Ceramic knives?!?

[duckman1975]

Only diamonds are harder then ceramic knives. Are there ceramic utility knives available? If not why? Can't our tech today produce a folding ceramic knife? just wondering.

[jekostas]

Only diamonds are harder then ceramic knives. Are there ceramic utility knives available? If not why? Can't our tech today produce a folding ceramic knife? just wondering.

Yep, they exist.  Very brittle still, though.  Drop it and you're pretty well guaranteed to be missing a tip.

[thebullfrog]

Those both exist already. The problem is they are relatively fragile and chip way easily, they do get dull and are a bitch to sharpen once they do, they also are generally duller than a good metal blade, they just keep that edge longer provided they don't chip.

[David Bowen]

I have three ceramic pocket knives, they are pretty sharp and the knives themselves are VERY light but you sacrifice robustness. If you can deal with making nothing but strait cuts and constantly being aware to avoid hard materials such as bone and staples etc then you'll be ok. It's nice and very high tech and classy but practical they are not, and sharpening is a nightmare I have yet to entertain. Mine have been put to church/special occasion duty and don't see anything but very light service. My Ti/ceramic or Carbon Fiber/Ceramic combos are so light it makes even my Delica seem heavy  So in short, if you love steel and don't want the headache avoid ceramic blades. I am however toying with the idea of Boker certa titanium. It's a titanium/ceramic bonded type steel that supposidly has the sharpening ability of steel but the toughness of ceramic a long with edge holding capability. I would entertain the idea but not willing to spend the money on one without having played with one. I understand and know how to sharpen steel knives and am afraid to take that leap into something that's a titanium/ceramic mix.

[jzmtl]

You can find ceramic utility blades (among others) here:  http://www.ceramicknife.org/catalog1.html