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Does OKC have a sharpening service?
- Thread starter JDX
- Start date
A month ago you were using something to get your knives "hair shaving sharp"...
Maybe school hadn't started then, but there's no reason why you cant spend a couple minutes a day getting that RAT-1 edge back into shape with whatever you used to get the s30v sharp, particularly as it is easy-to-sharpen AUS 8. Heck, in the time you spent replying to this thread you probably could have gotten it well on the road to sharpness.
It looks like the official answer to your question is "no", OKC doesn't have free sharpening.
With that being the case, you have a few options:
The answer to your question might just be that you've got to wait, if school is taking too much of your time. The upside, is you've got other blades to use, so functionally you're not out much.
Sharpening services
I've never used a sharpening service/company, so I can't comment on which one of those to chose. I'd think it would be pretty easy to find someone/a company that can do a half decent job, it just might cost a bit.
Learning to sharpen
For learning to sharpen "on the cheap", there are a bunch of different options, a lot of which I've played with, so I have some input on those.
A few pieces of wet/dry (black) sandpaper can be had for just a few dollars and does a great job. You might try asking your aunt/cousins or other friends to see if they have a few pieces laying around. Autozone (or similar) often has small variety packs for just a few dollars (as I said, I think I paid $4 for mine in college). Someone else mentioned that they found places locally that would sell single sheets for under $1. That is worth checking into.
It sounds crazy, but the reference earlier in the thread about concrete/cinder blocks and a ceramic mug wasn't a joke. I've seen a few videos of people that were able to put impressive edges on knives using nothing but those. Cardboard really does work well as a strop
I think total, I have less than $15 invested in sharpening supplies over the last 5 years. I finally completely wore out my first variety pack of sandpaper a year or two ago. I grabbed another while I try to decide if I want to invest in good stones.
Again, I understand being a busy, broke college student. I graduated from grad school ~3.5 years ago. I worked the entire time, never took out a loan, never had financial assistance, and resorted to extreme measures at times to keep the bank account positive. It sucked, but it worked. I didn't graduate at the top of my class, but I did graduate with a good GPA, and a nice balance in the bank. And, similarly to how you've described yourself, I'm not especially bright/talented. Instead, I just had to put in a lot of hours. I'm guessing there are lots of people like this (again, I'm not particularly smart/talented) on the forum who have gotten where they are now with essentially just hard work. Most people have had to deal with a time when funds and time were tight.
The bottom line is you just might not have time/money to invest in this right now, which is fine. Eventually college ends, and you'll hopefully have more time (and money) to properly address your dull knives, and other hobbies/interests.
Good luck finding something that works for you, and with your schooling. This time of the school year is usually when things start getting busier, so I figure you could use some good luck
.
With that being the case, you have a few options:
- Sideline the RAT for now
- Sideline the RAT until you can scrounge enough money to send it to someone/some company to sharpen for you.
- Sideline the RAT until you can scrounge enough money, and free time together to learn to sharpen.
The answer to your question might just be that you've got to wait, if school is taking too much of your time. The upside, is you've got other blades to use, so functionally you're not out much.
Sharpening services
I've never used a sharpening service/company, so I can't comment on which one of those to chose. I'd think it would be pretty easy to find someone/a company that can do a half decent job, it just might cost a bit.
Learning to sharpen
For learning to sharpen "on the cheap", there are a bunch of different options, a lot of which I've played with, so I have some input on those.
A few pieces of wet/dry (black) sandpaper can be had for just a few dollars and does a great job. You might try asking your aunt/cousins or other friends to see if they have a few pieces laying around. Autozone (or similar) often has small variety packs for just a few dollars (as I said, I think I paid $4 for mine in college). Someone else mentioned that they found places locally that would sell single sheets for under $1. That is worth checking into.
It sounds crazy, but the reference earlier in the thread about concrete/cinder blocks and a ceramic mug wasn't a joke. I've seen a few videos of people that were able to put impressive edges on knives using nothing but those. Cardboard really does work well as a strop
I think total, I have less than $15 invested in sharpening supplies over the last 5 years. I finally completely wore out my first variety pack of sandpaper a year or two ago. I grabbed another while I try to decide if I want to invest in good stones.
Again, I understand being a busy, broke college student. I graduated from grad school ~3.5 years ago. I worked the entire time, never took out a loan, never had financial assistance, and resorted to extreme measures at times to keep the bank account positive. It sucked, but it worked. I didn't graduate at the top of my class, but I did graduate with a good GPA, and a nice balance in the bank. And, similarly to how you've described yourself, I'm not especially bright/talented. Instead, I just had to put in a lot of hours. I'm guessing there are lots of people like this (again, I'm not particularly smart/talented) on the forum who have gotten where they are now with essentially just hard work. Most people have had to deal with a time when funds and time were tight.
The bottom line is you just might not have time/money to invest in this right now, which is fine. Eventually college ends, and you'll hopefully have more time (and money) to properly address your dull knives, and other hobbies/interests.
Good luck finding something that works for you, and with your schooling. This time of the school year is usually when things start getting busier, so I figure you could use some good luck
.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2013
- Messages
- 7,184
I too am curious OP, how'd you lose your sharpmaker? And how'd you so rapidly lose your ability to make your blades hair shaving sharp?
ibtl
ibtl
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2013
- Messages
- 1,354
There's a great joke in there about Spyderco failing to have a free rod cleaning service.