How long before it shows wear?

D

Dman

Joined
Dec 23, 2000
Messages
206
On a knife with good steel such as ATS-34, if you sharpen it a lot how long before it eats away at the blade and makes it become smaller?
 
It depends how good (or, actually, how bad) you are at sharpening, as well as how thin the knife is. If you are using the knife for normal cutting tasks, and the edge geometry is right, then you shouldn't have to take a stone to the edge very often, and when you do, it shouldn't be a big job.
Frequent, proper use of a steel (like with kitchen knives) will line up the edge so it lasts longer, and it doesn't really remove metal from the edge at all. When steeling won't return the edge to a good sharpness, then you'll have to resharpen, but if your sharpening skills are poor, you can quickly reprofile a blade long before it ever takes a good edge!

My experience with ATS-34 is that it cuts sharper than it feels. I have a Rob Simonich Cetan Tanto that I built from a kit and the thing is wicked sharp, but when I run my thumb over it, the thing feels dull. At the same time, the knives I make tend to cut not quite as well because of edge geometry, but the 1084 steel I use practically chops your thumb off if you test the edge.

When I was a kid I ruined plenty of nice knives without being able to get a sharp edge. I would recommend using either a system like Spyderco Sharpmaker, but if you like to use stones (which is what I do and works the best, IMHO), then I would pick up a couple cheap knives somewhere and practice my skills before trying to sharpen a nice blade.



------------------
Dr. Steve Agocs
http://www.geocities.com/Chiro75/frames.html


agocs_s@hotmail.com
 
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