Can a knife be considered a dangerous or deadly weapon?

A knife is not a dangerous or deadly weapon as a matter of law (see People v. Herd, supra, 220 Cal.App.2d at p. 850), but it becomes "an inherently deadly weapon" "when used in such a manner as to cause severe bodily injury" (ibid.). " ' " 'There are, first, those instrumentalities which are weapons in the strict sense of the word, and, second, those instrumentalities which are not weapons in the strict sense of the word, but which may be used as such. The instrumentalities falling in the first class, such as guns, dirks and blackjacks, which are weapons in the strict sense of the word and are "dangerous or deadly" or others in the ordinary use for which they are designed, may be said as a matter of law to be "dangerous or deadly weapons." This is true as the ordinary use for which they are designed establishes their character as such. The instrumentalities falling into the second class, such as ordinary . . . objects [that] are not weapons in the strict sense of the word and are not "dangerous or deadly" to others in the ordinary use for which they are designed, may not be said as a matter of law to be "dangerous or deadly weapons." When it appears, however, that an instrumentality other than one falling within the first class is capable of being used in a "dangerous or deadly" manner,

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and it may be fairly inferred from the evidence that its possessor intended on a particular occasion to use it as a weapon should the circumstances require, we believe that its character as a "dangerous or deadly weapon" may be thus established, at least for the purposes of that occasion.' " [Citations.]' " (People v. Henderson (1999) 76 Cal.App.4th 453, 467-468.)