ceramic knives

[skidmark72]

I dont know much about ceramic knives. What are your thoughts & how do sharpen them. Everywhere ive read it says you have to send them back to the manufacture for sharpening. I dont believe its rock science to sharpen a knife with a ceramic blade I just have not found out how yet. Everyone of them ive seen in stores dosent feel very sharp to me. Thanks

 

[tiguy7]

Kyocera makes a battery operated sharpener if you want to sharpen your own ceramic knives. There are limitations on the blade size that will fit in the sharpener. Bigger blades work better than smaller ones. Ceramic blades are tricky to sharpen because they don't develop a burr. The Kyocera sharpener has two diamond coated wheels located inside a slot. As long as your blade fits in the slot, you are home free.

 

[Goosey]

What are your thoughts

Personally I wouldn't buy one since they seem like they'd be quite fragile compared to steel and very hard to sharpen. I'd be afraid of chipping it, etc. I don't have any experience with them but they would hold no benefits for me since I like sharpening knives.

 

[Sam Dean]

I like ceramic knives, at least in the right setting. I have several kitchen knives, and have had some for 15 years (holey crap they were expensive then). All have been dropped on the floor, in the sink, and cut things that they just shouldn't have. While I have badly chipped the edges of some, I have never broken one. For kitchen duty, they hold an edge longer and slice better than any steel knife I have ever used. I have never had one sharpened, although I would like to know how myself. I know they must be sharpened with diamond abrasive, preferably cooled with water.
,
Having said that, I would NEVER use a folding knife with a ceramic blade, unless you just want a toy to show off. The higher quality ones with keocera ceramics are insanely sharp like you can't even imagine. But, cut a string or sharpen a pencil and it will quickly break down.

 

[bobo383]

I bought a cheap ceramic knife from Harbor Freight to try in the kitchen, thinking "this won't be worth a crap." That was about a year and a half ago, and it's still plenty sharp and clean despite being used and being run through the dishwasher by my kids that really don't like doing dishes (but have to anyway). Not as cool as the wood & steel knives, but it certainly does the job and requires absolutely zero maintenance.

I don't think it would last very long out of the kitchen though -- one way to find out I guess, drop $10 on another one and stick it in the tackle box. Dang it, I'm buying more knives again...

 

[CWL]

I dont know much about ceramic knives. What are your thoughts & how do sharpen them. Everywhere ive read it says you have to send them back to the manufacture for sharpening. I dont believe its rock science to sharpen a knife with a ceramic blade I just have not found out how yet. Everyone of them ive seen in stores dosent feel very sharp to me. Thanks

Suit yourself, but I'll bet my salary against yours that you won't be able to do a good job with typical at-home sharpeners. Also, it doesn't feel sharp because it really isn't. It is harder than any other surface so it cuts by friction. If you were to draw that dull ceramic across your palm with a little bit of downward force, you will see a lot of red.

You will need diamond sharpeners in order to hone ceramic blades. Zirconia ceramic knives have a hardness on the Mohs scale of 8.5. Diamond is 10 and the hardest steel knives are around 6-6.5 Mohs.

Ceramic knives don't really dull like steel, but will eventually lose its edge due to micro chipping. the good thing is that it can take a long time, like years, for this to happen.

The bad thing is that if you don't know what you're doing, you will probably chip it worse if you try to hand sharpen it. (I put myself in this category and I've owned ceramics since the mid 1990s).

The only good way to sharpen ceramic knives is by machine with diamond abrasive set at the proper angle. You are actually regrinding a new bevel into the ceramic Think of creating a bevel in glass, it needs to be ground, not chipped.

Lastly, ceramic blades are good for certain functions like cutting paper, string and in cutting/garnishing vegetables. Ceramic blades are not very good for cutting meat, fish or for chopping. I have even chipped-up the edges on a ceramic chefs knife after trying to slice hard-crusted bread before.

 

[LX_Emergency]

They take a crappy edge and keep that forever.

I tried one for a while. I'll take blue paper steel at 63Rc over ceramic anyday.

 

[blame it on god]

I've bought a few ceramic knives over the years for their "amazing sharpness". I have yet to see one as sharp as I can get a piece of steel. They do have their place if you cut a lot of fruit. They don't oxidize (discolor) fruits like steel or stainless does. That is the only advantage they have over metal.

You can sharpen them, But diamond is the only thing that will do it. And even then you have to use VERY fine hones and VERY light pressure. Anything rougher than 600 grit will just micro chip the apex away. So it takes a very long time to recondition a chipped blade. And there will be chipping. I've done mine on my Edge pro and got them sharper than when I bought them, but it took forever!

They have gotten a lot cheaper, But I'd still save up and buy a quality carbon steel kitchen knife.

 

[1holegrouper]

I think they have a place in the kitchen. I'm not sure about elsewhere because of how brittlel they can be. But they are 100% corrosion resistant and that is valuable at times. But, you want to purchase a ceramic knife that is already very sharp when you buy it. Diamond hones are the only ones that I have found that will sharpen a ceramic knife.

 

[tiguy7]

Actually, sharpening ceramics is "rock" science. Ceramic blades also make good finishing steels for steel knives.