Just how delicate is a ceramic blade

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nico

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My girlfriend gave me my Christmas present early today: a Boker Hunter 2040. It's extremely sharp and very nice looking, but it came with a warning (and I've heard several other people mention this) about not dropping it or putting any torque on the blade. I know that it's possible for ceramic blades to shatter, and I don't use knives for anything other than cutting anyway, but just how careful do I have to be? Thanks and sorry for the newbie question :).

69471c.jpg
 
Bah. What nubie question? Lots of us here don't know exactly how fragile ceramic blades are, exactly, though I have heard similar warnings.

Welcome to THR, btw!

John
 
I can't comment from personal experience but...

My future brother in-law is a chef. He told me that a guy he works with bought a Kyocera (sp?) ceramic chefs knife for a pretty large chunk of change. He was very proud of it, and very particular with it.

One day when they were working together, my future BI-L heard something hit the floor behind him and the other dude started cussing up a storm. It turns out that he (the other guy) knocked the knife off the counter and it broke. I do not know if it "shattered" or if it just cracked, but he said it was ruined.

Sounds like you had better be careful with that knife to me. :)
 
I've got 4 ceramic blade knives and 2 sets of ceramic scissors.

Edges chip when hitting staples and may if hitting bone hard. Whole blades snap when torqued or sideloaded. They also break when dropped and make a heck of a mess with little shards of ceramic scattered around. Steel knives (with particularly hard cutting edge heat treats) may also edge chip when hitting bone or staples, but not as readily as the ceramics.
 
That's a pretty sweet knife!

Is it a folder? Looks like a lockback...

Anyhow, someone at www.bladeforums.com will surely know.

Just do yourself a favor and don't mention Striders over there, k? It brings out the scum from under their rocks...
 
thanks for the replies. thebadone, the price of $149 at cabelas and outdoorworld is pretty high from what I've seen. I've found it online listed for between $125 and $180, but my girlfriend swears she didn't pay that much for it. It's much more than I'd ever spend on a knife, but since it's a gift (and a very nice knife) I'm not complaining.
drjones, yes it's a folder, and i think it's a lockback (I don't know much about knife terminology, but the button that allows the blade to close is on the back of the handle).
hso and skofnung pretty much answered my questions. I think I might get a kershaw whirlwind for more utilitarian uses sometime after christmas just to be sure that nothing happens to this one.
 
Thats the problem with ceramic knives (or steel for that matter) the harder it is, the more brittle it is
These knives have zero flex, but boy-howdy can they cut fine!
 
TBO,

Diamond for sharpening, the finer the better.

You want to avoid scratching the sides of the blade since polishing them out is beyond almost everyone's capabilities.

I have the knife nico was given (I'll second that you've got a good gal there.) and it's been used for years without needing sharpening yet.
 
Has anybody tried making "cermet" blades?

Just like Chobram armor, or the helicopter armor, where they melt the metal, Depleted Uranium and Aluminum respectively, and let the ceramic soak it up like a sponge.

Perhaps that would allow for ceramic edge holding, but tensile strength more like a metal blade. :confused:
 
No, I don't think so. I think uranium has a melting point in the mid-low 1100's degrees celsius. But DU would probably be too heavy for a knife. And there is always the cancer factor...
 
I hesitate to answer this since I am a "new" newbie, but I have had a Boker 2040 for almost 8 years.
It's an incredible knife. I've skinned 10 deer with it, without any need to re sharpen, which is done at the factory btw for $6.
I too got mine as a gift before deer season in 95 I believe. I use it during every hunting season, and when done drop it in the dishwasher. When it is clean, wipe it down with a dry cloth, and put it away until next year. I carry a Benchmade 735 daily, and would carry the Boker, but I hate to risk any damage to it since it is a lifesaver during deer season.
Just mho.

jojo
 
Welcome to THR, and thanks for the info.

May need to pick one up, someday...

John
 
I've broken 2 ceramic blades... kitchen knives. It's not like china or crystal or anything... but they can break. Dropped them into the sink. *tink* that was all that was needed. I've broken a brand new file and a year old Buck 110 so this is no feat. Anything can break.
Just take care of it and watch what your doing with it.
 
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