Ceramic knives?

[MeEatsPlaydoh]

Well i'm still looking for knives but i am poor at the moment(got a car,Sks and lacrosse stuff). When i ask my Dad about a knife, thinking he might know something about it he always asks if it is Ceramic. I was wondering is it worth it to pay the extra money in some cases to get a Ceramic blade?

[LONE WOLF]

Not for anything medium to hard use. It'll shatter.

[WT351]

Ceramic is good for slicing. Most ceramic is very brittle and does not take to impact well (like LW said, it will shatter if dropped or otherwise impacted sharply). Chips easily. Not much good as a general use blade. Hard as hell to resharpen, almost impossible without the proper equipment. My opinion is that ceramic is best left to kitchen knives.

[Clydetz]

From what I've heard about ceramic knives, there's a strong chance the tip will break off if dropped or used for prying. Most ceramic knives seem to be made for kitchen use. I did find this on ebay though and Boker seems to be making ceramic bladed folders.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43325&item=6528714029&rd=1

[wes]

Ceramic is an interesting idea for knives though I don't think its time has come yet.


You can find them written about in the cyberpunk novels. William Gibson features them in many of his books.

Perhaps a view of what's to come.

Perhaps simply fiction.

[DONK]

ceramic kitchen knives rock!! If you have never had one, they are a trip. They do shatter easily, and break if dropped, but they are fun to slice with. I have many kitchen knives, like I have other knives, somedays it is fun to get out the ceramic! Just watch for curious people when they pick it up, because they might break it, not knowing what it is. For folders and edc stuff, it is much too brittle.

[MeEatsPlaydoh]

Yeah the only company i had herd that made them was Boker. I was going to buy a cheeper one and try it out but it still like 80 bucks.

[Tinysd]

DONK, hit the nail on the head! They are great for cutting fruit and veggies. Acid in the fruit and veggies reacts with steel knives causing them to turn brown. No problem with a ceramic blade.

[Guillermo]

Ceramic blades are heavy and other than kitchen and Boker knives I think that only Mad Dog makes them. Go to www.tacticalforums.com and put ceramic blade into search and you will get some hits. I want him to make one out of his G-10 type material with a ceramic edge.

[Tinysd]

Ceramic blades are heavy

My Kyocera ceramic kitchen knive is super light. What do you mean by heavy?

[borinquen]

My Kyocera ceramic kitchen knive is super light. What do you mean by heavy?

what is a "knive"? :decoder: :poke: :-D

[Tinysd]

what is a "knive"? :decoder: :poke: :-D
It is what I am going to stab you with. It hurts no matter how I spell it.

[borinquen]

It hurts no matter how I spell it.
stop squeezing it so hard :welcome:

[Tinysd]

stop squeezing it so hard :welcome:
To quote the great Bartoli; "The difference between blue and purple is how hard you squeeze it."

[Guillermo]

My Kyocera ceramic kitchen knive is super light. What do you mean by heavy?
Most kitchen knives are thin and light. At work I have 10 inch Victorinox kitchen knives that feel only a third as heavy as my 10 inch Panther because of the blade thickness. So I was saying that if two blades are of the same size ceramic will have more weight ot it.

[Mike Stewart]

I have a number of ceramic knives in the kitchen.

They are not as sharp as a steel knife and they will not take any side pressure. I don't use them but Lesley does like them.

They are actually denser than steel knives but in a kitchen knife they are very thin and light.

Ceramic knives are very good for cutting vegiees and fruit. On certian friuts like Quince--you will get a matallic taste if you use a metal or steel knife. The Ceramic knives are great for stuff like that. Some fish are also effected by metal and the ceramic knives are the right thing to use them too.

Ceramic Sushi Knives are very thin and very sharp--You can see your fingers through them if you hold it up to the light. Those are about $1500.00 wholesale.

In kitchen use a ceramic knife will work fine--if you get some little chips in the edge you just ignore them and keep cutting.

You can re-sharpen them yourself but you need a Surgical Grade Black Hard arkansas stone and a couple of hours to bring them back. You cannot buff or sharpen them on any power grinders. The slightest heat will cause the ceramic to flake and break down.

Mike...................................

[Guillermo]

Thanks for the info Mike. To me ceramic cuts like a broken dish, safe to the touch until you hit it just right and then get cut to the bone.

[LONE WOLF]

Can you sharpen ceramic knives on Alumina ceramic stones? and what about diamond stones, will they work?

[Mike Stewart]

Far too coarse. You will chip the heck out of the edges.


Surgical Grade Extra Black Hard Arkansas or even finer japanese water Stones--Nothing else. You still then need the patience of jobe because it literally takes hours to do it.

I see absolutely not purpose for a ceramic knife outside of a kitchen setting.

Mike...............................

[howiesatwork]

You could use diamond, but not the bonded diamond "stones".
Diamond embedded in a soft copper or tin (no, not Ti Nitride) flat lap, but this is way more work than the way Mike suggests.
I've got some 50,000 grit, and that's pretty much a polish.
I've got finer than that, but no use for it on steel...opals is where it used by me.

[nemesis too]

I bought a Boker ceramic folder a couple years ago. Carried it in my pocket a week. Opened it to show a friend and it had a 1/16 in. chip on the cutting edge. Sent it back to Cabela's and they refunded my money. Don't know if they still sell them but, I was told they got about 90% of them back for the same reason.

John

[Mike Stewart]

Unfortunatly--I think that my statement about confining ceramics to kitchen duty is very correct. In a pocket knife we all have a tendency to use the knife for the task at hand and if you are carrying a ceramic pocket knife you are likeky to forget it's limitations and just use it.

Mike.............................

[MeEatsPlaydoh]

thanks guy i don't think i'll get a ceramic knife unless i become a professional chef and i don't think i will because all i can really cook is scrambled eggs.

[Boink]

I have in my collection a Mad Dog ceramic. It's a cutting machine, from those who've used them. Very thick material. Yes, it can still chip. But I dropped mine a few times and it bounced. No shatter.

[Guillermo]

I have in my collection a Mad Dog ceramic. It's a cutting machine, from those who've used them. Very thick material. Yes, it can still chip. But I dropped mine a few times and it bounced. No shatter.Which one?