154CM gets dull in the drawer?

C

Chewy1

Joined
Jun 5, 2006
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1,564
So, I've noticed that my Mini-Grip will lose it's extra sharp sharpness in only a few days in the drawer.

Is this normal?

Am I nuts?

Is my knife dulling itself as revenge for falling out of the rotation?
 
It is clearly angry at you for not paying it enough attention, and is dulling itself to spite you. Send it to me and I will give it the attention it is craving :D

Honestly i have had no issue with 154cm, it is a fine steel for most of my tasks. One of my favorite knife brands/models is the Hogue EX01, which is 154cm, and it performs very well (for me) as an EDC.
 
Hi, CK. Just thumbing the edge. Nothing super scientific. My Native in S30V doesn't do it. My stainless Mora doesn't do it. My S1 in VG10 doesn't do it.

Now, the other option is that maybe when it's here unguarded my wife might be sneaking it out, but I've noticed it enough that I thought I might pose the question.

Only a strop or two and it's right back to where it was.
 
Depending on rust resistance, the air could possibly have an effect on the edge. I really doubt it'd be much, but maybe if you're obsessive about your edges it would be noticeable to you.
 
I had a Benchmade that used to do that. Never figured it out. My Emerson in the same steel stayed sharp. Don't know.
 
Whetstone39 said:
It is clearly angry at you for not paying it enough attention, and is dulling itself to spite you. Send it to me and I will give it the attention it is craving :D

Honestly i have had no issue with 154cm, it is a fine steel for most of my tasks. One of my favorite knife brands/models is the Hogue EX01, which is 154cm, and it performs very well (for me) as an EDC.
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I have not had a issue with 154cm either, I am like you in that the Hogue EX-01 is one of my favorite knives. I was a little snobbish at first in regards to 154cm, but is really a great steel and it holds an edge long enough for me and it is easy to sharpen. I have a back up ex-01 that has been it's box for awhile and its still sharp.
 
Chewy1 said:
Only a strop or two and it's right back to where it was.
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This sounds like a wire edge.

Generally speaking, no, steel will not dull (on the level of sharpness detected with thumbing) in a matter of days sitting idle.
 
If I get knives to HHT-2 or higher (at least whittling free hanging hair), they will lose that level within 2 weeks of sitting in a drawer. Oddly enough, my mini grip in 154CM seems to retain this sharpness in the drawer longer than most other steels :rolleyes:
 
Folders tend to stay sharp longer if you close them before throwing them in a drawer.

;)
 
There was a thread about this in the past and seems the consensus was that knives do dull over time, some of mine exhibited this and I feel the difference using my thumb. I don't need to shave hair to know it is that sharp my thumb tells me. Sometimes however I think the edge feels a bit on the dull side and it slices phone book paper nicely.
 
2 shot said:
There was a thread about this in the past and seems the consensus was that knives do dull over time, some of mine exhibited this and I feel the difference using my thumb. I don't need to shave hair to know it is that sharp my thumb tells me. Sometimes however I think the edge feels a bit on the dull side and it slices phone book paper nicely.
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Do you have the link to the old thread? I am interested in reading it.
 
Here's a little test- my theory is the perceived difference has something to do with the thumb testing method. Perhaps you could use some thin paper or how easily it shaves for a better test. My guess is after sitting there sharpening your knife and repeated testing your thumb is more sensitive than when you just randomly pick your knife up later and feel it.

Assuming you only want to test on your thumb there are 2 ways to test for the same thing...

Test 1) sharpen said 154CM knife and thumb test it's sharpness, put it somewhere you're sure it won't be used. Now wait a week and get the knife out but DO NOT test it! Before you test it sharpen another knife or two and thumb test them threw out the process like normal. Only after sharpening one or two knives should to test the knife that's been sitting.

Test 2) sharpen the knife in question and DO NOT test it (this one's assuming your 100% confident in your ability to sharpen) and set it in a safe spot. One day later test it, put it back in the safe spot. One week later test it and compair that against the time you tested it a day after sharpenig.

What we are testing for is if testing several knives, several times during sharpening has an effect on sensitivity, either of the above tests would tell us that.

Fwiw I never touch my freshly sharpened edges, on a nice clean perfectly refined edge its to easy to cut yourself, and it usually makes such a deep wound, I gave that up awhile ago. I test sharpness by shaving WITH the hair (or just cutting hair) or using thin paper like receipts I save just for that or the thin classroom paper my kids bring home from school. It allows for a much more consistent testing method.
 
I have experienced this on various knives. IMO, they all do but most do it very slowly. If it's as fast as you say there is something different about it. IME, coarse edges do dull faster than higher polishes.

If it becomnes a problem perhaps you could try de stressing the edge before resharpening and putting a higher polish on it. Make sure you get the grooves from low grit stones/paper out before moving to the next step up just like when polishing a blade to mirror sharp.
 
I used to think this happened to my knives. Then I realized that I was getting my newly sharpened knives sharper and the older knives felt duller as a result.
 
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