Polymer - Any makers use it.

[TeeDee]

Can/Do any makers use Polymers to make the actual blade section of a knife?

 

[Kadushu]

Like the Cold Steel knives designed to evade metal detectors?

 

[Jared]

Can get insulated hack knives, made for cutting insulation off cables and not damage internal wire, and provide some protection from shock.

 

[TeeDee]

Like the Cold Steel knives designed to evade metal detectors?

Yes, I guess so. I picked up some old school 'Delta Darts' because.... the other day and was impressed / surprised just how very 'hard and edgy' the angle felt.

Just wondering how similar to a metal blade one could actually go in terms of thickness and still retain some functionality of effective edge

 

[Wildgoose]

Not wishing to start an argument but weren’t polymer knives banned under the latest knife law reform?

That said, many years ago at college we did make a few spikes from polymer, surprisingly strong in a pneumatic press.

 

[Jared]

Are you refering to being able to be detect metal? They probably still have metal in them, just not the blade.

 

[TeeDee]

Not wishing to start an argument but weren’t polymer knives banned under the latest knife law reform?

That said, many years ago at college we did make a few spikes from polymer, surprisingly strong in a pneumatic press.

They maybe - and if so I wasn't aware.

I'm more interested in just how 'sharp' they can be made and if thats close to a knife blade from a cutting perspective as opposed to a stabbing perspective.

 

[Wildgoose]

That is interesting. We only made spike type tools not slicing.

Only cuts I’ve every got from a plastic is where there’s been a splinter shard or that terrible plastic strapping.

 

[TLM]

Apparently in southeast Asia bamboo knives were used to cut fruit and that worked fairly well.

Even the hardest plastics have very low stiffnes and hardnes in comparison to metals. Some hard fillers make the cutting ability remarkably better but metals are still superior.

Glass, boron, graphite fibers can give some polymers fairly nasty cutting edge but still much short of metals.