Don't have your knives sharpened at the gun show

[Slash]

I suspect your friend did that and blamed it on someone else.

[Evil D]

I suspect your friend did that and blamed it on someone else.

I thought of that, but he does frequent gun shows quite often, as he's an armored truck guard/driver so he's at the range/etc all the time. He's not at all a "knife guy" so I doubt he has anything to sharpen on unless he got access to a grinder or belt sander.

[SpeedHoles]

That tip though...

I'm in for revival pics!

[danospydermano]

:eek: YIKES! :eek: I've seen better edges done with river rocks. Whoever ruined that formerly awesome blade should buy your friend a new one. :spyder:
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[Cliff Stamp]

As a different perspective, not everyone looks at a knife and judges if it is pretty or not and some people would not only do that, but think it was as silly as asking if Estwing makes a pretty hammer.

A lot of those guys doing the really basic sharpening have a client base who bring in knives which are actually damaged. It is not uncommon to see broken tips, actual pieces knocked out of the blades. All they are trying to do in most cases is just enable a knife to cut and not just slip/slide.

You have to keep in mind that most people cut with knives in a very low sharpness condition and the ideal of spending half an hour to put on a mirror reflective and perfectly edge bevel is about as practical as doing the same to the inside of a toilet, it is absurd to them as that kind of rough grind sharpening is being spoken about here.

I sharpen knives for working tradespeople all the time, removing damage is frequent. I used to sharpen them the same way I sharpened my own knives. I then kept scaling back the process and making it much more basic. No one noticed any difference at all.

The other thing about burning the blades, just remember that uncooled power sharpening is the normal in the knife business. It is rare to find people running coolants and it is only in the last year or so that people are really starting to speak out about it openly/strongly.

[Evil D]

All good points Cliff, but I think we're all pretty much in agreement here on those points. Still, I think even as far as "quick and good enough" sharpening jobs go, this one is exceptionally poor. I'd rather take my chances on an electric kitchen knife sharpener than go to this guy.

[mikerestivo]

There is usually some Bubba that sharpens at our local gun shows. He uses what looks like a belt sander to sharpen.

It is possible to do a reasonable job with a belt sander, most manufacturers do that. Spyderco sharpens their knives by hand I believe using belt sanders. Also you can find threads on other forums about using a small belt sander from Harbor Freight for sharpening knives.

But back to the original post- the knife's new owner was warned.

I figured it would be a matter of time before this elicited a response about the belt sander. I have no opinion about it - just stating that he uses a giant belt sander.

The guy sharpening scares me a bit though.

[Donut]

All good points Cliff, but I think we're all pretty much in agreement here on those points. Still, I think even as far as "quick and good enough" sharpening jobs go, this one is exceptionally poor. I'd rather take my chances on an electric kitchen knife sharpener than go to this guy.

How dare you bring up that horrible suggestion! :p

[Cliff Stamp]

It looks like he made a couple of passes with a very coarse abrasive and didn't seem to be very consistent as there are multiple layers and the apex isn't straight. At times, working in that environment it can be pretty demanding and the audience isn't always that polite. I have had friends drop off a dozen knives and ask to be sharpened and expect them to be just a few minutes as you just have to "run them a few times on the stone" and they will look like this :



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This is an attempt to show the edge which didn't resolve well, the entire edge is wavy as it is all bent :



That knife is only 0.025" thick, the stock thickness. It is bent through the body in a few places and was used, among other things, to scrap mortar off of tile. When I get a knife like that and someone asks for it in what will result in literally seconds of time allowed, I will make a remark similar to "I can do it, but the edge will be pretty rough.". It always gets the same "Whatever man, its just a knife." .

In those cases I will hit the edge with a 36 grit belt, usually 1-2 passes with significant force and then cut the burr off on a oil stone. I can do this in literally 20-30 second per knife but it isn't what I would call sharp and the aesthetics can be compromised, but they are happy and they don't want anything else.

Of course it could be that buddy doesn't really care either and the only reason he sharpens at those shows is because it gets him out of the house. The whole time he is there grinding on peoples knives he is thinking about the fact he doesn't get overtime as his supervisor won't approve of "extra" time and he is imagining the knife is the custom golf clubs he is always bragging about.

[demoncase]

I was at the British Shooting Show today.

There was a "that guy" on the Knife Sharpening Stall....They were 3 deep at the stallfront.

I walked past and the wife, with a smile on her face, said "Why don't to get one of yours sharpened there?"

And what followed was a torrent of Anglo-Saxon. :D