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This question is a follow-up to "How to test the sharpness of a knife?", my answer to it, and the comments my answer generated. Charlie Brumbaugh wanted to know how to tell when he is done when honing his knife, I suggested testing by slicing through paper, and NateW responded that this will dull the knife "very quickly."

This raised my skeptic alarm almost instantly. Of course, cutting anything dulls a knife, but so does not cutting anything, as oxidation forms on the surface of the blade even when sitting still, and must be periodically removed. Further, how can simple paper be any worse for the blade than carving wood, cutting rope, slicing fabric, trying to get into one of those plastic blister packages, or any of the dozens of things we outdoors-y people use our knives for every day?

I turned to the internet to see what I could learn. It seems there are other forums out there where this idea is being discussed:

A lot of people believe it, and a lot of people refute it. What is the truth? I found what may have been the origin of the myth- assuming it is a myth- and later, DavidReicherby added a comment with the exact same concept. Glossy paper contains clay, and these tiny mineral fragments cannot possibly be good for a blade, but I still question if they can really be that bad either. Light-weight bond paper does not share this feature, and my morning newspaper seems pretty flimsy. Can I slice-slice-slice through those with far less concern?

Related question: Does paper blunt scissors?

Oddthinking
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cobaltduck
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    I do not fully agree with the decision to migrate, but I fully respect the judgement of the moderators. That said, I am less active here and not as familiar with your standards, so any suggestions to make this a better fit for Skeptics? Thanks @roryalsop for the early edits. – cobaltduck Mar 20 '19 at 19:57
  • You need to extract some words from your references and and make them the center of your question. – Daniel R Hicks Mar 20 '19 at 20:12
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    I disagree with the duplicate assertion. Scissors are blunted in a completely different way than a knife. – Dúthomhas Mar 20 '19 at 23:03
  • @Oddthinking - I actually do agree that this might be a duplicate, if not in words then certainly in spirit. However, your comments on the single answer there indicate you are not satisfied with it, and I am 110% behind you on that. How do we fix it? How do we get a quality answer to the common central question here? – cobaltduck Mar 21 '19 at 11:25
  • Severing at the intersection of two blades is not the same as slicing with a single blade. @oddthinking –  Mar 21 '19 at 12:20
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    I've unduplicated it based on the comments, and I look forward to an answer that explains why it isn't identical in scissors. – Oddthinking Mar 21 '19 at 13:07
  • Sorry, unlike @Oddthinking I remain 100% unconvinced that it's worth to have 2 questions about basically the same thing. I'd rather have one great question encompassing both than 2 poor ones perhaps confusingly contradicting each other. Please let's focus our efforts on the original question. – Sklivvz Aug 19 '19 at 07:18

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