How delicate are these knife blades from obsidian

[bigcountry]

I keep seeing these beutiful knifes made from obsidian.  I am curious how sharp are they or can they be, and are they real delicate? 

[nugget]

As far as sharpness, they are super sharp. They are not as strong as stone, but if they are left a little thicker they can be more sturdy.

[Hardawaypoints]

Obsidian is volcanic glass, so think glass when you consider how sharp/ strong obsidian is.  Cherts are much stronger, but are usually not as sharp.  Obsidian is pretty to look at, but it is also pretty fragile.

Jim

[bigcountry]

Some of em look like art.  I would even like to gut and skin a deer with one to see how it feels.

[Wolf Watcher]

BC:  Have been using obsidian for points and blades for many years and can tell you they can be very sharp.  They are glass so you have to be careful not to PRY with them.  I had one for maybe 20 years and resharpened it so many times it finally wore out.  Just knocking a spall off a nodule is perfect for skinning and gutting with no knapping at all.  I have a friend that lives along the Columbia River Gorge and he makes flake over grind blades that he sales at all the truck stops in the Gorge.  They are beautiful to look at but a good skinning blade needs to be a little thicker thru the long axis that the show blades don't have One of the things to think about is a sharp obsidian blade knows no friends so some of the blood can be your own!!         Pokie

[cracker]

I read that obsidian is the sharpest edge known to man the article went on to  say that the edge can be as little as one molecule thick and that surgical steel can only go to seven molecules that makes obsidian seven time sharper than the sharpest steel.Ronnie

[Hillbilly]

They aren't nearly as fragile as you think, actually pretty tough under normal use. Wolf Watcher hit the nail on the head-stone tools aren't steel tools, and they don't work right if you try to use them as if they were. A stone knife is a very effective tool, but you have to unlearn how you use a steel knife to use one correctly. Stone blades are not made for prying, bending, or twisting. They also require a bit different cutting angle and motion to get the most from them. I've skinned deer with them, and they work great as long as you don't try to make a steel knife out of it.

[bigcountry]

So how do you all sharpen these?  Use a pressure flaker or can you sharpen on stone like a steel blade.  I know its a stupid question but I always wondered.

[Wolf Watcher]

Just use a tiny hand flaker or deer horn to touch up the edges.  You can see where to chase a tiny flake off the edge and that's all that is required.  My elk skinning knife is made of Piute Agate and it has never needed to be sharpened.  I use a rag in my left hand when skinning an elk to remove the fat and fascia.  It is not a cutting blade but a very good skinner.  Takes a lot of the fleshing work out of prepping the hide! 

[bigcountry]

I always wondered how you resharpened these.  Thanks

[billy]

Once the initial cuts are made, there is nothing better than a stone knife when it comes to skinning a deer.  If you don't care about cutting the skin, then a steel knife works fine...but you can't go nearly as fast.  Now, if you're like me and you plan to brain tan the skin, you don't want any slices in the skin.  A steel knife is actually too sharp (when it is sharp) and has a tendency to slice the skin, but a stone knife is finely serrated and it is the best because it will separate the connective tissue between the skin and the meat without actually slicing into the skin (unless you REALLY bear down on it).  I once skinned an elk with an obsidian knife and the guys who were watching me were speechless....I was just RIPPING that knife through the flesh, and I was moving FAST.  They were way behind with the steel knives, and I got that skin off that elk so much quicker than they did....and I had a better product because it had no cuts in it! 

Just like everyone said, you can't use it as a pry-bar or a screwdriver because you'll end up breaking it in half or crunching the tip off.  You have to use a little bit different technique with stone, but it works amazingly well.  Those primitive people were not at as much of disadvantage as a lot of people think. 

[madcrow]

Here is a corner tang binge that a friend (Rocksinhead) in oregon sent me.  I used it on a young blacksnake that got ran over.  The only time that I went slowly was when I cut the head off.  It worked great.  I can't wait to use it on a deer.

[bigcountry]

Impressive madcrow.