Buying/Selling Sharpened Knives

Shift said:
I freehand sharpen also but you can tell they have been sharpened not only are they much sharpen but the stones I finish on leave them a lot more polished. Anyone know what they sharpen with factory when done by hand that leaves such a course edge?
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A belt
 
To buy something rare and collectible, I would want it as close to factory as possible.

The geometry cannot be 'wrecked' in a subtle fashion, so including pics prevents me from worrying about that. The other thing that prevents me from worrying is the fact that these knives are sharpened freehand and with power equipment from the factory, so the geometry is not at all precise to begin with and a PhD knifemaker/metallurgist named Roman Landes already showed that the heat treat is affected by powered sharpening without liquid cooling at the edge apex to begin with.

If I am going to use the knife, then the edge doesn't matter, because at some point I will sharpen it myself. When that happens, it doesn't make any difference whatsoever what the previous sharpener did, or if it was at the factory or at their house.

And if a knifemaker was selling one of their production user knives as they sometimes do here, I would have a really hard time telling them that I think they should drop the price because their professional sharpening job as a custom knife maker suddenly killed the value of a production knife that is available from maybe 50 online vendors and sits in stacks on warehouse shelves.
 
For me, it's the same as buying used.
And I don't buy used knives.
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BladeScout said:
You are missing out:D

Na, just kidding. Your dough, your decision. To each his own:)
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Oh I have a few used knives in my collection; pocketknives from my Father and Grandfather, and the knives from when I was a boy.

I wouldn't have the same nostalgia if the knife was used previously by some stranger on the internet. ;)
 
IMHO sharpened knife is not NIB. So if selling/ buying it should certainly cost less. There are few reasons.
If the knife currently available at dealers, why would somebody pay the same to private person the same for "sharpened knife". Nobody knows how it was sharpened: perfect edge, no scratches on the blade or something totally opposite. Nobody knows how the knife was handles. Also in most of the cases no "no questions asked" return policy.
If the knife is discontinued and "sharpened" collector value is less, so should be price as well.
 
I go to garage sales and specifically look for kitchen knives. Not too many brand name kitchen knives out there. Having said that, and I do find-em, I always look for the ones in good to fairly good condition (you know what I mean) I take them home, Razor sharp them, resell 'em on craigs list or at our local swap meet. I'm retired, ain't got a frigging thing to do, enjoy my life, and enjoy what I do and make a few bucks doing it.
Aloha!
 
Shift said:
Well it seems like so far most people don't really mind and even expect a sharp edge short of people buying a knife simply for a safe queen. That's how I feel about it and suspect most of the time you see a knife listed for sell unsharpened it was probably the intent of the seller to sell the knife all along. Its always possible too that they just have a large collection and never got around to using it or didn't like it. I also didn't really think about the fact that a lot of people are not great at sharpening and are probably happy to get a knife sharper than they are capable of on their own.
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I agree, very good sensible points.
 
graham_s said:
Depending on the blade, if it's been sharpened it's lost value.
No disrespect to the OP, but how do I know that the geometry hasn't been trashed?
How skilled is the person sharpening the blade?
You just don't know.
It would certainly put me off buying unless the price was right.

If you're going to move the knife on, and don't want to lose money, don't sharpen it.
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So...you would rather buy a used or not used knife un-sharpened. I'm trying very hard not to be a S-A. Are you anal retentive? If I buy a used knife and it's not sharpened no big deal, I'd sharpen it myself. If it came sharpened and could slice and dice, no big deal. Should I buy lets say a brand new Richmond chef knife, I want and expect it to be sharpened. Common sense seems to escape your sense of reasoning. Of course thats my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions.
 
just can't sell a knife as nib, nos, or anything new if it's been sharpened, sanded for rust ( even 0000 steel wool), or used to cut anything at all. That's the rule I go buy when buying and selling and will ask specific questions about that. I will not buy anything else except in rare cases ( very rare knives) as I've had to send back too many knives that were "carried once for 5 minutes and never cut anything". I've ran into too many downright liars and condition is something that can be different to different people. I can usually tell a factory edge on a new production blade. Likewise I know just where to look for pocket fuzz for the never carried types.
 
I respect the views of the collectors here, but I'm strongly in the user camp. I can't see myself EVER getting a knife that I have to leave in the box and just look at, or resell. I have seen some pictures of absolutely beautiful knives on this forum, but I don't think I'll ever own a knife that couldn't be my EDC knife.

I am in agreement that used knives lose a lot of their value in my eyes once "used" by their original owner. I would rather purchase new in most cases, unless the knife was in excellent shape or one that's no longer in production.
 
I sharpened my RMD on my wicked edge, because it came pretty dull. It's brand new other than that...

In your opinion, If I were to sell this knife, would you buy it? Also, do you think I did an ok job sharpening it? I can assure you it's hair splitting sharp.

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Yes I would but at a tiny tiny discount discount. Maybe $5-$10 less than fair price.

First off the grind is slightly uneven. Nearing the finger choil, there is a noticeable "dip" where the choil was not grinded enough to meet the rest of the edge. Minor detail, it happens a lot in sharpening using a guided system.
The finger choil where the sharpening begins has been dulled at the point there. Also the grind looks to be uneven nearing the tip (width of the bevel was dramatized), but I would reserve judgement here, I understand busse's are thick as heck so it may have to do with a wide apex not so much uneven grinding.
The tip looks rounded off.

Overall a passable sharpening job, but definitely not professional.
 
Luis G. said:
Yes I would but at a tiny tiny discount discount. Maybe $5-$10 less than fair price.

First off the grind is slightly uneven. Nearing the finger choil, there is a noticeable "dip" where the choil was not grinded enough to meet the rest of the edge. Minor detail, it happens a lot in sharpening using a guided system.
The finger choil where the sharpening begins has been dulled at the point there. Also the grind looks to be uneven nearing the tip (width of the bevel was dramatized), but I would reserve judgement here, I understand busse's are thick as heck so it may have to do with a wide apex not so much uneven grinding.
The tip looks rounded off.

Overall a passable sharpening job, but definitely not professional.
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Thanks for your opinion. It's a thick blade, so the tip is thick as well, I made sure not to run the wicked edge stones over the tip, which will cause a rounded tip. It's pointy, just obtuse. The bevels are slightly uneven, yet uniformed with the size. It may have something to do with the grind of this knife.

This knife did come butter knife dull, so maybe they had more grinding to do, which could reflect how sharpening on the wicked edge turned out?

Thanks for your feedback. I wouldn't sell this knife, but am curious to see if this sharpening job would put off any buyers. Again, the knife splits hairs and cuts like a champ, so I think over all it came out pretty good.

Sharpened to 50 degrees inclusive. I spent a few hours trying to go to 40, but it was too much work, I wasn't hitting the edge. That's how thick this blade is.
 
duro said:
Thanks for your opinion. It's a thick blade, so the tip is thick as well, I made sure not to run the wicked edge stones over the tip, which will cause a rounded tip. It's pointy, just obtuse. The bevels are slightly uneven, yet uniformed with the size. It may have something to do with the grind of this knife.

This knife did come butter knife dull, so maybe they had more grinding to do, which could reflect how sharpening on the wicked edge turned out?

Thanks for your feedback. I wouldn't sell this knife, but am curious to see if this sharpening job would put off any buyers. Again, the knife splits hairs and cuts like a champ, so I think over all it came out pretty good.

Sharpened to 50 degrees inclusive. I spent a few hours trying to go to 40, but it was too much work, I wasn't hitting the edge. That's how thick this blade is.
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Yup, may just be the apex thickness. Happens on some thick blades.

Overall it shouldn't put off buyers.
 
Thanks a lot Luis finally straight answer from someone 5 to 10 bucks off is what you would expect for that. I think that is a totally reasonable expectation. It would.not effect my decision to purchase and while it may not be "professional" I bet its a lot better than it came factory and is certainly not botched by any means. Would take a pro no time to fix with minimal wear. Thanks for your opinion Luis and nice sharpening During.
 
Luis G. said:
the grind is slightly uneven
Nearing the finger choil, there is a noticeable "dip" where the choil was not grinded enough to meet the rest of the edge
The finger choil where the sharpening begins has been dulled at the point there
the grind looks to be uneven nearing the tip
The tip looks rounded off.

Overall a passable sharpening job, but definitely not professional.
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Funny, this applies to the majority of production fixed blades I have bought factory new. The fact that this one is actually sharp would be the anomaly. My Scrapyards did not come sharp, and a Ranger RD7 literally did not have the the first quarter inch of tip ground at all, and I had to repair the choil. Almost none of the factory knives I have handled have been fully sharpened at the plunge/choil.
 
I am not exactly a collector, I buy knives to use them so if it were sharpened I'd still buy it for what I think its worth sharpening excluded. I look at other things for value. I'd buy a knife with a botched job even, cause I can most likely fix it if I want the blade bad enough.
 
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