It's one thing to cut WITH the grain of wood fibers (the old whittled stick approach), but the old woodcarver's used to test a knife's sharpness by trying to cut cleanly ACROSS the end grain on a stick of soft pine. If a knife can do that without digging in, chattering, crushing or popping off little chunks of wood, and leave a clean polished surface in the blade's wake, then that knife is SHARP. It is very satisfying to get a knife this sharp because the blade makes a pleasant "whisking" sound as it slices directly across the wood fibers. It also puts a pleasant piney scent in the air.