How often do you guys sharpen your knives?

what a concept! really? you have to be kidding? so thats my problem :) What i was after is how long it takes most people to dull their knives.
 
Most of my daily cutting, as of late, has been done with a Camillus Mini-Talon. I haven't had to sharpen it in a couple weeks now. I just give it the obligatory 10 second strop every day, whether it needs it or not. That's the beauty of Talonite. It needs very little actual sharpening, meaning no constant revoval of actual blade material.
 
I sharpened my Sebenza today (5 minutes on the 204, brought it back to shaving sharp), it was the first sharpening in two weeks.

I was quite proud of myself for letting it go that long. In the past I was rather compulsive and would sharpen it every day if it got used (every day).

Don't get me wrong, the Sebenza would still shave...I just had to use pressure. :) I got sick of watching a guy at work trying to cut up a gaylord with a utility knife, so I jumped in.

Hope this helps...


Steve-O
 
Brethren and Cistern, glue a bit of leather to a pocket hone, rub in a little tripoli compound, and carry it with thee wherever thou goest. Strop thy knife when thou hast time or when it is too dull to shave really well, whichever comest first. Then thou wilt have the sharpest knife in town, not just occasionally but all the time, forever and ever, svaha! Thus sayest the Cougar.
 
then lugging around a belt grinder and 64,500 FEET of extension cord:eek: :eek:

I always seem to get HUNG UP trying to get thru toll-Booths!!!

I went and bought one of those $20.00 'Edgemaker pro things' www.edgemaker.com and for the money, and the ten seconds it takes to put a mega-down and dirty edge on a knife, even while driving, they can't be beat.

Plus, they are a WEE BIT safer than using a 204 while tooling along in the passing lane at MACH............never mind:p
 
Brethren and Cistern, if ye hast been using 64,500 feet of extension cord in order to run a belt grinder and sharpen thy knives whilst driving thy chariot, thy Cougar is not going to explain to ye about power inverters ... thy Cougar abhorreth to imagine what ye might not do with that knowledge....

I might as well post a link to the Wholly Brotherhood & Cisternity FAQ while I'm here....
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000925.html
 
I don't have to cut anything with precision, I usually cut open envelopes and UPS boxes. Sometimes bags of bird food (it's a long story.) But I like my knives poppin' sharp for ego's sake. When I see the knife start to cut open envelopes with a ragged edge, I strop them to bring them back. If that doesn't do it, I set that knife aside, rotate to a new one, and leisurely sharpen the dull one on a calm Sunday afternoon when I can give it undivided attention. It doesn't take long that way, and I feel it's better to touch up a slightly dull knife than to let it get so bad that it's a hassle to bring back.
 
Now I'm back at work. That means getting on a bus in Rural Petaluma, and traveling 60-90 (depending on traffic) mins. to the heart of down town San Francisco. Work there 8 hrs a day where my EDC (typically one of: Small Sebenza, Spyderco Mouse, Spyderco Dragonfly or CRKT Commander) does little more than slice bagles, open packages, cut an occasional thread or piece of tape, etc, then I take a similar bus trip home.

As a result, I hardly ever sharpen these knives, though I have re-profiled all of them at one time or another. At home, on weekends and holidays, where I typically carry a small fixed blade utility knife, I cut much much more. Yet I'm rotating between 3, sometimes 4 fixed blade knives. Each is used only two to four days every couple of months. As a result, I end up sharpening each knife maybe once every three or four months. I do steel or strop them lightly after a day's use, but that's not a resharpening...
 
Since I have very little hair on my left hand and lower arm from testing my knives after a sharpening I use toilet paper (not Charmin or the padded stuff-I'm cheap)which will start to tear if the blade is going dull and will show you the flat spots during the resharping. Cellophane will do the same thing and is easier to handle. I start with a 8" DMT (400 grit, blue)to reconfigure then a coupla passes on a Whasita stone to polish and a leather strope to finish up. This is on my 3 1/2" stockmans (440A,440C & aus8) which I rotate for use and use for the standard things at home and at work like cutting sting, rope, opening mail, packages, cutting out newspaper articles, working in the garden etc. These steels are all medium quality and after a week or two start to drag a bit in the cut so its time to put an edge back on them. However remember if a knife gets very heavy use like cutting up cardboard boxes ( a real duller of knives) you might want to resharpen right after use and if it's a higher end steel (ats34,cpm's etc)maby just a pass or two on a ceramic rod or a leather strop will bring the edge back. Try the toilet paper or cellophane test and save the hair on your arm! Good Luck Weldonk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top