Blade regrinds - What's the down side?

Rasco

Rasco

Joined
Jan 3, 2014
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Trying to talk a co-worker into getting a regrind on his PM2.
He got a new position that involves cutting tons of cardboard & strap and has come to realize the value of a quality knife, as he is now using one daily.

I've already gone over the benefits of a blade regrind with him, but I was wondering, what are some of the real world, practical flaws or down sides to a thin regrind?
Obviously, the blade will be more susceptible to breaking when under lateral stress, but he's not going to be using the knife as a prybar, or in bushcrafting, or any kind of hard use scenario really, just cutting lots and lots of cardboard.

Is there any reason a regrind wouldn't be best for him?

Has anyone had any issues, in the real world, with reground blades? Or any fail stories?

(My reground Manix 2 LW in S110V)

IMG_20150802_144342877_HDR_zpss8q7w38l.jpg
 
Instead of a regrind, just buy the grind you want in the first place.

I have one knife reground, a Northwoods Scagel single blade folder. Its edge was too obtuse to be useful. I really liked it, stag and a copy of an original Scagel, so I was goig to keep it. Since I use my knives, I took it to my local knife sharpening store. Their bread and butter is kitchen knives. It now has a flat grind with a 1/3" scandi edge. Works great. The only problem was it chipped when I tried to use it to open a walnut, but that was my fault.

Make sure whoever does the regrind knows the edge geometry you want and is capable. A friend had a knife butchered by a gun show sharpener. I use 'em for beaters I buy at the show, but I watch them first to see their skill.
 
Let me preface my question back to you with this: I can understand people wanting to use a "better" tool than normal as I use a fountain pen when writing for work instead of a roller ball or ink pen because it slows my writing down so I can read my own writing at a later time.

However, if you want to regrind a knife for the purpose of cutting cardboard, does the regrind prolong the time between having to sharpen the knife?

The reason I ask is because I used to use my pocket knives to cut up Amazon cardboard boxes to put into the recycle bin and I found they quickly dulled the edges. Since I don't want to waste my sharpening efforts on just cardboard, I got a utility knife with disposable razor blades and found they even work better. And all I have to do is replace the blades which takes infinitely less time than sharpening. That's why my interest in this thread.

My next question is: to come close to the effectiveness of a utility blade, wouldn't the regrind have to be just about the profile of how thin a utility blade is? Then you have the real problem of bending and breaking. And, I'm not sure if it will stay sharper longer than a utility razor blade.
 
I'd likely be pointing him in the direction of Big Chris or Josh at REK.

He's mostly looking to make his PM2 more slicey. He pops into the office every couple weeks and shows me his knife and the edge is usually gone. I take it home overnight, sharpen it up for him, and give it back, but he wants something that will cut more boxes with less maintenance needed.
He's planning on picking up a SharpMaker, but I think a regrind would benefit him as well.

Just trying to make sure I'm giving him all the info and not failing to mention anything as far as possible negatives to getting a regrind
 
Biggest downside is that the person doing it messes it up. Josh or Chris wouldn't do that and if they did they would replace it. Warranty might be an issue.

However, sounds like he needs to learn to sharpen. Once you get a good edge on S30v you can bring it back easily with little maintenance, regular but little. Couple minutes on a sharpmaker at the end of each day and that thing will be sharp as hell every single day. The sharpmaker will pay off huge compared to a single regrind. Once he learns to use the sharpmaker he can sharpen any knife. With a regrind he will still need to resharpen that one knife. Sure there are benefits to a regrind but being able to keep any knife sharp is far more valuable.
 
I think he's trying to get into knives and doesn't wanna carry a Husky folding box cutter in addition to his EDC.
He'd prefer to make his EDC more versatile and better suited to his daily needs.
We work for a company that makes large projectors and his job involves installing them so he's constantly cutting open huge cardboard boxes with lids held down by strapping.
 
craytab said:
Biggest downside is that the person doing it messes it up. Josh or Chris wouldn't do that and if they did they would replace it. Warranty might be an issue.

However, sounds like he needs to learn to sharpen. Once you get a good edge on S30v you can bring it back easily with little maintenance, regular but little. Couple minutes on a sharpmaker at the end of each day and that thing will be sharp as hell every single day. The sharpmaker will pay off huge compared to a single regrind. Once he learns to use the sharpmaker he can sharpen any knife. With a regrind he will still need to resharpen that one knife. Sure there are benefits to a regrind but being able to keep any knife sharp is far more valuable.
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Yeah, he's going to get a SharpMaker regardless. But I let him borrow my reground Manix 2 and he really enjoyed it, so I recommended a regrind.
Just trying to make sure I'm not failing to mention any major drawbacks
 
Rasco said:
Yeah, he's going to get a SharpMaker regardless. But I let him borrow my reground Manix 2 and he really enjoyed it, so I recommended a regrind.
Just trying to make sure I'm not failing to mention any major drawbacks
Click to expand...

That's good he's getting the sharpmaker regardless. The only drawback I can really think of is the warranty. Spyderco doesn't warranty blades anyway but I don't know how they would see a regrind in regards to warrantying the rest of the knife. If he liked yours I say do it! Who did yours BTW?
 
Rey HRH said:
Let me preface my question back to you with this: I can understand people wanting to use a "better" tool than normal as I use a fountain pen when writing for work instead of a roller ball or ink pen because it slows my writing down so I can read my own writing at a later time.

However, if you want to regrind a knife for the purpose of cutting cardboard, does the regrind prolong the time between having to sharpen the knife?

The reason I ask is because I used to use my pocket knives to cut up Amazon cardboard boxes to put into the recycle bin and I found they quickly dulled the edges. Since I don't want to waste my sharpening efforts on just cardboard, I got a utility knife with disposable razor blades and found they even work better. And all I have to do is replace the blades which takes infinitely less time than sharpening. That's why my interest in this thread.

My next question is: to come close to the effectiveness of a utility blade, wouldn't the regrind have to be just about the profile of how thin a utility blade is? Then you have the real problem of bending and breaking. And, I'm not sure if it will stay sharper longer than a utility razor blade.
Click to expand...

If you like to use razor blades then have at it. Use the tool you want to use. Super high end knives are really just a luxury hobby. You either like them and find uses for them or you don't. If all you want is something that works the best, chances are there's something cheaper and mass produced already on the market. Just keeping it real. Personally I find a lot of uses for knives outside of just cutting boxes so I find what works for me and run with it. If all I really ever did was cut up cardboard then I'd probably be in the same dilemma as you. I know I'd eventually just go with the disposable razor, too.
 
Rasco said:
Trying to talk a co-worker into getting a regrind on his PM2.
He got a new position that involves cutting tons of cardboard & strap and has come to realize the value of a quality knife, as he is now using one daily.

I've already gone over the benefits of a blade regrind with him, but I was wondering, what are some of the real world, practical flaws or down sides to a thin regrind?
Obviously, the blade will be more susceptible to breaking when under lateral stress, but he's not going to be using the knife as a prybar, or in bushcrafting, or any kind of hard use scenario really, just cutting lots and lots of cardboard.

Is there any reason a regrind wouldn't be best for him?

Has anyone had any issues, in the real world, with reground blades? Or any fail stories?

(My reground Manix 2 LW in S110V)

IMG_20150802_144342877_HDR_zpss8q7w38l.jpg
Click to expand...

If that's all he's going to do then yeah, thinner is better until flexing becomes an issue. For cutting boxes and plastic straps all he needs is about 1/2" inch long cutting edge with a pointed tip and a way to keep the blade from bending. In other words, a disposable razor knife.

If he wants to step outside of that stuff then he may not want to regrind the knife. I've found that the spyderco military is just about right for an all around utility folding knife. Maybe it could be a tad thinner. For my fixed blades, though, I like them to generally be a bit thicker. Not a lot. Spyderco really did hit the nail on the head with the millie and pm2, IMO.
 
craytab said:
That's good he's getting the sharpmaker regardless. The only drawback I can really think of is the warranty. Spyderco doesn't warranty blades anyway but I don't know how they would see a regrind in regards to warrantying the rest of the knife. If he liked yours I say do it! Who did yours BTW?
Click to expand...

I have 2 of this same knife, both reground by Big Chris, one down to .005 behind the edge (pictured) and another one, as a backup, that is .008 bte
Absolute lightsaber.
I was inspired by Ankerson's cutting tests. :)
 
I always worried about it stuffing up the heat treat. Not sure if that is a valid concern?
 
The biggest thing stopping me from getting a regrind on a folder is that I'm sure most companies would void your warranty, even for the parts that are totally unaffected by a regrind (the lock, for example). I've had too many lock issues over the years to risk it.
 
Nothing.

I've had Josh @ REK regrind a few knives for me (RHK's and Striders mainly)

I really can't think of one thing negative to say about using those knives after the regrinds....I really did beat up the first few and posted a lengthy thread about my findings over a period of time. Nothing.

I hope my lack of not being able to find a negative is a positive...
 
Does he have another knife to use if he ships his PM2 for re-grinding? Would you loan him a knife to use at work, and away from work while his PM2 was away?

Between shipping and turn-over time, how long would he be without his knife?

Can he afford to spend money on shipping and a re-grind? How much does a re-grind cost?
 
Sounds like it's really not necessary to be honest. The Para 2 is already extremely thin and slicey so I guess I don't see why one would mess with it. Also he is going to have quite a bit of money in that knife that he could just spend towards something that would get the job done the way it comes from the factory. That way you aren't loosing warranty and wasting money. I would have him check out a Delica 4 and maybe that would be a bit thinner but if it is it wouldn't be by much. I like the suggestion of him just using a razor and saving the knife for all the other edc stuff.
 
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