a long, long time and yet can be honed by the average user.
Watch the 'How do they do it' about Kyocera knives - pretty interesting. Sorry cant add the link ATM.
Yea, up until today I would have said that too. After having seen the video of the Kyocera blade being flexed I am not all that sure anymore. I don't think an SR blade would deflect that much without snapping the first time.
Bob
Someone buy one of those Kyocera knives and grind out an SR already! A white, translucent, rust proof razor sounds like a better idea the more I think of it :)
Never said it was a new idea, Bob. Just that it's being done. I wouldn't be surprised, if the day ever comes, that the engineers/scientists find a way to improve ceramic alone by bonding it to metal. Kind of a throwback to the soft steel/hard steel sandwich used in many knife blades today.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
OK, but I still can't see the need for a steel ceramic sandwich for an SR blade.
Bob
Watching the flexure test video and being a research student makes me want to shout about all the flaws in the test. I don't want to bore you with them.
Flexible ceramics have been around for a while. I toured a client's plant a few year ago and they specialize in ceramics. they had all kinds of stuff but curiously one of the things in their sample display was a spring, which to my surprise....sprung just fine.
Short answer from prior to "what do you sharpen them with", diamond laps are the fastest way to do it. Same concept as any other abrasion, you have something you want to sharpen, you find something harder to abrade it. The good ones sharpen just fine. As mentioned earlier, some of the cheaper knives are just coatings on things and little bits come off in your food. Hopefully that's harmless.