Do Any of Your Knives Show a Significant Steel Reduction?

R

RedLynx

Joined
Aug 5, 2011
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Hi guys,

Just wondering if you've used and maintained any of your knives so much that they show significant reduction in steel since you got them.

Ever since I was a little kid and my dad was teaching me how to sharpen, telling me eventually it would wear away to nothing since you're removing steel, I've always been a bit sad each time I sharpen (although I also paradoxically find it therapeutic.) :p
 
I have too many knives to worry about one wearing out. It it does wear out, I'll buy another.
 
When I was young I would sharpen or try to on general sharpening stones. Removed to much steel trying to get it sharp. As I have age and with practice none of my knives have suffered this fate. Practice makes perfect although I haven't hit perfection. Didn't hurt to much way back when but I never thought about it. I spend a few hours each week sharpening and also find it therapeutic as well. Love to modify my knives and just finished up on my ZT 0770CF about and hour ago. Done with this one for now. :D
 
tokerblue said:
I have too many knives to worry about one wearing out. It it does wear out, I'll buy another.
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I have a lot too, I just imagine a terrible world where we've decided to stop producing knives. I'm masochistic like that. :p
 
People who use their knives enough to have that happen don't have time to post on the internet. They are too busy cutting shit.
 
Yes, I have noticed and measured the plain blade on my Leatherman Surge. It has lost a 1/4" since I've owned it. I carry it most everyday and they are date stamped inside. This one is from 02/08. They are made from 420HC steel and doubt the blades are given a cryogenic treatment during heat treat. So, another reason they don't hold the edge long. Still this is the second one I've had this to occur with. So, after about 7 years it becomes noticeable. DM
 
The only one with "significant" steel reduction is my Blade forums Skyline, one of my heaviest users, but that's partially because I reprofiled it to have a slight recurve in order to get rid of a particularly nasty chip.
 
Scurvy092 said:
People who use their knives enough to have that happen don't have time to post on the internet. They are too busy cutting shit.
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You would think so.....







Check out the recurve on the Spec Plus and the Sere!

I'm not out cutting shit because my whole family (except for me) is sick. I guess I'm designated caregiver this time... Another weekend shot to hell!!!!!
 
Unless you are using your knives to a very low level of sharpness, or removing alot of damage, you can minimize grinding tons of steel away through the use of a microbevel.

A knife is meant to be used though so sharpening and metal loss is going to happen. Use the knife, and enjoy the beauty of its primary function. Cutting.

Will it happen over time with the use of your knife, yeah.
 
I grew up with carbon steel knives, Case, Uncle Henry, Schrade and Buck. I've noticed that the stainless steel knives don't wear down as quickly as the carbon steel of old. The non stainless steels today are much more wear resistant with all the good things the producers put in the steel to make it perform and last forever.
I've only wore out one knife in my lifetime and it was a Uncle Henry trapper I got as a kid and thought I'd never have to get rid of it.
I would think that people that use knives in their line of work( butchers, poultry prep, slaughter houses) would see the effects of a worn blade as opposed to normal, sharpen once or twice a week folks that use knives on a somewhat regular basis. I would also think that any steel sharpened several times a day, 5 days a week, wouldn't last a long time.
 
If you have one knife, use it often enough to have to sharpen it often, you will see the blade wear down. Very natural and expected.
If you have multiple knives, and change your carry occasionally, and only use it casually, you won't see this. I never have to sharpen my EDC unless I damage the edge through my own ignorance (prying, etc.).
I usually DO HAVE to sharpen NEW knives, and this is not pleasing.
I don't sharpen new knives, however, if I gift them to relatives, as I hate to buy a knife that doesn't have the factory edge.
 
Second from left is one of my old traditionals. In high school and college I worked in a garage, and used this knife that was handed down by my father. He had broken the tip of the blade off so I just ground it square and used it as a screwdriver. I sharpened the blade on a bench grinder. It didn't need to be real sharp, and the small serrations helped me to cut things like wire and hoses. That was a long time before modern folders came on the market and a long time before I became a knife enthusiast.

DSC_6323b.jpg
 
I had a Case Trapper that I really wore down as I sharpened it probably four or five times an evening when I was skinning stuff as a kid. Those were the days. My Dad used to use a grinding wheel to sharpen his knives and he would litterally wear them out sharpening them. But as for me now, I don't come close to wearing a blade down any more. I've too many blades and I keep buying more.
 
Many of my butcher knives that were used on a daily basis show not only the "recurve" wear but also reduced length :-D
Will add some photos as I got home.
 
I had an uncle that got his Old Timer in the 60's. Before he passed in 2011 he still had that same knife. It had lost about 50% of it's blade. Yes, that was his only EDC.
 
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