Anyone Use the Sharpening Service at Your Local ACE Hardware?

[Guy McVer]

With stuff like this you're taking a chance, and what probably ends up happening is that they'll do a worse job than you would've done if you had set aside the time to do it yourself properly.

Services like this exist entirely because of ignorance. People who know how to reprofile a knife don't bring their stuff to a department store to get it done for them. They just do it themselves. The employee sharpening your knife doesn't know you and doesn't care about your knife. What they do know is that you probably can't judge the difference between a good job and a half-assed job, and you probably don't know anyone who can. Otherwise why would you be bringing your knife to them?

Use the service if you want. You might get lucky. Just realize that it's a gamble.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

It puzzles me greatly that people won't just learn to free hand sharpen a knife. It's not rocket science.
People spend hundreds of dollars on jigs, fixtures and machines-when a simple India stone or diamond stones will suffice.

 

[eKretz]

It puzzles me greatly that people won't just learn to free hand sharpen a knife. It's not rocket science.
People spend hundreds of dollars on jigs, fixtures and machines-when a simple India stone or diamond stones will suffice.

Same here. But I guess some folks just aren't very coordinated. I do like the wet belt sander for reprofiling and thinning BTE though. Freehand for finishing.

I think some guys are attracted to the contraptions to get the super uniform bevels without having to spend the time to learn to do it by hand.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

People have been hand sharpening knives for thousands of years.....

 

[Wild Willie]

People have been hand sharpening knives for thousands of years.....

But they have NOT been posting pictures of their perfectly beveled mirror polished edges on Instagram for that long...

In regards to the op, I trust only myself to satisfactorily sharpen my knives, and saw chains. Now, were Ace hardware to start sharpening stump grinder teeth I'd be sorely tempted to pay for that service...

Edited for some grammar.

 

[Triple_D]

Here on this forum, a lot of us obsess about proper sharpening, but many people want a sharp knife, without the maintenance. Thus the popularity of those "never needs sharpening" knife specials you see on television infomercials.

I watched a cooking show on TV a while back, and the professional chef mentioned that his knives weren't as sharp as they should be, and he was going to have to send them out to have them sharpened. People see a quickie sharpening machine at the hardware store, and think it's the perfect fix for their dull chef's knife. They just don't understand the potential problems a machine like that can create.

It's the same way with cars. I grew up working on cars, but many people just want a reliable ride. Two weeks ago, the teenage kid next door had a flat, and I saw his dad out in their driveway changing the tire for him. My father would have laughed if I had asked him to change a tire on my car.

 

[AlongTheRazorsEdge]

I think fixed angle systems have a place and really should be the minimum acceptable in regards to any knife being sold commercially. The technology exists for consistent, near perfect, symetrical bevels, knife after knife and there is no excuse for anything but that imo. Same with heat treating..can it be done at home with improvised methods and without advanced control? Sure, but why? There are service providers with the proper equipment and experience to get it right..everytime..on every blade..batch after batch.

That being said..

freehand sharpening certainly has it's place and is a valuable skill in the field or in less than ideal circumstances etc. but will never be as accurate or consistent as a fixed angle system for one simple reason..human error.

I would not trust any knife I valued to this ACE Hardware machine, or any powered (motor driven) machine personally.

 

[tiguy7]

I know how to sharpen knives. I’m looking for a place to send friends and relatives. I posted this recently in another thread.View attachment 1924178View attachment 1924179

 

[tiguy7]

Looks like they are not available in a lot of areas. There are only four in all of Michigan, three in the Detroit metro area and one in the western upper peninsula. If it was close I'd take a sample knife it and try it.
Unfortunately it's more than an hour each way to the closest "resharp". If you are in the Chicago area, there are TEN locations with a unit in the west suburbs.

My local Ace ReSharp Service is in Grand Rapids.

 

[eKretz]

Now, were Ace hardware to start sharpening stump grinder teeth I'd be sorely tempted to pay for that service...

How many and how often do you need that done? I could sharpen those if you need a hand.

 

[Wild Willie]

There's 36 on the head. We try to touch them up rather often while we're grinding. I appreciate the offer, but shipping them out is not really one of those things we can do.

How many and how often do you need that done? I could sharpen those if you need a hand.

 

[eKretz]

There's 36 on the head. We try to touch them up rather often while we're grinding. I appreciate the offer, but shipping them out is not really one of those things we can do.

No prob. Most of the guys I know running stump grinders have removable teeth. They don't get them sharpened often either, cheaper to buy new Chinese ones.

 

[eKretz]

So.... I was at an Ace today in an area a few towns away and they had one of these things. So I took one for the team and let them sharpen one of my EDC beaters, an old ProTech Godson. I also took my own edge to a steel screw before the sharpening and slid it along back and forth about 10 times with about 5 pounds of pressure to be sure the edge was very rolled.

My verdict: ok for an EDC beater. I would absolutely NOT let them touch a knife you care about cosmetically, just in case. Might do better on something that has a more exposed blade that's farther away from the handle or scales. It does get the edge sharp and I'd say approximately equivalent grit level is probably around 400-600. The edge did shave arm hair.

However...

It was a little herky jerky at the start of the blade near the heel and did not grind all the way to the heel even though there is a small choil on the blade. The grind of the bevel was nice and even down the blade from there.

However 2:

It also nailed my scales on both sides and ground shallow notches into the aluminum. That may or may not have been due to the guy who set the machine up, couldn't say. But it happened nonetheless.

And contrary to the description above, they do not use belts. They use small wheels running like the old sharpeners that used to be sold where the wheels were stacked and interlocked with each other. It looked like two sets of those at different grits (first one, then it changed to the other) and then a small abrasive impregnated plastic deburring wheel. Between grinds it would check the edge by scanning along the length of the edge with a laser. I am guessing it looks for reflections off the edge to tell when it's sharpened to a full apex.

https://imgur.com/A3WVe3z

https://imgur.com/7sS05JP

 

[scottc3]

ouch on those scales...

 

[donnord]

I used a sharpening service 2 times in my life. Both times I was very unhappy with the result. In one case they ruined the knife, a Gerber guardian, by changing the profile and removing the blade etching with their aggressive sharpening. The other they shapened a hunting at about 17 degrees and it was till not sharp. That one I converted to a convex edge. The Gerber I gave to a fellow heading to Afghanistan, it was sharp and worked well, but was ugly. Edit, I did not know most of the conversation was related to the machine that was used at ACE Hardware. At mine they offsite that to someone else.

 

[Billy The Blade]

Am I the only one who immediately thought of the 'Mold-a-rama' machine they had, (or still have?) at the Zoo ?
Lol
B.T.B.

 

[gridflash]

Hey all.

I am looking for a local guy to sharpen a new lock blade carry knife I got. As I searched thru the results from Google, I found that it was in fact a system at the local ACE Hardware. It’s some kinda high tech sharpening system that does the sharpening on auto-pilot, for lack of a better description. I can’t recall the name of the technology though. Its done by a machine. It’s really inexpensive. I am wondering how well this service works on a knife that doesn’t have a good edge to start with.

Do you all know anything about the sharpening? Ever had it done to one of your knives?

I’d like to hear what you all think of this option.

Thanks for your time.

If you can do your own that's great but many people can't.
Resharp a solution to that problem.
It won't get you the kind of edge you can do yourself but for many kitchens, it will be a solution.

 

[Danke42]

 

[Another Shepherd]

I've been getting ads on Facebook for this service at an Ace about an hours drive away. I asked a few simple questions, such as "What angle does the device sharpen at?" and the Ace folks were unable to provide an intelligible answer.

 

[Boattale]

It puzzles me greatly that people won't just learn to free hand sharpen a knife. It's not rocket science.
People spend hundreds of dollars on jigs, fixtures and machines-when a simple India stone or diamond stones will suffice.

Agree. I'm a recent convert to Diamond. 300 on one side 1000 on the other. Works quite nicely.

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