Since Jens amazed everyone with a head shave using a chisel in a shaving competition, the bar was set high for originality and daring.
That was until now. (See the video below!)
My discovery of using a ceramic knife as a razor was entirely accidental. While experimenting with sharpening a Kyocera ceramic paring knife as a reed knife, I noticed its edge getting sharp enough to cut hair after using Ken Schwartz’s 6-micron diamond paper. Eager to explore further, I rushed to buy another Kyocera Ceramic Knife – although the only available option was a utility knife, slightly longer than the paring knife. Not a problem for me, having shaved with 10″ knives and big cleavers before! 😀
The factory edge on the ceramic knife was impressively sharp out of the box, but it needed a sawing motion for effective cutting. I’d rate the factory edge at about 2K, or 8 microns. However, the edge angles were a tad steeper than desired for ceramic knives due to their limited flexibility compared to steel knives. Nevertheless, the ceramic’s rigidity at lower angles would prevent the edge from folding or rolling like thin steel.
Ken’s diamond papers offer various sizes and cover a vast range of grits (from 165 microns to 0.1 microns, approximately 100 grit to 150,000 grit). For this project, I used his 3″x8″ diamond films on glass. Starting with the 74-micron (~200 grit) diamond paper, I established lower bevel angles around 10-15 degrees per side. The diamond films abraded the knife effortlessly, akin to using a conventional sharpening stone on steel, and I progressed through grits step by step – 45, 30, 20, and 15 microns (320, 500, 800, and 1K grits respectively). The edge only began to “feel” sharp around the 9 and 6 micron levels (1,500 and 3K grits).
Beyond the 3-micron (~6K grit), the edge started to cut paper with ease. Finally, at 1 micron (15K grit), the knife was ready for shaving. Yet, at 0.5 micron (30K grit), the edge became razor-sharp, even treetopping arm hairs. Note: If attempting this, switch to all-edge trailing by 1 micron as angle changes or bumps can cut through the films.
I was confident that the 0.5 micron edge would shave, but I wanted to test Ken’s 0.025 micron (600,000 grit) poly diamond spray on nanocloth for its finesse and glide.
As for the shave, I had to step up my game to rival Jens, the daring viking Swede who set the standard. Watch the video and see if I’ve succeeded!
Since Jens amazed everyone with a head shave using a chisel in a shaving competition, the bar was set high for originality and daring.
That was until now. (See the video below!)
My discovery of using a ceramic knife as a razor was entirely accidental. While experimenting with sharpening a Kyocera ceramic paring knife as a reed knife, I noticed its edge getting sharp enough to cut hair after using Ken Schwartz’s 6-micron diamond paper. Eager to explore further, I rushed to buy another Kyocera Ceramic Knife – although the only available option was a utility knife, slightly longer than the paring knife. Not a problem for me, having shaved with 10″ knives and big cleavers before! 😀
The factory edge on the ceramic knife was impressively sharp out of the box, but it needed a sawing motion for effective cutting. I’d rate the factory edge at about 2K, or 8 microns. However, the edge angles were a tad steeper than desired for ceramic knives due to their limited flexibility compared to steel knives. Nevertheless, the ceramic’s rigidity at lower angles would prevent the edge from folding or rolling like thin steel.
Ken’s diamond papers offer various sizes and cover a vast range of grits (from 165 microns to 0.1 microns, approximately 100 grit to 150,000 grit). For this project, I used his 3″x8″ diamond films on glass. Starting with the 74-micron (~200 grit) diamond paper, I established lower bevel angles around 10-15 degrees per side. The diamond films abraded the knife effortlessly, akin to using a conventional sharpening stone on steel, and I progressed through grits step by step – 45, 30, 20, and 15 microns (320, 500, 800, and 1K grits respectively). The edge only began to “feel” sharp around the 9 and 6 micron levels (1,500 and 3K grits).
Beyond the 3-micron (~6K grit), the edge started to cut paper with ease. Finally, at 1 micron (15K grit), the knife was ready for shaving. Yet, at 0.5 micron (30K grit), the edge became razor-sharp, even treetopping arm hairs. Note: If attempting this, switch to all-edge trailing by 1 micron as angle changes or bumps can cut through the films.
I was confident that the 0.5 micron edge would shave, but I wanted to test Ken’s 0.025 micron (600,000 grit) poly diamond spray on nanocloth for its finesse and glide.
As for the shave, I had to step up my game to rival Jens, the daring viking Swede who set the standard. Watch the video and see if I’ve succeeded!
