Are you oversharpening your knives?

[T. Erdelyi]

Are you oversharpening your blades?

A while back, a guy I work with,(Retired Navy, no disrespect intended) had bought the same knife I had, because mine was sharper than his it irked the crap outa him that my knife was always, sharper than his.

Fastforward 6 months

Today he came in and said the knife he had was a reject, he said it wouldn't take an edge no matter what he did, it came to him razor sharp, and after that first day, it never cut right again.

He told me he'd bought a diamond bench hone the day he bought the knife, to sharpen the, "harder steel", he told me he sharpened every day from the first time he'd gotten the knife, just like his Pappy did, "just a coupla licks on the stone at night ,keeper nice an sharp"

He damn near wore the blade half off, he asked to see my knife and couldn't believe it was that sharp and still had all that steel.

Are you sharpening your blades too much?

 

[DEA]

i have that same worry
my mod trident is a bitch to sharpen with ceramic stones, so i went out to get a diamond sharpener
i get it reasonably sharp and i stop
my rationale being the trident isn't meant to shave nor cut paper
if i can open cans, cut rope, it's good enough for me
and oh, i suck at sharpening rolled edges

 

[Full Tang Clan]

Ditto,

Strange, I have no problem putting a hair-popping edge on kitchen knives like cleavers, and chef knives using free hand sharpening with a cheap wetstone.

But I can't deal with the thick blade of my beater knife -- a SOG Magnadot using an angle sharpener. I get only as far as a course grind for push cutting. When I go to polish the edge to make a shaver, I lose that fine edge and end up with a butter knife. So I find myself resharpening, and resharpening, and resharpening...like trying to chase that elusive pot o' gold.


Then again, I've taken in knives to have it (so-called) professionally sharpenened in the past, only in horror to see that the original edge angle has been destroyed and half the blade worn out. I had a Buck stockman go in with a drop point, and come back as an awl! :grumpy:

So, at least if anyone is going to screw up my knives, it'll be me!

 

[Akwacko]

At first I probably oversharpened. When I first used my Lansky I sharpened often to keep it shaving sharp. Since getting my Edgepro I go the edge the way I wanted it and then just use a 12inch ceramic rod to keep it sharp.

I haven't reprofiled a knife in months. Looks like it's time to get a new knife.