Sounds really good and workable. I've seen motor-driven knives, but never vibrating ones. I wonder if it would be easier than other knives.

Maybe there'd be an easier way to vibrate it though---just using a buzzer mechanism would probably give you the same effect for less money?

Sounds interesting, whatever you mean. Would the knife be composed entirely of the ceramic, or just an active section?

I got the original idea from a slight mention on one of Robert Heinlein's stories of a weapon called a "vibroblade" and I have been thinking about it for a while. I imagine the ceramic, which is used in submarine sonar devices to generate high frequency sound would transfer it's vibration to a tougher blade that could stand the wear and tear. In the Larry Niven story "The Mote in God's Eye" a knife is described that cuts through steel and I know that ultrasound can cut glass with a soft blade so perhaps something like this is possible.

Hi,

I am a new member. I was searching piezo driven knife or one that I can make but I don't know where to buy the least expensive piezo device to drive the knife. So far most I have seen requires amplifier. The combination of the piezo and amplifier is very expensive. I was thinking of driving an exacto knife to cut fabrics, vinyl and other materials with ease.

Do you have any lead? You mentioned battery driven piezo. Where can I buy one?

Thanks.

What you're talking about exists but not in the form you describe. Basically there is a 20KHz (fine tunable) power supply & a cable connecting to a 'gun' type grip. In the gun is a replaceable piezoelectric converter with a tapered horn which has a drilled & tapped tip. There are a variety of knurled (& other textured) tips as well as flat, but when they use the slotted variety that holds a blade (much like an Exacto type - as the tip is torqued the blade is locked into place) the device becomes what is known as a 'Sonic Knife'. I used to repair them when I worked for Branson Ultrasonics.

I have been working on this idea for over 5 years. Vibrating scalpels are used by surgeons and use Piezoelectric transducers to operate in the kHz range. Unfortunately, the transducers need high voltages (5,000 Volts)to get high vibration amplitudes. In addition, the frequency to improve cutting is inversely related to the weight of the blade, the bigger the blade, the lower the frequency.

I eventually patented a vibrating knife that uses a simple rotating mass that operates at just the right natural frequencies of a hand held knife in your hand. The Harmonic Knife will be available for sale early in 2010!!!!