A Polished Razor Edge is Not Necessary, and It Requires Extra Work

We are all a little knife crazy that's why we are here. And to include sharpening crazy as well. Some more, some less. That's why we come here to learn and share experiences :)

I think that someone can take there edge as far as they want to is pretty dang cool. And understand all the quirks to sharpening.

But we have some people that just dread it. We all just have different things that makes us tick :)

Merry Christmas!!
 
We may not be crazy but we certainly are enthusiasts when it comes to all things knife.
I polish the edge of some of my knives strictly because I want to and enjoy the process and result.
For the majority of tasks requiring a sharp tool a plain and cheap box knife will generally do the job...but a few leaves also cover me sufficiently and "do the job"...but wearing my Mountain Hardware down jacket in the winter feels great.

If you think we are crazy go to a "pen" forum or "wrist watch" forum...whew several hundred dollars for a pen??? I recently had a box of Bic pens in my pocket and they fell out and under the wheel of the fork lift I was driving...yup...pile of plastic bits in the box lol...I'd be in a state of shock if it were a pen worth hundreds...thought truth be told few paper mill workers know how to write never mind carrying a pen worth real money hehehe.
 
I enjoy sharpening my knives. I like the challenge of putting a high polished finish on them. when I look at them, and use them with a nice razor edge, it makes me happy.
 
I was caught up in the wicked edge "super polished" edge game. I produced some insanely sharp and good looking edges and spent waaaayy to much time on each edge. Now I usually use my WorkSharp Ken Onion to put a 400-600 semi-convex edge in 3 minutes.

I sharpened a 24" machete today from "out of the box" to blazing sharp in less than 5 minutes.

From time to time I may take out the wicked edge, but only for something special. My time is just to valuable.
 
I find that shaping/repairing the edge takes the most time. Refining it a bit further when I already have my stones out (that didn't come out right) takes very little time. Sometimes I spend a lot of time sharpening, but that's because I want to learn and get better at it. Personally, I prefer an edge that's a bit more refined. Using a coarse edge doesn't bring me any joy.
 
Alot of the time, my EDC wont even shave.
Its still sharp enough to work for what I want.
But I still sharpen when it gets slightly dull to get it to shave.

It's kinda like "Why buy a new car if yours still works"

Because its just a step better.
 
Kai Winters said:
We may not be crazy but we certainly are enthusiasts when it comes to all things knife.
I polish the edge of some of my knives strictly because I want to and enjoy the process and result.
For the majority of tasks requiring a sharp tool a plain and cheap box knife will generally do the job...but a few leaves also cover me sufficiently and "do the job"...but wearing my Mountain Hardware down jacket in the winter feels great.

If you think we are crazy go to a "pen" forum or "wrist watch" forum...whew several hundred dollars for a pen??? I recently had a box of Bic pens in my pocket and they fell out and under the wheel of the fork lift I was driving...yup...pile of plastic bits in the box lol...I'd be in a state of shock if it were a pen worth hundreds...thought truth be told few paper mill workers know how to write never mind carrying a pen worth real money hehehe.
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I know!
I was on the watch forum one time and started looking up the brands.
Some of those watches are over $100,000!
Not a typo folks! One hundred thousand dollars! For a watch!
If I ever scratched the face I'd shoot myself.
I guess its all subjective.

I sometimes go days without even USING my knife. I appreciate the tolerances and skill it takes to create them.
 
Like others have said, a toothy edge has it's purpose and a fine edge has it's too. There's a reason serrated blades are useful for cutting cordage and not shaving your face! I personally like a razor, fine edge on my edc's. But then again I take pleasure in maintaining my tools/possessions.
 
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