Can you buy unsharpened knives?

Joined
May 19, 2009
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I've owned a Howling Rat, Rodent Solution, RMD, and just got a Scrap Yard Sykco 711. The factory edges on all of these aren't good. The best is the RMD; it can shave hair if I push hard near the handle. The edge grinds aren't just wide, they're fairly inconsistent too. IMO the edge angle shouldn't change from 40 degrees at the choil to 60 degrees at the tip.

I just received my 711 today. It's a nice design and I'm sure I'll like it. The only thing is the edge sucks more on this than any other decent knife I've purchased.

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Scrap Yard must use a 2" wide belt to sharpen their knives. You can tell because the sharpener is either too inexperienced or didn't care enough to let off the pressure when he got to the choil. This inattention leads to more material being removed 2-3" from the choil. It's a common mistake. If you think about the last 2 inches of edge spends much less time on the belt because you have to stop when you get to the choil/ricasso.
Another thing is the tip. One side spent more time on the grinder and it's skewed.

Knives are tools and they will get dull. At some point I'll give the knives the edges they deserve. Functionally these issues with the edges aren't huge, but if you can buy a $18 machete with a consistent edge then there's no reason Scrap Yard can't do the same.

So...I propose two things:

1 - Scrap Yard and Swamp Rat employees make a conscious effort to sharpen a knife correctly. It shouldn't take any more time to do it right, it just takes a tiny bit more attention.

OR

2 - Sell unsharpened knives for those who want them. How cool would that be? Many people reprofile to their preferred angles anyway; offering unsharpened knives may extend the life of the knife a little bit. I hate grinding away good metal just to even out an edge. Anyone think this will ever happen?

*Disclaimer: I hope this post didn't sound mean. I really like these knives and the edge (which eventually gets corrected anyway) is the only fault.
 
on the 4 RMD's i've handled (2 my brothers and 2 mine) all have had even grinds, my brothers first RMD had a micro chip out of the edge tho, no problem fixed in 10mins max, my second RMD had a large burr in a half inch of edge and a micro-chip, NP has i sharpen all my factory knives to my prefered edge (20 per side, 1200 grit diamond, lightly strop on green compound) they all shave smoothly now, my first RMD was kinda dull imo wouldnt shave well but cut paper ok.

over all i dont mind b/c sr-101 is the best steel around imo and thats what i pay for, sharpened myself is fine as i like doing it, only problem is if i have to re-profile them.... SR-101 takes forever to work a good burr up imo its ware-resistant like a mofo

only one i re-profiled and thinned out was my first RMD, it came at 25 per side and i prefer 20, needless to say it took about 40mins to be done even using 320g, 600g and 1200g diamonds
 
ive had lots of problems with busse/busse kin edges but i love the designs and will continue to buy them..i wouldnt want a knife with no edge however.
 
I agree with you, my RMD had the best edge but from the yard my 711 came razor sharp.

You should drop a line to Renee, they will have you send it back pronto and probably pay for your shipping and make it right.

Good luck.
 
Jerry has stated over and over, if you have a issue with a Busse knife, do not post on the forum's until you have given them the chance to fix the issue you have. If they refuse to fix it, then post on the forum. That is what I would do so they can see what happened, and then correct the issue, be it employee error, lack of attention or equipment problem. I also, would not want a knife with no edge. I feel very confident they will take care of you.
 
If you ever have any problems with the edges on any of the BusseKin knives just email one of us and we'll take care of it.



I'm sorry for any issues this may have caused.

We do not intentionally sell any unsharpened knives ;)

:D:D
 
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Thanks for offering to fix them, but honestly it's not worth the hassle and shipping when I'll eventually sharpen it myself.

So yall won't offer unsharpened knives for sale? I think some people would be interested in them and it'd save y'all the work.
 
So yall won't offer unsharpened knives for sale? I think some people would be interested in them and it'd save y'all the work.

Don't know if this is a Swamp Rat policy as well, but Busse will most likely not do this. They don't offer knives without handles, unfinished knives, "competition finish" knives, except for that model or two a long time ago, etc.. Although I understand where you're coming from since I just called Busse up myself this morning asking for a knife without any handles so I could put them on myself, it's mostly a quality and branding thing, I suppose. You can say as much as you want about waiving the warranty and insisting it'll be all right, but it's still coming from their grinding room and they gotta do what they gotta do to it. Maybe seems a bit stiff and draconian, but I suppose they have the right to sell it the way they want it.
 
If you ever have any problems with the edges on any of the BusseKin knives just email one of us and we'll take care of it.

If it is a Swamp Rat drop me a note ratknives@insightbb.com

I'm sorry for any issues this may have caused.

We do not intentionally sell any unsharpened knives ;)

:D:D
Eric i dont mind as i sharpen all my knives except kershaws which come with the best edge imo

so its no problem for me :D
 
For me I would love to have a RMD training knife but can't bring myself to dull a perfectly good knife. An aluminum RMD trainer would be perfect.
 
I understand what you mean about wanting Kin knives without an edge from the factory that would be sweet. I too have had some issue with the edges on some Busse/Kin not being that sharp but I like putting my own edges anyway so not a problem.
 
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