I would like to hear how people test sharpness.
I'm continually in search of the best edge but have begun wondering how I really know when I've gotten it.
The first method I used was hair shaving - easy but my wife gets mad about the stubble. It does seem that when you can shave hair without touching skin it's reasonably sharp.
Shaving thin paper like newprint or the thinner stuff in ads gives a little idea - the smoother the cut the sharper.
If a knife will cut a free hanging hair it's definately sharp.
Other ideas or tests?

well.....I have read that to cut paper a edge that has some teeth will out-cut a sharper buffed edge,,,so that will mess up that test for sure....

I believe that if your knife will cut a few hairs on your arm that this is about sharp enough to cut most things.

I know that there are some guys who can sharpen a knife so sharp that they can shave the print off of newspaper.....but does that need come up much?

A doctor needs a mighty sharp knife some times. a razor blade is mighty sharp too...I guess there is no end to the things that we can get really sharp,,,,but there is a limit to the things a guy like me needs to be able to cut.

I cut mostly string, paper, plastic, and rope, and a tree root from time to time.....such things need a sharp edge, but the edge cant chip, infact the abilty to not chip is more important to me that being able to cut it in one swipe.