How long before sharpening really reduces the blade?

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Pristerognathus

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Sep 1, 2010
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Sharpening means removing a little bit of metal from a blade so I wonder how long it takes before you start noticing that the blade has been smaller from from frequent use and sharpening over the years. Ten years? A lifetime? Let's take a large bushcraft knife for example. Like becker9, how long do you think a it will last? Is there any useful average lifetime for a knife? :)

Anyone who knows anything about how long swords used to last in old times is welcome to tell that as well. :D
 
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It depends I'm sure on what you are sharpening with. I touch up mine all the time on spyderco ultra fine stones, and you can't tell at all. If you are using something very coarse then I'm sure that would happen quicker. The reality is I don't think you will have a problem for quite some time(maybe 20 years give or take). There are just so many variables involved. A BK9 should last you the rest of your life, even if it's noticably smaller than when it started, it will still work.
 
I believe that frequent honing is the key, as well as proper sharpening technique. I used up numerous cheap chef knives back when I first started in the culinary industry through hard use, cheaper steels, and improper technique.
My last chef knife was a Whustof, and by then I was able to just do a few passes and it was sharp. It's 10 years old now, but I'm not in the business anymore.

A large chopping knife will see harder use than other knives, and I could see how it would need sharpening more often. I'm not lazy, but I don't chop just for fun too often. When in the woods, I do it as minimal as possible. If I can break wood I will, or drag a large log into the fire as it burns. I've never wanted to sharpen a knife in the field.
I would also categorize my knives, some are more expensive or custom, so I use them less, I want to keep them my whole life. A Becker is affordable, and has plenty of life, but I still would just use the hell out of it, sharpen as needed, buy a new one if you ever turn it into a toothpick. Even then, it would be a good stabber, spear, or convert it into a dagger, it's not garbage.

Short answer, just depends on the knife's use, sharpening technique, and if you chip the blade often. Don't use a grinder, my Grandpa's knives were sharpened on the back of an electric can opener, they have no belly, and some are toothpicks.
 
If you really want to extend the life of your blade I would look into micro bevels.

Some can say they are fooey, but they really work for me.

If I didn't use a micro bevel my blades wouldn't last very long in my field, as an electrician, my edge is always coming into contact with metals which dull and chip the blade.

With the microbevel, the edge is super strong and if something does chip it out it is a very small micro chip because of the micro bevel, which is really easy to resharpen.

Takes about 3-5 minutes to reprofile the microbevel to get the chips out. I spend more time changing the stones out than I do acutally sharpening.

Touch ups take about 30 seconds with the edge pro and it's back to newspaper push cutting sharp again.
 
I've found that knives with extremely thin high hollow grinds tend to be easier to sharpen but also easier to remove material.
When I was getting into sharpening, my Kershaw Needs Work was the one knife I used for all experiments, now that really thin
part of the blade is gone and it no longer cuts or slices as well as it did when it was new.
Bear in mind that knife saw a large amount of cardboard cutting and this was before I had anything over 750 grit.
 
ive noticed the blade on one of my knives get smaller in about 6 months, but that was because i wasn't able to sharpen the very heel of the blade. So the difference of where the edge used to be could be compared to where the edge is now, with all the sharpening. That was the only was i was able to notice that the blade was being worn down.
 
It comes down to how you use your knife, if you do stuff that chips out the edge on a daily basis, and then go home and sharpen it, you'll notice it in a matter of months. If you use it enough to dull it every day, and sharpen it every day, you'll notice. If you use it to cut string and do odd jobs, it should be about a decade before there's any appreciable wear (to me) and that's as an EDC.

I had a knife that I beat like a step child and it took years before the serrations were sharpened away.
 
I sharpened a full bevel's worth of steel off a Sebenza and an XM-18 from use and sharpening withh diamond stones intead of using ceramic for touch-ups. You can't really tell unless a new one is held directly behind it and then it becomes painfully evident. Ouch. A hard lesson learned but I learned from my lessons. ;)
 
I think it really depends on how much you sharpen, how you sharpen and how anal you are. It also depends on how much you use your knife and on what kind of material. I have seen some guys on here that need to keep a mirror image edge and will sharpen away any kind of damage. This is just a waste of metal IMO. If I chip and edge, I just leave it and it will vanish after a few sharpens.

Some of the old traditional knives Ive seen have been sharpened down to toothpicks. For these, I think its a combination of a lot of use paired with one-knife men, along with fairly course stones. In all my years on blade forums I have only seen 3 or so worn out modern knives. These were mostly poorly sharpened or over sharpened knives.
 
Touch-up sharpening on fine hones or stropping is the best way that I have found to keep a knife edge in working order that will last for a long time with little obvious wear.

It is like a lot of other things in life: a certain amount of planning and research goes along way!
 
Only knives that I've seen worn down are ones used in restaurant kitchens and butchers plus some farmers/ranch folding knives. After a decade or two of daily use, the blades are much smaller than when new.

Never seen a bushcraft or "survival" knife with noticeable wear to them before... screwed-up sharpening, yes, but no real wear from use.
 
depends on how you use your knife, how you sharpen, and what you consider sharp enough.
 
As folks have said, it depends on what and how much you are cutting. I've "used up" a few knives over the years. If I carry the same knife every day, it will last 2-3 years until the blade is about 50% or less of original size. Softer steels like AUS-8 will go away faster, better steels need less frequent sharpening and last longer. I don't abuse my knives, but I don't baby them either
 
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