Looks quite well made Mark, especially for the price. I don't have something similar but do have two or three ceramic knives on board and find them pretty damn good. Don't have the heft of a 'proper' knife but until we are living on board then they certainly do the job.

I'd certainly like a couple of those things to replace older steel blade cockpit/mast knives.

 

I have been carrying the prototype of a ceramic riggers knife from Riggers with Marlin Spike | Ceramic Knife.org for almost a year (I helped design it). Best knife I have ever owned. I had to sharpen it after about six months, but I do a lot of rigging work still. I will never go back.

 

Stumble , that is a very fine knife you guys came up with . When you sharpen it , how do you do it ?
Andrew , I know what you mean about the galley ceramic knives not having the "heft" as I bought a set for Ms. westi . She won't use them , some times I just don't understand that woman . But I use them , I really like them but I do notice a lightness to them .

 

I have had some kitchen knives in ceramic, and don't like them at all. I never really felt they were that much sharper, and the constant fear of chirping, breaking or otherwise damaging them. I do have some quality French and German steel blades that I keep sharp and find far more satisfying to use. I have had generic, Cuisinart, and Kyocera. The Generic ones have been not at all sharp, though the peeler was pretty good. The Cusinart was not that great, and I did not like the shape of it (paring knife) and the Kyocera is a "micro serrated" and I have never really felt it did a great job. I think the Kyocera was like $150 at the time and was a real waste of money.

 

That's a good one (paring blade not the right shape) that's what Ms. W said about the one I gave her . What German and French steel do you have Paul ? We have Henckels .

 

For kitchen knives I am a huge fan of Shun. The three I have are easily my favorite knives. The Hinkle's are now relegated to the back of a drawer.

 

Mark,

if you ever DO understand that woman, let the rest of us know. You might be on to something.

We bought a couple of ceramic galley knives and love them. Only had them one year so longevity may be an issue but they are at least as sharp as their predecessors and won't rust or corrode. I bought them at Wally World for just a few bucks so if they end up being junk, no big deal.

 

I spent $3 on a ceramic paring knife, did the job just fine on my vectran lifelines, dyneema and other bits of line I have cut with it since.

 

My rigging knives for Dyneema are good quality but cast off kitchen knives from the wife, and then ground to a sheep's foot. When doing a lot of splicing I find myself dressing the edge a bit every dozen cuts or so, but it takes only seconds. Ceramic sounds neat, but how many splices do most of us make? I was doing a lot as a part of an abrasion, soft shackle, and lifeline cutting test program. Probably did as many buries in an hour as I would generally do in a lifetime.

 

I use nothing but ceramic knives for my rigging business, but I don't carry them around in my pocket either. When they get dull, I just buy 3 more from amazon or whoever is running a sale on em.

I usually go through 1 kife a year, and probably do 50+ splices in vectran, dyneema, and technora braid line. They are brittle, but with proper care, they'll last a while. At $5-6 ea. it's a small expense over the course of the year.

 

Got a couple of small ceramic knives in the kitchen, not the boat. White blades, no idea if the materials differ. By the end of a year, they weren't so sharp any more, and they blades are thicker than steel kitchen knives of the same type.

So I tried using a simple "V" notch fiskars sharpener on a small one. The kind where you just pull a blade through a notch five times, go away happy for six months with a nice sharp knife.

Nope. The dulled Farberware ceramic knife "guaranteed to never need sharpening" chipped the blade. Initially they were going to replace it under warranty, but then they said "Oh, just use any of the motorized 3-wheel sharpeners to resharpen it" and that happened this past week. EVENTUALLY, you can grind out the chips. But even after long patient use of all three wheels, the blade is not as smooth as it was, or a steel blade it. And the first 5/8 or 3/4 inch of the blade? Is now useless, since you can't draw that part of a blade through that kind of sharpener.

So, I'm going to ask them to replace it under warranty. But I can tell you, I have no further interest in ceramic knives. OK, they don't rust. They're real sharp, but they DO dull and then you've got a project on your hands.

Maybe a big stone and a lot of traditional resharpening would do it properly, but at that point? Right, my old fashioned knives would be less work.

FWIW you "can't cut" Kevlar either. I use Kevlar materials handling gloves for that reason. Funny thing, a plain sharp scissor WILL still cut them, if you're slow and patient. I suspect the Dyneema line doesn't really require ceramics, either.

 

The ceramic knives we have on board are, at a guess, about five years old. Never had one chip and I too sharpen them in one of those very basic sharpeners, coarse one end, smooth the other. Heresy I know. At home we have a collection of Wusthof, Global (Yoshikin) and Royal Cardiff. To be frank I know bugger all about them but I do like using the Global though our solitary Wusthof is my favourite. Our no name, bought in a Chinatown market, cleaver is remarkably adept at reducing a chook (that's Australian for chicken) to its component molecules.

 

For the galley I got these New Ultra Sharp 3" 4" 5" 6" Ceramic Knife Set Kitchen Knives Black Blade Handle | eBay Seriously 14.85 and free ship ? I'll just get new when the time comes . As I said the little pocket knife goes through double braid like I have never experienced , so to keep it sharp that is all I'm going to use it for . But when the day comes to sharpen I'll give it a try (thanks Stumble). I'm not going to get rid of my Ka-Bar or my Myerchin , but dam those ceramics are sharp . Excuse me now please I have to go sharpen the Henckels .

 

Paul-
"Yea, the paring knives I have all have a rounded tip."
No, seriously, you have a knife intended for the UK market.

There has actually been a large, vocal, movement in the UK for some years now that says "Kitchen knives are not make for stabbing, they should NOT have pointed tips" and they are trying to BAN them.

Apparently the Brits have done rather well with banning handguns, so the next best handy weapon has been the kitchen knife, with an unacceptable number of stabbings.

You just can't make this stuff up...And apparently some knife makers are seizing on the logic. After all, who really needs to stab a tomato?

[Pun intended, although only readers of a certain age will get it.]

Remember, this is why the Chinese have chop sticks. Because a ruling dynasty banned all metal implements from the hoi polloi, who might use them as weapons.

 

It wasn't the tip that was my wife's concern it was the width of the blade . Her favorite paring knife has a blade width of 1/2" , the new ceramic's blade is 1" . I have to admit I like the 1/2" better too .
IMO a pointed tip is necessary on all but a butter knife and a rigging knife of course .
Saying for the day : Telling people that knives kill people is like telling people that pencils make spelling errors .

 

So we cannot cut Dyneema with a steel knife anymore? I had not noticed any problem in the past. I'm all for using new cool stuff, but really? The sharp edges of my ALUMINUM toerail don't seem to have a problem with Dyneema either. Breathless hype and self-promotion?

 

Just try using one, then get back to us.

 

aloof , calm down buddy . This is just a nicey nicey talk about knives .

 

A blow torch will cut through dyneema pretty fast too. A very sharp razor blade worked fine for me on the 1/4" dyneema I last cut for soft shackles.

Or, this circa 1940's 8" cleaver I have with a carbon steel blade, wooden handle - plenty of heft. Works great on vegetables and meat bones and it is easy to sharpen. It does rust if not cared for so I only bring it sailing when I know I will be cooking too.

;-)

 

Yikes !

 

I don't know about the hi tech lines but the Craftsman Handi-cut anvil cutter is the best I have ever used on any traditional running rigging. I keep one close as an emergency cutter while under way also.

 

Any sharp knife will cut Dyneema. The problem is it dulls SS knives right quick. A friend was on a hot shot 40' racing boat that lost it's mast because of a chain plate failure. They pulled the pins on the rod rigging but used up every knife on the boat trying cut away the exotic line. Was tight jaws with the mast banging against the hull till they were able to cast off the synthetic running rigging.

Have a Boye rigging knife that I've been using for years and despite cutting a lot of Dyneema still haven't had to sharpen it. The problem is they aren't cheap. I bought a 2nd quality but it was still close to two bills. Sheepsfoot Folder with Marlinspike

Have tried cheap ceramic knives and they work fine if they are sharp. Have had a couple that weren't sharp when I bought them and couldn't get them sharp with the sharpening tools that I have. The ones that were sharp have maintained their edge. Problem is wife keeps trying to use them to pry stuff and breaks the tips.