How often is Too often ?

[Kennieyk]

When I first started using knives I was sharpening maybe once every 2 weeks , But now I find myself using my knife for so many more things . Here lately I have been sharping my blade like every day .
I just wanted to know if thats too much , Like I dont wanna wear out the knife from sharpening it too much. How long would it take to wear away a blade on say a kershaw vapor with say a fine or ultra fine lansky stone ?

 

[BOK]

Frequency of sharpening varies by individual. Depends how often you're using your knife, what you're using it for and what kind of steel the blade is made from.

Even if you 'touched up' your knife every single day using very fine hones or ceramics (such as found on the Spyderco sharpmaker 204) you would not wear your knife out prematurely.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

I think a lot of newbies(no disrespect intended) who are learning to keep an edge on their EDCs, tend to over sharpen. In their exuberance to keep that sharp edge they miss the point of learning what makes a sharp edge,(edge geometry, edge finish, single , and double bevels), with the newer supersteels, ATS 34, VG10, BG42 and the like, it's harder to maintain a consistent edge, at the same time you remove less material when you sharpen using conventional methods.

I've seen a guy buy a brand new knife,(a Gerber Harsey) and come back a few weeks later complaining that the knife had developed a low spot, this guy sharpened his knife on a diamond hone 3 or 4 times a day.

Diamond hones are capable(if they are coarse enough) to remove massive amounts of steel. I use them exclusively for reprofiling blades, and a fine diamond for touch ups.

Learn to use a steel, and learn what makes a knife sharp, this way you'll recognize it, and won't sharpen when you should steel or strop.

One last afterthought, one of the reasons I carry so many EDCs is that each knife is more specialized, I generaly don't scrape gaskets with my eatin' knife or eat with my work knife.

 

[beluga]

Frequency of sharpening varies by individual. Depends how often you're using your knife, what you're using it for and what kind of steel the blade is made from.

Also depends on how much time you have in hand .....

I can sharpen my knife every day even though it does not need much sharpening. Not sharpen, may be just light stroke on the stone.

 

[SilverFoxKnows]

if you don't know exactly when your wife left you, if you're still wearing a mullet and a Def Leppard t-shirt, if your face is on the side of a milk carton...you may have a problem. As long as you don't turn your Endura into a Delica you should be okay. If all your knives start to take on Gunting proportions it might be time to seek a support group.

Frank

 

[The Tourist]

Been there, done that. I think when you first invest in high end knives you want everything to be perfect. As you become known as a collector to your friends, ego demands that this edge be fresh. A few years back, my knife savvy friends and I had contests proving sharpness.

Enjoy the knife. When it drags or needs a bit of umpff to push cut, try a strop. I use a bit of white rouge. If it doesn't come back, toss it in the pile, and rotate in another EDC. Don't get anal about it, then touch everything up on 'sharpening day.'

 

[Cougar Allen]

I believe in keeping on top of it, stropping before it gets dull. Frequent sharpening doesn't wear out a knife any faster than infrequent sharpening unless you're grinding away more metal than necessary. A strop charged with tripoli removes very little metal -- see my posts in What do you use for a quick touchup?

 

[T. Erdelyi]

A good example of too much.

This photo digitally enhanced to show excessive wear due to excessive sharpening.

 

[DEA]

'shopper~!!

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Kennieyk :

Like I dont wanna wear out the knife from sharpening it too much.

All knives wear out, it is just a matter of time. The more they are used, and the higher your standard of performance, the faster they wear out.

How long would it take to wear away a blade on say a kershaw vapor with say a fine or ultra fine lansky stone ?

Fine hones typically remove material to a depth of a few microns (1-10). How much exactly depends on how far you go when sharpening, angle of the edge, and exact grit and composition of the hone. But say that we are talking about five microns which is in the middle of the road.

There are a thousand microns in a millimeter, and therefore 200 sharpenings of a depth of five microns before you lose a millimeter of steel. In total, sharpening once a day on a fine stone you will remove close to two millimeters of edge from the knife in a year, about 1/16".

This is a fairly decent chunk, and so after a couple of years the edge will have thickened so much that the knife will start to cut so poorly you will have to junk it, or get the main bevels recut. Considering the cost of the knife, this is still only pennies a day.

However if the knife is going blunt that fast that you have to sharpen it every day, I would recommend using a harder blade, possibly with a more abrasion resistant steel depending on what you are cutting. You might also get a better edge lifetime by adjusting the edge angle, or the grit at which you are sharpening.

-Cliff