Anyone else's Grandpa do this?

My great grandpa did, both my grandpas did, my uncle still does. I know that they did it slow so as not to ruin the temper but I still seems like they ruined knives to me. Neither of my grandpas did it any more late in life. Filet knives got a file though, not the grinder.
 
I never really new my Grandfathers. I met one a few times and the other died before I was born.
My dad on the other hand is a retired electrician. I've never known him to sharpen his pocket knives but they were always sharp enough to strip whatever wires he needed to strip. I assume he sharpened them on a grinder as it seems he was always using the grinder for something and it just seems like the likely tool for him to use.
I do remember him thinking I was a little loco with my stones and ez-lap.
 
My grandpa still does it. He has a Victorinox Spartan that the blade looks half gone on it. I'm always telling him "jeez grandpa let me sharpen that thing get it off the grinder".

And it's never what we here would consider "sharp". It will open things and cut string and that's all he needs.

I love it just the same though.
 
I don't remember seeing my grandfather sharpen a knife on it but he did have a little red metal framed device that clamped onto a shelf or countertop with a little stone, at most 3 inches in diameter and maybe 3/4" wide that you turned by hand.. He let me have it when I was 10 or so.

I'm thinking I probably ruined a pocket knife on it but what I remember really trying to sharpen on it was the blade on those cheap fold-up fingernail files type things you could put on your keyring. I don't think I did any good with my hand cranked grinder though.
 
Yup, I'd say my grandfather used the grinder a time or two;):D

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Found this one in his tool box some time after he'd passed away. The pic was actually taken moments after I'd found it, man was I happy! It's an old, well worn Camillus Sword brand. Not sure how the blade got snapped, although I suspect it was probably from prying. Just rounded off the break a bit and kept using it, likely doubled as a screwdriver as well knowing the way those old timers wouldn't let anything of use go to waste. It's my most treasured knife, and I won't change it a bit 'cept for a little oil every now and then.

Eric
 
I've wondered about this very thing. We've often noted that the elders in our lives were much more likely to carry knives than men today, and that they were the ones who gave us our love of fine cutlery. But I suspect that we see the past through rose colored glasses and that back then, just as today, there were knife nuts and then there were others who viewed knives as just another tool. Some people knew how to sharpen and take care of the knife in their pocket, while others probably just used the sidewalk to put an edge on.

I never saw my grandpa sharpen his knife on a grinder though. I never saw him sharpen his knife at all. In fact I've never seen anyone sharpen a knife, I learned everything I know about stones and strops on this website. If it wasn't for this place I might very well be one of those heathens who uses a grinder, which is more than likely since I did just that with a butterfly knife when I was 12 or 13.

- Christian
 
It doesn't surprise me that a lot of grandfathers used a grinder or other 'barbaric' means to sharpen their knives. The most widely available methods back then were limited (basic stones, files, grinders, razor strops). No Lansky, no GATCO, no EdgePro, no Aligner, no sub-micron polishing compounds. No 'instant sharpening solution' to be delivered to your doorstep by the friendly guy in the brown truck. They simply used the tools & methods that were available to them at the time, most of which were probably purchased at the local hardware store.

We have the wonderful, amazing internet. We can read about & learn in a few minutes what earlier generations might never have heard of in a lifetime. We are SO SPOILED nowadays, with all the options we have at our disposal.
 
I was thinking about this last night as something about sharpening was picking at a memory. My grandfather had a stone and a grinder and he sharpened spades etc

but

my grandmother told me she had her kitchen knives and scissors sharpened by a jewish man who used to drive into the street and sharpen things from a spinning wheel in the back of his van. All the woman had their dress making scissors sharpened by him if I remember right. I even remembered his name Mr Caplan (sp?)

So if you want it really sharp - take it to a professional :)
 
My grandfathers bouth were farmers and forestworkers so they had handdrawn grindingwheels. They used them for axes and Lie (dont know english word but the long edges that is used to harvest grass for the animals) They were bouth very good at using lie at they didnt have tractors and modern mowlers. Its a lot of hay needed for animals being inside for the whole vinter. Here they kept the cows inside from october to may.
My paternal grandfather had a dream about a grindingwheel with a motor and he eventioually got one when I was a teenager.
I got that wheel now and also another one. One is courser and one is rather fine and the diameter of them is about 1/2 a meter. I use them primarely for axes and lawnmooverknifes but I still occationally use a "lie" As my grandfathers thought me to use them and I need some practice every year to keep up the skills.
Sometimes I use the grindingwheel for my carpentarsknifes or lightly on my huntingknifes, and also superdull citchenknifes and slaughterknifes relatives want me to sharpen for them. I have yet to use a grindingwheel for a slipjoint. I once last year restored a linerlock with ATS 34 on the grindingwheel and that modern hard steel was not wery suited for the oldfassioned sandstone material in the grindingwheel. The grindingwheel is the easy way to thin down to thick edges and gives good edges with carefull use but for somone unexperienced it can quickly get a disaster. I alvaus use stone and strop after the grindingwheel.

Reeding here I relised I completly forgot about sharpening spades and hatches. That I do a lot, dont strop aftervards though ;)

Bosse
 
Ed Fowler said:
I would much rather visit used knives than those in "mint condition" for they tell a story about the man who used them, their history is a blend of the maker and the man they served.

My personal collection has very few mint condition knives, the used knives can be very useful teaching the art of use and care.

It good to read that you know the history, much more interesting than that of knives that were purchased only to lay in a dresser drawer.
Click to expand...

Well spoken, sir.
 
I honestly cannot remember what type of knife my grandfather carried or how he sharpened it. My dad sharpened on a stone which had a valley in the middle from years of use sharpening his knife, and my mom's kitchen knives. I do remember that my grandfather had a grinder that he used a lot sharpening mower blades, gardening tools, etc.

My paternal grandparents lived a few houses down the street when I was little and I spent a lot of time with them. It's the place I went when dad was at work and mom had things to do . I never had a baby-sitter. They were both retired by then, although my grandmother hadn't worked since she was single, so they had a lot of time so spend with their only grandson (and his sisters). The memories of the time I spent with them will always be treasured. Listening to stories about the old days, playing games, and especially "working" on projects with my grand-dad on the workbench in his garage.

Picturing the sparks flying off my grandfather's grinder brought back a flood of memories. For that I thank you.
 
Since I started the thread, thought I'd post a pic of a few of Gramp's knives. A Buck, really old Keen Kutter and unknown. I REALLY wish that Keen Kutter was mint, but like someone mentioned it has some serious memory power this way. :)

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That unknown is probably a Queen. As far as I know, they are the only ones that used that Winterbottom jigging pattern.
 
My grandsons' grandfather (ya, that would be me ;)), growing up on a farm in the 1950 - 60's used to sharpen knives, or any other edged tool, on a bench grinder or with a file. :eek: It was handy, quick, and got you back to work. You just didn't give it any thought - a knife was just another tool, like a box-end wrench, chisel, hacksaw, hammer, etc. There was no special reverence attached to a knife, or any other tool.
 
Yeah, My Grandfather took a grinder to his from time to time, My dad did as well until I was old enough to start sharpening them by hand. Dad just had too many things that needed to be done to spend a half hour on a pocket knife, and besides it was just a tool that needed to be sharp. He always enjoyed using them after I was done with them. I am not sure he ever understood why I spent that knid of time doing it by hand when a grinder would do it in a minute or so.
 
My grandpaw did the same thing with his work knives! He was the head fixer in the mill for 40 yrs and all his work knives he really used them, I have them nmow and most of the blades are toothpicks or close to it. But his "chruch" knives as he called them were sharpned on a old worn out stone. I don't think I ever knew what kind of stone it was, But It was worn slap out !!

Jason
 
A bench grinder came with the old house I bought earlier in the year. I used it to sharpen a (cheap) hatchet and it was good fun. I wouldn't dream of using it on my knife, though.
 
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