Bass Pro knife sharpening?

cbr1000

cbr1000

Joined
Jan 31, 2013
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I'm new to the knife world.. well, I should clarify I've always had a knife but never a decent quality knife. Mostly what I've had is the cheap < $20 knife that sits in the tackle box or might find it's way into the kitchen drawer to open a letter or something.

I decided to put some money into getting something decent and I was at Bass Pro looking at knives yesterday and there was a long line of people at the gun counter, and a few people in line at the knife counter. The people at the knife counter were waiting to get their knife sharpened. I watched the Bass Pro staff sharpen knives on a electric grinder.

At the time this seemed like a great service to me. Bring your knife in for sharpening and shop for new toys.

I'm curious to know thoughts about buying knife sharpening accessories and trying it myself (knowing that I have never sharpened a knife) vs. bringing a knife to Bass Pro to someone that appears to have sharpened hundreds of knifes?
 
if he is sharpening them with paper wheel then it should be fine, if it is not. i wont do it but learn how to sharpen it

i suggest you invest in spydero sharpmaker or lansky clamp sharpening system. use on cheap knives before using your good knives
 
Depends on the complexity of the grind. Simple 20degrees straight edge. If recurve or complex micro-bevel no. Last time I had them attempt to sharpen a flat grind recurve they tried to sharpen it for a hollow grind.
 
I am pretty sure I saw the Razor Sharp Edgemaking System at a Bass Pro Shop (Savannah Mall) a few years ago. Nobody was around, so I didn't get to talk to anybody. Whether to let them sharpen depends on your tolerance for risk. I have the RSES and would just do it myself.

BTW: Do they charge for sharpening?

Good sharpening,
Dave
 
I got the impression they did not pay...the counters were so busy I didn't ask. I saw some people pick up their knives and they didn't pay at pick up. Next time I'm up there I'm going to check into the details.

Thanks for the replies. I might take a cheap knife to them and look into picking up the spyderco sharpmaker or some other sharpening system someday... I assumed this is the better way to go. Anything you do yourself is normally better, but funds to buy good sharpener (I assume $100 ish) and the time to learn how to do it got me thinking about using Bass Pro.
 
I wouldn't let someone sharpen my knife with a motorized system like that because I'd be too worried about them ruining the temper.
 
You'll be way better off to go to Lowes and buy a Norton stone for 5 or 6 bucks and learn to sharpen your own knife. It's very easy, no rocket science involved, and learning to sharpen free hand will give you freedom.
 
You'll find most on here are way to OCD about their knives to give them over to someone they don't know and trust to sharpen them.
 
Most of the Bass Pro Shops have a sub-contractor in their knife department using the paper wheels. The one in Atlanta has some kids (to me at least, I'm 70) that has no clue how to use the wheels. There may be someone on their staff that knows how to use them properly, but when I was there, there was no one with any skill there. It also was filthy dirty, and looked like it had never been cleaned up. Dirt and grinding dust was every where. I use the paper wheels and get great results with them, but would not let them touch any of my knives.

This was the Atlanta store on the north east side of town on I-85 north. I have not been in any of their other stores, but from research on line, they use the Razor Sharp Edgemaking System at most of their stores. (paper wheels) Their other stores may be better. (hopefully) I think they will sharpen your knife if you buy it from them, but charge otherwise.

I would suggest watching them sharpen someone elses knife and ask to inspect the job done from the knife owner before letting them work on your knife. The paper wheels are a great way to sharpen knives, but like anything else, it does take some knowledge and practice to achieve great results.

Blessings,

Omar
 
The skill & knowledge of the employees in the big box stores is very inconsistent. These stores don't pay much so they usually don't attract the best talent. Or if they do get a good one, they often don't stay very long. As a general rule, I wouldn't let them work on any piece of equipment that I cared about. I've heard of exceptions, but they seem to be few & far between.

Another general rule is to not use powered sharpeners on the knives that I care about. The paper wheels, the work sharp & a couple of others are good in the right hands. But when you add power to make sharpening easier, you also make it easier to damage your knife.

If you can watch the sharpener work on someone else's knife, you may see a highly skilled sharpener. Or you may see a guy ruining edges and taking decades off of the life of good knives.

Of course there is the possibility that the store sharpener isn't very good, but he's better than the knife owner. :)

JMHO,
Allen
 
With any sort of powered system, It's easy for the person to slip or pause on an area too long. If that happens, then, your knife is ruined, scratched up and/or deformed. Just because they do hundreds of knives a day doesn't mean they're good at it. There's "professional" sharpeners out there that have been sharpening for years and they still suck at it.

I suggest getting a decent sharpening stone (Norton India or Crystolon is a good starting stone) and some cheap knives to practice on. Or if you wanna go powered try out paper wheels.
 
Bad idea:thumbdn: If your into knives do yourself a favor and learn to sharpen now. Its an invaluable skill that not many have anymore. Like someone else said get a Norton econo stone at Home Depot or the like for under $10 and practice on cheapos and kitchen knives until you get the hang of it.
 
Don't do it!!! I've had a guy at bass pro ruin one of my crkt knives. He burnt the temper off the blade and now it won't hold an edge worth crap. I saw him dip it in water so I though it was fine boult now it won't hold an edge at all. He also put it at a very thin angle on once side then a thick on the other!! They charged me a dollar to do it. I should've known better. Don't do it!!!
 
Curtis_Lowe said:
With any sort of powered system, It's easy for the person to slip or pause on an area too long. If that happens, then, your knife is ruined, scratched up and/or deformed. Just because they do hundreds of knives a day doesn't mean they're good at it. There's "professional" sharpeners out there that have been sharpening for years and they still suck at it.

I suggest getting a decent sharpening stone (Norton India or Crystolon is a good starting stone) and some cheap knives to practice on. Or if you wanna go powered try out paper wheels.
Click to expand...

Thanks for answering my novice question. This makes sense to me...even if I'm lucky enough to find someone that is familiar w/ the bass pro paper wheel they are always busy, distracted or have some time constraints related to work...it also makes sense that their sharpener would be dirty. Seemed like an option for me, but I will figure out how to do it myself Thank you
 
I formerly worked near a Bass Pro. I took pics of their signage at the counter back on 12/11/2010 but I have no idea if it is still the same or if it is consistant thorughout the chain...

Sign:
BabyDavid071_zpsaa916414.jpg


Closer up:
BabyDavid072_zps2af48a72.jpg


Finer Print:
BabyDavid073_zps4947578e.jpg
 
We call those power sharpeners handle makers. They're OK for flea market knives, but we sharpen the good stuff by hand.
 
tiguy7 said:
We call those power sharpeners handle makers. They're OK for flea market knives, but we sharpen the good stuff by hand.
Click to expand...

Which power sharpeners are you referring to, and who are "We". :confused:

Blessings,

Omar
 
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