Do you get angry when a knive isn't sharp out of the box?

[Jennifer_B]

That's why Sal invented the Sharpmaker.

The Ontario Knife Company should buy a few.

 

[nate3993]

Really? They came dull? My Morpho was, and still is cause I collect knives, scary razor sharp. That's weird. The CRK should've been sharp too. That sucks.

 

[nate3993]

Getting upset that a knife didn't come out of the box razor sharp is like being upset when a toy doesn't come with batteries.

You don't really expect it to, but it's a nice surprise when it does.

The way I look at it is most of the time I don't really like how the factory edge is ground. They're gound for the "mainstream" user. It's a good, fairly sturdy grind that will take a good workable edge and is easy to sharpen for 95% of the knife using population.

I buy knives with different ideas in mind. For heavy use knives I put an edge on that'll stand up to heavy use. It may not cleanly slice newspaper every time, but it'll cut through what I need it to cut through.

For smaller knives I tend to go with a thinner edge to make it a slicer. One of the meanest slicers I have is an old Buck 503 with a 440c blade. When I got it, it was slightly used, but still had the factory edge. I thinned it considerably.

Multi-bladed slipjoints are my favorite out of the box because you have so many options on what kind of work you intend each blade to do.

If they're not sharp, you're going to have to sharpen it eventually anyway. So no, I don't care if the knife isn't sharp. But I do care, and get pretty annoyed, when edge grinds aren't even... even if I am going to change them.

I disagree. On the box it says, 'Benchmade Knives Are packaged Extremely Sharp', so it SHOULD be sharp. I have 4 Benchmades and they all came scary sharp. That's the way it should be.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

Angry? No. Mildly irritated? Yes.

 

[yoda4561]

It certainly doesn't make me happy, I prefer my factory edges super sharp and thin. It means less work later when I don't have to reprofile to get decent cutting performance On the other hand if I'm at a dealer's table and there's 4 of the same model to pick from, the LAST thing I care about is how sharp the factory edge is. Tiny scratches, imperfections in liner/scale fit, etc all come before sharpness, since that will be fixed the first time I need to resharpen it anyways. If it's just a collector piece it matters even less. Who cares about the factory edge of a knife that will never be used to cut anything?

 

[waffle]

The ONLY brand I expect to be RAZOR Sharp out of the box is a Bark River.
Spyderco I'm not disapointed with though.

 

[firebert]

I'm going to echo what others said. It's not a big deal if the knife is not sharp out of the box. No factory edge will be as good as one I can do myself, (it's time-consuming). If it is, it means I paid extra for a worker to do a job I can and will do anyway.

It does annoy me a little when a blade needs extensive re-profiling. And I think that uneven grinds just look bad on a new knife (even though re-profiling makes it a non-issue).

I think that companies set their bevels with the general public in mind. Those users may not ever sharpen their knives or at least wait months between sharpenings. I guess a thick bevel would benefit those people, (it should still have an edge).

I spent a lot of time getting a usable grind on my Kershaw Outcast. The factory bevel was just too wide. I know it's a hard use chopper, but the thing was just a thick wedge. I removed the shoulders and gave it a convex bevel and it works very well. I can both chop hardwood and slice newspaper now.

 

[fujita yuji]

Some of the Japanese style cutting tools made for professionals are shipped with
not fully sharp edge. This is because each professional people should have their
own way of cutting and sharpening. I mean sushi-masters or carpenters.

I am not one of these professionals that I wish new edge to be fully sharp.
It will give me some idea how sharp the edge can be.

 

[udtjim]

If they are not sharp, I send them back. I won't accept a so so edge.

 

[yoda4561]

To each their own jim, but I see that as nothing but a waste of time and money. Now, on a specialized tool (fancy drill bits, wood saws, surgical tools), large orders, etc I think that's feasible, but in the time it would take to pack a knife up, ship it, and wait for it to come back I could have sharpened it 100 times over.

 

[AfterTFD]

The first pocket knife I ever bought was a Benchmade Griptilian and it was razor sharp. This really impressed me and I assumed all quality knives would be like this out of the box.

All quality knives should be like that out of the box. Exceptions are a bad sign. If Buck can consistently ship out their dirt cheap 110s and stockmans and such razor sharp there's no excuse for a company like CRK to let a dull blade out the door.

 

[red96ta]

Buying a knife that comes out of the package dull is frustrating....and not because it can't be sharpened. For me it's a matter of attention to detail. If the knife is dull out of the box, what else did they skimp and/or neglect to do? When I buy knives, I expect them to be sharp! This give me the assurance that 1) QC is up to speed and 2) you can always make a factory knife sharper than when it was received.

 

[lotoblades]

Not at all, I just sharpen it.

What he said! I've never had a new knife (even one that was shaving sharp) that I was happy with, I generally like a thinner edge...so it's no big deal to me.

 

[nephildevil]

while i can sharpen my knives myself,

the factory edge should be razor sharp

anything less and i am dissapointed

it is a sign of quality

 

[vwb563]

What I don't like is how nearly every knife I purchase needs reprofiling right away to reach full cutting ability potential.

Exactly! Thats one thing I'm happy about with my new Spyderco Tenacious! Came straight from the box sharp as heck and had a great edge profile with no need to make any changes! :thumbup: ,,,VWB.

 

[Whitedog]

Mad/disappointed, yes. I remember when most knives came dull right out of the box. Now days there is no excuse for it. However I seldom stay with a factory edge since I like to impove on it. Guess that is part of the fun of getting new/used knives.

 

[Robert Ptacel]

All quality knives should be like that out of the box. Exceptions are a bad sign. If Buck can consistently ship out their dirt cheap 110s and stockmans and such razor sharp there's no excuse for a company like CRK to let a dull blade out the door.

True. So true.

 

[thombrogan]

What I don't like is how nearly every knife I purchase needs reprofiling right away to reach full cutting ability potential.

Sounds like you need to move over to buying customs or rolling your own with fully hardened bandsaw blades and an angle grinder (or a Swedish strip steel and angle grinder and some heat-treatment). You'll be happy and the production folks who make their knives thicker for other customers will be happy for you.

Are you ready to deal with that much happy?

A knife is supposed to be sharp , otherwise , its a spoon .

That's why Sal invented the Sharpmaker.

Is it a Sharpmaker or a spoondestroyer?

Some of the Japanese style cutting tools made for professionals are shipped with
not fully sharp edge. This is because each professional people should have their
own way of cutting and sharpening. I mean sushi-masters or carpenters.

I am not one of these professionals that I wish new edge to be fully sharp.
It will give me some idea how sharp the edge can be.

There are Japanese makers that ship their knives with stupifying edges, too: Shun, Tojiro, and Aoki Hamono/Sakai Takayuki immediately come to mind. My latest kitchen knives from Moritaka Hamono had very sharp edges, too. That said and considering how sharp such knives and woodworking tools may get, there may be liability issues were such knives and tools to be shipped at full sharpness to customers in North America.

 

[flashlife]

Seems there are 2 categories here...
1. Those who expect to get a sharp-out-of-the-box blade, just as part of the deal. And...
2. Those who don't care because they always resharpen/profile as soon as they open the box.

I'm in the 1st group. I recall, as a kid (~1955), a new Ka-Bar or Case came with an absolutely blunt edge, and it took hours with an Arkansas stone to get it right. That always PISSED ME OFF !
If I'm gonna spend $$$ for a knife, I expect it to CUT...right now !!


JMH

 

[mhawg]

I guess for some people griping is easier than sharpening but at least I save the postage.


If that seems unduly abrasive remember that I woke up in the driveway this morning with the engine running and the stereo cranking and a receipt for $85 from the bar in my wallet. Do not try this at home, remember we are professionals.