I am wondering if I am sharpening too much?

[Rhodies]

Have read that knives should only be sharpened once or twice a year, really? Usually for myself I will 'Steel', (Diamond Coated Honing Rod my cutlery throughout the week and at weekends end I may swipe them across a 6000gr or sometimes a 1000 & 6000gr depending on condition. Apparantly I am being too aggressive from what I have been reading?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

If someone is only sharpening their knives once or twice a year they aren't doing much cutting. Knives should be touched up when they no longer cut with ease. If you're using the finest grit needed to do the job efficiently then you're going to be removing a minimum of metal and won't be causing excessive wear on the blade, so don't worry about that. Knives are ultimately consumables, though their useful life is quite long in most cases.

 

[maximus83]

They're tools. Use 'em, sharpen 'em as often as needed (daily, if necessary), and when they're too worn down, get new ones. They'll generally take a LOT of sharpening before you wear them out, most of your knives will outlast you. Since it sounds like you're just getting into sharpening, or getting some new sharpening tools, you totally want to buy a few cheap kitchen knives and folders that you can practice on so you don't wear out your good knives.

 

[JJ_Colt45]

I don't think you can generalize how often knives need to be sharpened. I use mine regularly and say my EDC knives get a touch up with a ceramic hone and or a strop at the end of the day to maintain sharpness.

And knives that may see more intense use through hunting seasons and may need more attention get sharpened as needed ... and it will vary knife to knife ... year to year ...

But if you just do light touch ups to maintain them you aren't removing much metal and its nuch easier then starting with a dull knife and sharpening.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Sharpen as often as you want to, or need to. The key is in recognizing how much they actually need at a given time; in other words, at what grit and for how long (how many passes), to keep them at the sharpness and finish you prefer, and without removing any more steel than necessary.

If you'd prefer to keep your edges tip-top after each & every use, just be sure not to overdo the sharpening with too-heavy grit, too much pressure or too many sharpening passes on the hones. Scale down the sharpening work to what the edge actually needs, instead of blindly repeating the same coarse-to-fine sharpening regimen each & every time; that'll just kill the knives fast, taking too much steel away needlessly.

I tinker constantly with sharpening, if only out of sheer restlessness and wanting to give my hands something to do, when I'm otherwise bored. All that tinkering is a great way to get the feel for what's actually needed, in keeping edges sharp. As such, I've learned to keep most of the tinkering as light as I can, unless I have a set goal for doing something major with a blade, like thinning or changing the edge profile.


David

 

[adamlau]

I have to sharpen every day. Not even CPK D2 or 4V can handle what I throw them against on the jobsite. Even something simple like cutting multiple sheets of 10-minute Grade D on plywood leaves the edges with reflective flats by the end of the day.

 

[Wowbagger]

Have read that knives should only be sharpened once or twice a year, really? Usually for myself I will 'Steel', (Diamond Coated Honing Rod my cutlery throughout the week and at weekends end I may swipe them across a 6000gr or sometimes a 1000 & 6000gr depending on condition. Apparantly I am being too aggressive from what I have been reading?

With the very most durable steel I carry (S110V, M390, M4 etc.,) I have to give it a touch up or more after two WEEKS or less. That is an EDC work knife used moderately and with great care.

A lesser steel such as Case CV or SS or AUS8 etc., I touch up ever day or two for the exact same use.
My test to see if the edge will still perform literally adequately for my work needs is will it shave arm hair some what and will it catch on my finger nail angled BOTH ways and or will it catch on an apple if the edge is slid down the side of the skin of the apple. If not she gets a visit with, at least, the Spyderco Ceramic Ultra Fine triangle rod, and if chipped or otherwise banged up gets the full Monty on the Edge Pro

WHEN IT DOESN'T PASS THE HAIR, THUMB AND APPLE TEST.
not when somebody in some chatroom that uses their EDC to open a letter every other week tells me it is time.

 

[brasileiro]

Nothing is forever. Even Gynsu knifes.
I touch up a particular knife after every barbecue session.
My sisters knifes must be sharpen every week.
My mother-in-laws knife should be sharpen each hour.
A 2, 3 times/year used knife need 2, 3 times be sharpened.
However I’ll assume that when you say sharpen a knife you are saying hone.
So
It depend:
How do you use it?
How many times do you use it?
What are you cutting?
What steel is the knife made?
How do you sharpen?
How do you store it?
How do you clean i?
Do you have preferences in touch up frequently and have nice cutting edges every time you take it for a task or stay using it until it turn a butter knife and spend 2 hours at once grinding?

André.

 

[brasileiro]

Nothing is forever. Even Gynsu knifes.
I touch up a particular knife after every barbecue session.
My sisters knifes must be sharpen every week.
My mother-in-laws knife should be sharpen each hour.
A 2, 3 times/year used knife need 2, 3 times be sharpened.
However I’ll assume that when you say sharpen a knife you are saying hone.
So
It depend:
How do you use it?
How many times do you use it?
What are you cutting?
What steel is the knife made?
How do you sharpen?
How do you store it?
How do you clean i?
Do you have preferences in touch up frequently and have nice cutting edges every time you take it for a task or stay using it until it turn a butter knife and spend 2 hours at once grinding?

André.

Double post. Sorry, I don’t know what happened.

 

[Rhodies]

Thanks fella's, it appears that I may have over reacted a bit.

 

[David Martin]

I don't sharpen as much as some of you guys. My Leatherman sees a lot of use and I touch it up when it gets dull. NOT after making a few cuts
on something but when it doesn't cut a hose or rope. Then I give it edge leading sharpening. For sure once a month. I know a stropping session would be good in between but I don't always do it. Just not obsessed like that. The kitchen knives need attention every 2 weeks and they get it.
Because this has a direct influence on supper. DM

 

[PoorUserName]

Can anybody put me straight on my very limited knowledge below.

1: So if your knife`s edge is simply worn down, it needs a light grinding to put the edge back on.
2: If you edge is folded over a simple steeling/aligning should fix the problem for a while, or it flakes off, then it`s a grinding.
3: If your edge has a chip in it, the entire edge will need to be ground down till the chip is gone.

4: original butchers steel steels don't grind they just realign a folded edge.
5: Are diamond steels grinders, they remove steel they don't align.
6: Are ceramic steels grinders or aligners or a bit of both.

Thanks.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Can anybody put me straight on my very limited knowledge below.

1: So if your knife`s edge is simply worn down, it needs a light grinding to put the edge back on.
2: If you edge is folded over a simple steeling/aligning should fix the problem for a while, or it flakes off, then it`s a grinding.
3: If your edge has a chip in it, the entire edge will need to be ground down till the chip is gone.

4: original butchers steel steels don't grind they just realign a folded edge.
5: Are diamond steels grinders, they remove steel they don't align.
6: Are ceramic steels grinders or aligners or a bit of both.

Thanks.

1: Pretty much correct, assuming 'worn down' means dulled by wear/abrasion.
2: Also correct.
3: 'Chipping', depending on how damaged that actually is, can sometimes be tolerated for a while. It may be corrected over the course of several sharpenings. But yes, usually it's the case that the edge would (eventually) need regrinding to completely fix chipping damage.
4: Butcher's steels DO remove metal, to some extent, on most knives. They're generally relied upon to simply align a rolled edge, which they can also do. But they're hard enough to do some 'grinding' on a relatively small scale. Think of them as a hardened steel file, in terms of how they work.
5: Diamond 'steels' will do a lot more grinding than aligning, as they remove metal very, very easily.
6: Ceramic 'steels' will also remove metal, more so than a simple butcher's steel, but to a lesser degree than a diamond 'steel' would. They'll also be perfectly capable of doing some aligning, but will remove at least a little bit of metal in the process.

One can also use a smooth, polished 'steel' to align an edge. No grooves on it, like the typical butcher's steel. Instead, it's just a smooth, polished & chromed rod, which is more of a pure 'aligner' than a butcher's steel. It may remove microscopic amounts of steel from a knife's edge, but it's an insignificant amount. See the pic below; it's the model I use, a Mundial 10" Round Polished steel:

David

 

[adamlau]

3. Typically, just that section. I do not see the need to grind down the heel when a chip has occurred near the tip. Blended to the belly will save you a bit of time in that regard. Or grind the entire edge from tip to heel. Up to you.

 

[brasileiro]

I also read here in BF (I can’t remember what topic or author) that shallow angles hold edge better in determinantes tasks. I understood that it’s like aerodynamic thing.
Also grit finish, if you try chopp with tooth edge you probably will break the teeth what lead you to sharpen again.

 

[PoorUserName]

I bought a jewellers loop with dual 30x and 60x magnification to check the damage on my knife blade before i select what process i need to restore it to optimum sharpness.

I intend to only remove the least amount of steel that i need too, saving my time and wear on the blade.

I had a cheap $20 chiefs knife last week that had a couple of chips in the edge, I use an 600/1200 diamond stone, but the chips would not go away no matter much metal i removed, I came to the conclusion that the edge must be breaking away as i was sharpening it, I got sick and threw it in the trash, next day i got the knife out and tried again, and i eventually managed to remove the chips, I have an nice new filleting knife now.

That steel must have been very brittle to keep breaking like that.

 

[brasileiro]

I bought a jewellers loop with dual 30x and 60x magnification to check the damage on my knife blade before i select what process i need to restore it to optimum sharpness.

I intend to only remove the least amount of steel that i need too, saving my time and wear on the blade.

I had a cheap $20 chiefs knife last week that had a couple of chips in the edge, I use an 600/1200 diamond stone, but the chips would not go away no matter much metal i removed, I came to the conclusion that the edge must be breaking away as i was sharpening it, I got sick and threw it in the trash, next day i got the knife out and tried again, and i eventually managed to remove the chips, I have an nice new filleting knife now.

That steel must have been very brittle to keep breaking like that.

Have you tried another stone? A smoother one? Like a ceramic stone?
Are you using light or hard pressure?

 

[PoorUserName]

Have you tried another stone? A smoother one? Like a ceramic stone?
Are you using light or hard pressure?

I was just using medium pressure, The knife was 5 years old and i had not really used it, I decided to just check how sharp it was when i noticed the chips, the knife has a 15 year warranty i still have the receipt and paperwork.

But the edge of the blade is fine at the moment though i have not used the knife to cut anything, I am expecting it to chip again.

 

[brasileiro]

I was just using medium pressure, The knife was 5 years old and i had not really used it, I decided to just check how sharp it was when i noticed the chips, the knife has a 15 year warranty i still have the receipt and paperwork.

But the edge of the blade is fine at the moment though i have not used the knife to cut anything, I am expecting it to chip again.

Well, I had a fight against burr on a cheap knife. Nothing about chipping.
While ago I was looking for the right pressure in diamond stones: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/right-pressure-on-diamond-stones.1518480/ and was clarify to me because I didn’t understand ligh, medium, hard pressure. It’s subjective. Then @heavyhand put the challenge in number. Of course is not and absolute rule but is a guide. And works for me.

 

[David Martin]

I would not grind down a blade because of chips. I would sharpen it as needed from normal use. And after several sharpenings the chips will flow into a normal edge. Thus, no steel is wasted. DM