Does a keen edge matter- Redux

Lorien

Lorien

Nose to the Grindstone
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Dec 5, 2005
Messages
27,942
This topic has sort of been covered before, but my specific questions are these-

If you receive a custom knife with a less than perfect edge, do you sharpen it? Or are you worried that doing so will somehow decrease the value?

If you value a sharp knife, how can sharpening it decrease its value?

Does it make a difference whether you send it to a professional or do the work yourself? Would you keep record of the paid work as provenance?

Thanks in advance for your input and involvement:)
 
Depends on the blade.
For instance, I'll make professional sharpening person to sharpen my Katana
as I cannot do it by myself.
 
Hi Lorien

If it is dull I sharpen it

Most makers I deal with know how to sharpen so when a knife comes it is usually sharp

If it is a knife that is used the last part of the clean up is a proper sharpening

I know alot of people are going to say taboo

But once I pay for them they are mine

Also when I sharpen a knife you can't tell I sharpened it

As a kid I buggered up alot of knives learning to sharpen but thru time I have become confident I won't mess up the blade
 
I buy most of my knives to use so I will go ahead and sharpen it myself. Receiving a dull knife makes me much less likely to buy that maker's work in the future though. If someone doesn't take the time to put on a nice edge I start wondering how much care went into the rest of the knife.
 
Good question as I've wondered myself. I have a knife that is as is from the maker, hasn't even cut paper, and the edge is not bad but not as sharp as I like to keep my knives. I've hesitated to sharpen it until I decide to use it. I figure once I've sharpened it I have to disclose that the edge, even though better than received, is mine not the maker's.
I know how to sharpen knives but it is an alteration and as such needs to be noted and decided upon by a buyer as to it's impact on the "condition" or provenance.

If the professional sharpener has a reputation then I suspect it could be a plus to the interest in the knife but work by those local mobile sharpening guys in the vans I suspect would not be considered adding value to the edge. :)

Some people have differing preferences for sharpening I think. I use belts and can very quickly hone my edges so I tend to prefer convex steeper angles and sharper though perhaps slightly less resilient edges. If I were the type to only touch up my edges occasionally I would probably favour a tougher edge and sacrifice that last degree of sharpening from very sharp to scary sharp.:p
For that reason too I think it's important that any work done after it has left the maker be noted and it's up to the buyer to decide if sharpening is a detriment to the value.
 
Last edited:
Don Hanson III said:
A maker that sends out a dull knife, should stop making knives!
Click to expand...

hey Don, I don't mean a dull edge necessarily- although I do know of some art knives which are intentionally not sharpened, (like Gay Roccha from the DDD book) and that's not really what I'm talking about here.

More like an edge which is rough or has an inconsistent bevel, or too obtuse near the tip, or just the ravages of time- things that can be remedied by careful honing to a fine polished edge with no wire, and increasing the performance of the knife by that 'modification' alone.

What are the problems from a collecting standpoint with ensuring that your collectible knives have the best edge they can have, even if the maker shat the bed when he/she finished the edge? Or if the edge had been dulled by time?

Like, say you had a Moran or Scagel or Loveless or whatever. Say the edge was a little dinged up or just had lost its edge due to long term exposure to air. Is it wrong to sharpen it if you know what you're doing? Or to send it to a professional other than the maker? How much of a difference in the value of an investment grade knife would that make?

I understand that the playing of a classic, investment grade musical instruments is often encouraged as it actually increases the value in some cases.
 
Lorien said:
This topic has sort of been covered before, but my specific questions are these-

If you receive a custom knife with a less than perfect edge, do you sharpen it? Or are you worried that doing so will somehow decrease the value?

I have never received a knife that was not razor sharp. And I do value a sharp knife even if it's never going to cut anything.
I would send a dull knife back to the maker for sharpening.

If you value a sharp knife, how can sharpening it decrease its value?

It may not decrease it's value to it's owner, however it will decrease the monetary value of a investment grade knife. Now there are exceptions when referring to some art or very unique knives.

Does it make a difference whether you send it to a professional or do the work yourself? Would you keep record of the paid work as provenance?

It not only matters whether you do it but even if a professional (other than the original maker) does it, an investment grade knife is devalued in my opinion. Interesting point as to the provenance as provenance usually adds to a knife, here I believe it would deduct from it.


Thanks in advance for your input and involvement:)
Click to expand...
*******************
 
If it is a knife for my collection, I wouldn't touch it. If I wanted the blade sharpened, I would send it back to the maker. If it's a knife I'm going to use, I will sharpen it.
 
Keen edge matters in user knives, but not in collector knives.

I don't notice any decrease in value with sharpening. I always use good pictures which helps sell my used knives, which reach close to the as-new price.
 
Don Hanson III said:
A maker that sends out a dull knife, should stop making knives!
Click to expand...




whoa i could come up with quite a list for ya don!!.....this is one of the things that really really bothers me to no end.....i have recieved countless knives that were unbelievably dull.....alot of makers i have delt with either don't know how to sharpen or figure if the knife isn't gonna be used it ain't worth puttin the trouble into......ok done ranting....ryan
 
I have to say that this topic is a real pet peeve of mine. I have only had one customer that said a blade I had sent wasn't sharpened properly around the belly and I promptly offered to cover shipping both ways to fix it. He declined and said he just wanted to let me know for future reference. I have however gotten a number of emails about how sharp my blades were and how they had received other pieces in the past from other makers that had not properly sharpened the blades. I have only purchased one custom and honestly, I can't believe that the maker considered that knife as having an edge. From my personal experience, I would let the maker know immediately upon receipt of any "defect" and if they were worth their salt, they'd make a point to fix it free of charge.
 
Rayn, I stand by what I said :) A person should learn how to sharpen a knife before he starts making them. A knife is supposed the be sharp, right? And a new knife should be Very sharp!

Lorien, I think on a high end knife with the ability to be an investment, it should go back to the maker. Lower priced knife, or user, it would be OK to sharpen yourself. Most important is to have it sharp, one way or another.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top