Did I get ripped off? (Poor Sharpening Job?)

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ninjarealist

Joined
Aug 4, 2009
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I am relatively new to knife owning and sharpening so I'm not sure whether or not I got fleeced by a local privately owned knife shop with an extremely good reputation. I live in Louisville, KY.

The knife I had sharpened was an Ontario 499 Survival Knife made out of 1095 Carbon Steel. The edge is a double bevel grind.

I brought it in and they said it would be done in about 3 or 4 days and would cost around 7 or 8 dollars. I left my knife with them and got a call four days later saying my knife was ready. I gave the lady my ticket and she came back with my knife and said it would be 9.50 . This was more than they had said but I wasn't going to quibble over 1.50.

I took the knife home and tested it on a piece of paper. First I held the paper vertically and drew the knife down along the edge using only the weight of the blade. It caught but it only shaved a tiny little cut before bending the paper. Hmmmm.

Then I tried placing the knife in the middle of the piece of paper. Using only the weight of the knife I drew it across the piece of paper and it made a four inch slice curving to the left before bending the paper.

I guess I expected the edge to be razor sharp and it just isn't?

Did the sharpener do a bad job or are my expectations unrealistic?

Another cause for concern is the fact that edge bevel is slightly wider on one side than the other.

Thanks for your input.
 
IMO, yeah you got ripped. You would be very lucky to find someone in one of those knife shops that actually knew what they were doing.
 
No, it does not shave arm hair.

Should an Ontario made out of 1095 Carbon Steel be able to take an edge that can shave arm hair? And for $9.50 should I expect them to give my knife such an edge?

This is a locally-owned small business that has been selling and sharpening knives since 1861 and they have had an A+ rating with the better business bureau since 1948. For these reasons I expected them to do a good job.
 
"Ripped off" isn't the term I'd use, as that implies malicious intent. But I certainly would not be satisfied with that edge.
 
ninjarealist said:
No, it does not shave arm hair.
Should an Ontario made out of 1095 Carbon Steel be able to take an edge that can shave arm hair?
Click to expand...

My Ontario RAT 7 made from 1095 shaved out of the box. It didn't take much work to refine the edge with sandpaper either, so I think $9.50 would be reasonable for the edge you are looking for.
 
Well thanks for the input. I am going to take it back in tomorrow and kindly request that they redo my knife and put a better edge on it, or refund me the cost of sharpening.
 
Forget them, and send it to richard j. He can make the knife split hairs.
 
Just a thought... it's possible to do significant damage to a blade with ill-conceived attempts to sharpen.

Are they going to burn it? Grind the dickens out of one side?

There *are* people in the world who know how to do this properly.
 
tsiloics said:
Just a thought... it's possible to do significant damage to a blade with ill-conceived attempts to sharpen.

Are they going to burn it? Grind the dickens out of one side?

There *are* people in the world who know how to do this properly.
Click to expand...

This place is the premier knife shop and knife sharpener in my city, I expected them to do a great job. Ten dollars is not a lot of money but I feel that it is too much money for a mediocre sharpening job. If they cannot do better than that, I think I deserve a refund.
 
I would not expect much out of a $9.50 sharpening job.

Your money would be better spent learning how to sharpen.

You can get set up for fairly cheap or you can spend a few bucks. It is up to you.

An Arkansas tri-hone type of set up, a combo stone with two different grits, sandpaper and a mousepad, A GATCO or a Lansky...

All are relatively inexpensive. At $9 or $10 a crack you are talking 4 or 5 sharpenings for a basic GATCO. The basic kit from them is $42.99.
 
i have an ontario knife that i sharpened and had cjpgeyer sharpen on the paper wheels. we were both only able to get it to a certain degree of sharpness which wasnt the best. i would go back and check out some other sharpening jobs they have done and let them know you're not satisfied. if you want to get your knives sharp on your own go read this thread http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=578787 check out the edges i put on these knives http://sites.google.com/site/richardjsknives/Home/more-knife-pics-and-vids
 
you got ripped off on time and performance.

you also got mis quoted, after having a knife sharpened at a gun show many years ago I said screw letting someone else sharpen my blades, and started sharpening free hand, after doing that for a while I got an Edge Pro.

Get your money back, they won't be able to sharpen it properly.
 
If the shop is that reputable, they should be willing to talk it over and make it right. I wouldn't say you were ripped off until you at least try that route. Also, remember that the sharpness standards on this forum are higher than normal.
 
Let me guess. Was it heimerdinger's? They totally effed up my Benchmade CQC-7 many years ago. Took a bench grinder to it and just made a mockery of the whole job. I ended up sending it to Benchmade for repair of the grinds because they were so poorly done. They will never touch another of my knives.
 
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ninjarealist said:
This place is the premier knife shop and knife sharpener in my city, I expected them to do a great job. Ten dollars is not a lot of money but I feel that it is too much money for a mediocre sharpening job. If they cannot do better than that, I think I deserve a refund.
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I doubt thet sharpening standards here and in any local shop like that are same. Here we are talking about whittling hair and they most likely swipe it few times over wheel and think that this is sharp enough - as majority of people does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQPwHu4lxsQ

I rather suggest you to learn how to sharpen - it is pretty easy and rewarding. Then you will never have problem like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TscN9h-1xQ

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Sharpen your own. Even if you get a Sharpmaker and a few cheap knives to practice on. The store probably did a great job -- for some guy who doesn't know how sharp the knife can get.

If you take it back for them to try again, they may really mess it up.
 
Gavin S. said:
Let me guess. Was it heimerdinger's? They totally effed up my Benchmade CQC-7 many years ago. Took a bench grinder to it and just made a mockery of the whole job. I ended up sending it to Benchmade for repair of the grinds because they were so poorly done. They will never touch another of my knives.
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Yup, sure was. Did you attempt to get a refund? Or get them to do a better job? They sell some pretty decent whetstones there so I thought that maybe they used them.
 
ninjarealist said:
Yup, sure was. Did you attempt to get a refund? Or get them to do a better job? They sell some pretty decent whetstones there so I thought that maybe they used them.
Click to expand...

No. I just cut my losses and sent the knife to Benchmade. I now own a
1"x30" belt sander, a Sharpmaker and have an EdgePro on the way so I don't have to rely on others to sharpen my knives. I still have no idea what I'm doing but I'm going to by god figure it out, no matter how many knives I have to ruin in the process. :D
 
The best part of wharpening your own is, you can put the edge you need on the knife.

If you want to shave arm hair, get a small folder with a thin blade and reporfile the secondary bevel to a convex edge. Restore it with a strop when you need to.

But if you have a big fixed blade for the woods, you want a more obtuse edge for chopping. Sharpening it yourself, you can adjust that easily. You can modify it later to be more acute when you realize the 1095 will perform well at the lesser angle.

Taking it to some "professional" who thinks if it chops celery, it's sharp, is a waste of your time and money. Doing it yourself is ultimately going to be more responsive to your needs.
 
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