Brother's idiot girlfriend ruins kitchen knives

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szazs

Joined
Nov 18, 2005
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I managed to "save" some of my Dad's favorite good-to-very-good quality cutlery from my brother's house when they moved. His idiot live-in girlfriend had managed to scratch up the blades on many of the knives by either running them through an electric sharpener at the wrong angle, or by using a stone and letting the knives slip along the stone across the blades...Sheesh, I'm glad Dad's not alive to see this!
I can handle resharpening this mess, but my question is: What is the best way, if any, to get rid of the (many) scratches on the blades? Some look like she was digging through a granite quarry with them...as Dad would say, "Damn such business!"
 
How does scratching them ruin them? Do they now get stuck in vegetables? Do they rust controllably? Can you not find them in the sink anymore now that they are no longer mirror finished?

Life is a learning process.
 
Hand sand the surface to a satin finish, have it bead/sand blasted, have it coated, or just treat it like a patina on a carbon steel blade. Eventually all the chaos blends into symmetry.

-Cliff
 
Fine sandpaper for the really bad scratches, a microfiber rag and Flitz metal polish for the lighter stuff, and NEVR-DULL for the final polishing touch.
 
What has already been said. And keep the knives away from people who don't appreciate them.
 
Like thay always say, "Do you want the knifes to cut well OR do you want them pretty?". Personally, I'd go with the scratches, it shows a knife-life well lived.
 
Luckily many brands of kitchen cutlery aren't real hard, so cleaning up the damage may not be too much work. Removing scratches is a good idea because they can hold bacteria and promote rust. Abrasive paper or cloth with a shot of WD40 is what I use, 400-600 grit leaves a good finish IMO.

The worst thing about electric sharpeners (and those who use them) is they can easily remove too much metal, resulting in a recurve in the rear portion of the edge which is a problem when used on a cutting board. Make sure to clean that up if you see it.
 
tim8557 said:
Like thay always say, "Do you want the knifes to cut well OR do you want them pretty?
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Why cann't he have both? Nothing wrong at all with a knife that is good looking and cuts just as well.
 
Why cann't he have both? Nothing wrong at all with a knife that is good looking and cuts just as well.
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But why get upset at something that has happened? You don't go out of your way to scratch up a blade, but now that it has happened, why go out of the way to reverse the process?
 
Thanks for the good suggestions...things look better already.

kel_aa said:
How does scratching them ruin them? Do they now get stuck in vegetables? Do they rust controllably? Can you not find them in the sink anymore now that they are no longer mirror finished?

Life is a learning process.
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IMHO, sctatches are cosmetic, and don't "ruin" a knife; broken off points, edges completely gone, using a J.A. Henckels or Dehillerin chefs knife for a hammer or a screwdriver, yeah...that's "ruining" a knife. Life is indeed a learning process; I learned to keep the good stuff away from the idiots. These are the kind of people that would wind up cutting themselves and want to sue the knifemakers...

Anyway...Dad took great care of these, was very proud of them, and a little elbow grease is a small price to pay to make things right...thanks again for the useful suggestions.
 
"
kel_aa said..
But why get upset at something that has happened?

People get upset for very many reasons who are you to tell him what are good ones to get upset over and what ones aren't?
"
You don't go out of your way to scratch up a blade,

He didn't do it again read the post, his brothers girlfriend did it.
"
but now that it has happened, why go out of the way to reverse the process?

Because he wants to is a good enough reason for me and should be for you too. Since it isn't a good enough reason, for you, how about it is the way his Dad kept care of them and he wants to respect and continue that. Would that be a good enough reason for you?
 
I always had good results with Crocus Cloth , you can find it in sheets at any hardware store. Remember knives should be used not abused.... I hide the good stuff, put out the ginsooo 's , lol
 
Okay, I'll go for it:

Please try you best to not quote me out of context. When I said "you don't go out of your way to scratch up a blade, but now that it has happened, why go out of the way to reverse the process," I didn't imply he went out of the way to do that.

People get upset for very many reasons who are you to tell him what are good ones to get upset over and what ones aren't?
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I cannot tell anyone what to do. I personally don't see the point of getting upset at family members for things like this which it was not their intention to marr the objects. If you have the energy, why not just try to teach them?
 
How was that out of context? And again read the post it's not a family member he seems to be mad at it's a girlfriend of a family member. Doesn't really matter if he's mad or not he wanted to know how to restore a knife his Dad seemed to care about and at the least he cares about it and wants to fix it. Good enough reasons by far I think.
 
szazs said:
I managed to "save" some of my Dad's favorite good-to-very-good quality cutlery from my brother's house when they moved. His idiot live-in girlfriend had managed to scratch up the blades on many of the knives by either running them through an electric sharpener at the wrong angle, or by using a stone and letting the knives slip along the stone across the blades...Sheesh, I'm glad Dad's not alive to see this!
I can handle resharpening this mess, but my question is: What is the best way, if any, to get rid of the (many) scratches on the blades? Some look like she was digging through a granite quarry with them...as Dad would say, "Damn such business!"
Click to expand...

Now, I cant be sure, but if I were your father i would tell you to get over it and that they are just knives. Whats more is that they are not even close to "ruined" :rolleyes: Knives are meant to be USED, not coddled as your precious. :jerkit: Your father I'm sure, regardless of his care for the knives, knew that.

If you ask me, and you indirectly have by posting this topic, your brothers "idiot" girlfriend had a better handle on what knives are all about then you do. Sure she may not be very good at sharpening them, but who the hell cares? She will get better at it over time as she does it more and more.

Even so, if you've realy got a stick up your butt about these minor cosmetic issues, then spend the time to refinish them and quit whining about it on the internet. :rolleyes:

There. You have survived your official "Stupid-NoOb" beating. Chin up, and WELCOME TO BLADE FORUMS!

Anyway, i think the more important question is, was the food she prepared any good? :)
 
mr.trooper said:
...Even so, if you've realy got a stick up your butt about these minor cosmetic issues, then spend the time to refinish them and quit whining about it on the internet.
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JFC Dude, Sorry to cut into your valuable time trolling the internet. The whole post and follow up were steel refinishing questions, not a request for an opinion on family dynamics...but then, you totally missed that...
 
Ebbtide, GREAT link. Exactly what I was looking for. The whole site is an education. Thanks!
Thanks also to Cliff, Quiet Storm, Greg, Dog of War, and westllen for excellent advice and staying focused.
Now I'm happy and so are the knives...
 
Wow, what a great girlfriend! I would guess that less than 1% of the women in the US ever try and sharpen a knife with any kind of gadget, electrical or manual. If she actually used a benchstone she is more like a one-in-ten-thousand kind of girl. She just needs a little help with technique.

The problem with honing scratches is that they are often too deep to remove with just some polish or crocus cloth. On the other hand new sandpaper is often a bit irregular and can cause deeper scratches than you expect. You might try a rock shop and get some polishing compounds there. Get something finer than you might expect. You might even start with 1 micron.
 
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