Critical of factory grinds

They need something to talk about in their videos, it gives them a chance to show off their equipment and helps them establish legitimacy with their viewers.
 
I'm not sure I've ever watched a knife expert video on the Toob. It is however my favorite place for factual opinions.
 
If I’m looking at a knife video on you tube it’s for alternate angles and a different perspective. I usually have the sound turned off. The comments are sometimes useful too.
 
that is why i like short vids from knifecenter... you see angles and opening/closing and a few factual blurbs about steel used & handle material
 
YT Commandos vs MallNinjas... fight to the death. LOL. 😆

I've gotten a few new knives lately ($300-$400 midtechs) from some of the well known companies, with less than satisfactory factory edges. I mean struggling to cut paper dull. Not sure if it is a lack of labor issue or rush to make up for lost profits... but some companies could spend a little more time on sharpening the blades before shipping.
 
I don't care, to be honest. I know when I take a spyderco out of the package it will, 99% of the time it will be hair popping sharp. Benchmade is a toss up. Might get a good one, might get an overground blade or a chisel grind. One can be fixed, one would be returned or sent in for a new blade under warranty.

I can fix an edge. I just got my Hinderer skinny and the edge was 25 degrees or more per side. Sharp? Eh, kinda. Better after I put it to my spyderco medium. I reprofiled it to 17 per side...it now is how it should be. Did the same to my regular xm18. The xm24 is fine. Those are not cheap knives, but I'm fine with adjusting the edge to my liking.

So yea... I'm not too critical. If it's good out of the box I use it and sharpen as needed. If it's not up to a minimum standard (slicing a paper towel cleanly) it gets fixed.
 
The reality is that they can’t afford to have someone in a factory sharpening blades the way we do.

They use grinding belts and speed matters more than accuracy.

They take off way more than they should.

If the blades not all jacketed up and you can repair it to your satisfaction. Then it’s a win.
 
Yo Mama said:
I'm growing tired of the youtube commandos that buy a wicked edge, then complain about factory edge like it's the plague if it's off a degree or so. They usually say something like it wasn't worth sending back to the factory, then show a polished edge with no tip.

Anyone notice this? Are factory grinds so bad they render a knife useless? Am I overthinking this? 🙃
Click to expand...

I don't watch the youtube commandos. I do use and love my Wicked Edge 130 though. I expect to need to reprofile a knife the first time that I clamp it up in my WE130, so it doesn't bother me.
 
soc_monki said:
I don't care, to be honest. I know when I take a spyderco out of the package it will, 99% of the time it will be hair popping sharp. Benchmade is a toss up. Might get a good one, might get an overground blade or a chisel grind. One can be fixed, one would be returned or sent in for a new blade under warranty.

I can fix an edge. I just got my Hinderer skinny and the edge was 25 degrees or more per side. Sharp? Eh, kinda. Better after I put it to my spyderco medium. I reprofiled it to 17 per side...it now is how it should be. Did the same to my regular xm18. The xm24 is fine. Those are not cheap knives, but I'm fine with adjusting the edge to my liking.

So yea... I'm not too critical. If it's good out of the box I use it and sharpen as needed. If it's not up to a minimum standard (slicing a paper towel cleanly) it gets fixed.
Click to expand...
Makers make, users sharpen. Bad primary bevels are my gripe.
 
MBG said:
They need something to talk about in their videos, it gives them a chance to show off their equipment and helps them establish legitimacy with their viewers.
Click to expand...

Exactly my thoughts! Was it really bad enough to go on a long diatribe about how they are so much better than the maker?, ect...... it's like a battle for who is the coolest sharpener dude, when I wouldn't think of handing a knife of mine to them to damage or destroy.
 
Yo Mama said:
Exactly my thoughts! Was it really bad enough to go on a long diatribe about how they are so much better than the maker?, ect...... it's like a battle for who is the coolest sharpener dude, when I wouldn't think of handing a knife of mine to them to damage or destroy.
Click to expand...
Fun fact. The people making the videos possess a high degree of narcissism.
 
I could forgive a bad sharpening job on a knife that's cheaper than €100,- if the rest of the knife makes up for it. The funny thing is, most of these knives are pretty okay in this regard. It's the more expensive knives ( € 200 and up ) where I've had the most trouble.

I think it's a really bad thing in an expensive knife. I used to only sharpen on bench stones and some knives I couldn't get hair-popping sharp. Then I got a guided system. When you use a guided system, the slightest unevenness in the sharpening job really stands out, so you really start to notice these imperfections. Now that I've been going back and forth between my benchstones and my guided system I noticed that knives with an uneven sharpening job are much harder to sharpen by hand on a bench stone for a beginner like me, because I tend to unconsciously change my angle because of it.

And let's be honest: Opinel can do it. Victorinox can do it. Buck can (usually) do it. So why can't benchmade and the more expensive brands do it, too?

And couldn't a clever engineer conjure up some sort of clamping device that always presses the knife against the grinder with a perfect, consistent angle and force? How expensive could that be for these big knife brands?
 
"Where I draw the line is receiving a knife with an edge which is not ready to work...as a knife. It's got one job, for crying out loud."
Agreed. I once got a knife secondhand, and it had no edge on it at all. I thought to myself, "Really?"

BUT

"Sometimes I wish I could order knives completely unsharpened ."
Also agree. They never seem to tell you what the bevel is on a knife, so I consider that the first time I resharpen one, it might be close to from scratch if I don't get the angle right. So maybe if it was unsharpened, I could choose the bevel and go from there.

Using a diamond KME makes it go pretty quick.
 
Lee D said:
There’s something to be said for those robots knocking out 7 trillion knives a day for Victorinox...
Click to expand...
...and i can't tell a difference in sharpness between the blade and the spine.....(only slight exaggeration)
 
Please read my op, many folks took it asking if there are bad factory grinds out there, I admit there are. My question was different, where the grind looks perfectly fine, but a youtuber decides to bash said company to show how great they are at sharpening instead. Usually the after shot always has a polished edge, and no tip. Why?
 
Yo Mama said:
Please read my op, many folks took it asking if there are bad factory grinds out there, I admit there are. My question was different, where the grind looks perfectly fine, but a youtuber decides to bash said company to show how great they are at sharpening instead. Usually the after shot always has a polished edge, and no tip. Why?
Click to expand...
This thread is no longer under your control. All your bases are belong to us.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top