I really dislike some peoples request advice requested.

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22-rimfire said:
That is pretty much that way I would feel in a commercial business. You can sharpen them pretty fast with a wheel. I would also try to educate them a bit, but some people absolutely can't imagine spending $100 for a knife.

On a personal level, I would only sharpen knives for friends and turn the others away.
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I quit that job awhile back. Figured that I love knife, so selling them should be fun. It was not. I usually am the guy on deployment that folks turn to have sharpening done. Amazing that so many military folks don't know how to do that.
 
Remember it's your name, integrity and reputation at stake here. This could be a future customer possibly for life. Treat them how you would expect to be treated if you we're in a situation where you had no knowledge of a product. Patience, compassion and education would be my course of action.
 
I'm not sure under what situations you were interacting with these people, but when a friend or a client asks you to sharpen his $5 knife, I'd sharpen it. There are many "As Seen on TV" devices around that will let you reset an edge with crude carbide sharpeners. You can put a rough, sharpened edge on such knives, then smooth them out with ceramic sharpeners. These are products you would NEVER use on your own premium knives, but they'll put an edge on a Schrade or similar "12 Knives for Ten Dollars" special knives.

A lot of people are perfectly happy with their cheap knives and wouldn't know what to do with a more expensive knife. If you can talk such people into upgrading their knives, fine. They'd probably be delighted to know there are far better knives out there.
 
I sharpen knives for many people at work as a favor. No one has demanded, hopefully because they know not to. I keep a Lansky dog bone and a small EZ-lap in my lunch bag. The cheap knives I can sharpen up quick but I tell the people that the steel is soft and the edge won't last long. If the knife is unsafe I tell them so and suggest a better inexpensive alternative. If they are a good friend I give them a decent one to replace the crappy one. I never tell someone that the knife is crap since people get offended too easily. The knife, although crappy, may have been a gift from a loved one or passed family member. One guy even got offended when I told him his Gerber paraframe might not hold an edge too long. Most of these people carry their knife much more than they use it and only consider sharpening it when it is too dull to cut anything. They don't know or care about the benefits having a knife razor sharp at all times. Some people will even complain about the knife being too sharp.
 
Thanks guys. I think some of you are under the impression that I'm a professional knife sharpener. I'm not. Sure I can do a better job than most of them but that's a different issue.

This is just a guy I see around the office several time a week. I already sharpened one before, and even with a 1"X30" and a ceramic rod or DMT stone I just don't feel like spending the time on three crap knives that I won't be happy with the sharpness level. Yeah, they may shave, but not good enough for me. When I sharpen a knife for someone I want them to get it back and say dang that's sharp.

Oh, and as far as money? No guys. He thinks this is a free service. He didn't pay or offer last time and mentioned nothing of it this time.
 
Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to tell him tomorrow that those knives are not hardened steel, and if you were to take them to a knife store to have them sharpened it would most likely cost more than the knife. I will then tell him I can throw a quick edge on it but it won't be sharp. If he wants that then I will give them 1 minute each on the grinder, and stone.
 
I would say "I can sharpen these for you, but it'll cost $X each and they won't hold an edge long because of their low steel quality." If he still wants the work done, fine, but with the way he sounds I would get it up front. If he says no, you're saved the trouble of having to futz with 'em. Win win.
 
The most important thing is to find a deal that works for you - this is essentially true if you are a professional or not, but as a non-professional you don't have to worry about your reputation.

I'd just generate a few options and pick the one that suits you:

1. Pick a price at which it would be worth your time to sharpen these. Maybe your price is $100 each, who cares what the number is. Tell him you don't work for free, and the cost is $100 each. Explain to him that it takes more time to sharpen a cheap knife than an expensive one, and that's the price to do the job properly (this works for pros and non-pros - I use it in my business all the time). He'll probably go away, if not you'll make some OK money.

2. Tell him that you sharpen knives for fun, and these low-end knives can't be sharpened to your satisfaction, and you don't like doing it. Sorry. If you're nice, you might recommend some other place to take them, specifically some place that charges.

3. See what kind of favors he is willing to do to reciprocate. Tell him you'll sharpen his knives if he takes you out to lunch a few times. This will quickly sort out the people who are trying to take advantage of your services. You'll probably find out quickly that he wants something from you, but isn't willing to give anything back. This will convince you that you don't need to waste your time with him, nor do you even need to be nice. Just say no, goodbye.
 
If he came to you demanding what's basically a "favor," then directing that you do it to his satisfaction, I think the lack of heat treat is the least of the problem.

If you took all three knives, I'd return them to him next time you see him. "Yeah, sorry, I'm not going to be able to get to these after all. Too many other things going on. You might try (your favorite local sharpener)." You don't owe him a thing beyond that.
 
You could just point him towards one of those cheap-o pull-through sharpeners. Should be more than sufficient for his purposes, especially for mystery stainless steel w/ no heat treat on a $2 knife.
 
ChrisB507 said:
If he came to you demanding what's basically a "favor," then directing that you do it to his satisfaction, I think the lack of heat treat is the least of the problem.

If you took all three knives, I'd return them to him next time you see him. "Yeah, sorry, I'm not going to be able to get to these after all. Too many other things going on. You might try (your favorite local sharpener)." You don't owe him a thing beyond that.
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This is actually very close to what I am thinking/going to do.
He is getting all three back untouched tomorrow.

I am a nice guy most of the time, but I just wanted others views on this. That is really why I started the post.

I will let you guys know what he says tomorrow. :)
 
southernknives said:
I am talking about people at work bringing in these literally $2-$5 dollar knives wanting me to sharpen them.
I had a guy Friday that didn't even ask me if I would sharpen some knives for him. He just said, " I have three knives for you to sharpen, and I want them all sharp as razors."

So he hands me the knives, and they are such garbage that two have ZERO HT. The one that seems to have an HT, is terrible.

Not even one of the three knives has a country of origin on it. No China, Pakistan, etc. One has a puma on it, one has the blade so far off center that the edge of the blade hits the liners and has to be pushed over just to close it.

The last one just says Winchester on it, and seems to have a HT, albeit a crappy one.

So my question is: what would you do? Waste your time off sharpening crap, or hand them back to him and let him know they have no HT and his best bet is to take it to a knife store to get them sharpened?
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Under no circumstances I would sharpen such crappy knives. If a guy was polite and friendly, I would really consider buying him a new proper knife and throwing his crap into garbage.
And when the guy in inpolite and demanding - blow him off with some excuse. He deserve crappy dull knives :D
 
southernknives said:
Thanks guys. I think some of you are under the impression that I'm a professional knife sharpener. I'm not. Sure I can do a better job than most of them but that's a different issue.

This is just a guy I see around the office several time a week. I already sharpened one before, and even with a 1"X30" and a ceramic rod or DMT stone I just don't feel like spending the time on three crap knives that I won't be happy with the sharpness level. Yeah, they may shave, but not good enough for me. When I sharpen a knife for someone I want them to get it back and say dang that's sharp.

Oh, and as far as money? No guys. He thinks this is a free service. He didn't pay or offer last time and mentioned nothing of it this time.
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It's your time and sharpening equipment. If you'd rather not waste either on said knives, just return them to your colleague and let him know you only work on your own personal knives now. Perhaps you could even recommend a place where they can pay a fair price for the service. I don't think that would be rude and they will get the point.

Good luck! :)

-Timber
 
southernknives said:
I am talking about people at work bringing in these literally $2-$5 dollar knives wanting me to sharpen them.
I had a guy Friday that didn't even ask me if I would sharpen some knives for him. He just said, " I have three knives for you to sharpen, and I want them all sharp as razors."

So he hands me the knives, and they are such garbage that two have ZERO HT. The one that seems to have an HT, is terrible.

Not even one of the three knives has a country of origin on it. No China, Pakistan, etc. One has a puma on it, one has the blade so far off center that the edge of the blade hits the liners and has to be pushed over just to close it.

The last one just says Winchester on it, and seems to have a HT, albeit a crappy one.

So my question is: what would you do? Waste your time off sharpening crap, or hand them back to him and let him know they have no HT and his best bet is to take it to a knife store to get them sharpened?
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Some years ago, I had a similar incident.

I would frequently sharpen my knife at work, especially on night shift. Occasionally, someone would come up to me and ask if I would sharpen a knife and I usually would. After having sharpened "Bob's" knife on a couple of occasions, one night he brought 5 or 6 knives to me that his friends needed sharpening. Told me that he needed them done before morning and walked off. I was dumbfounded because I was just doing this to pass time and help people that I worked with.

I thought about it a bit and then pushed the knives aside. When "Bob" came to pick up his knives, I told him that I didn't run a knife sharpening business but I would be glad to teach him how to properly sharpen a knife so that he could sharpen his friends' knives himself. Then handed him a 3X5 card with what he needed to buy. Told him to pick that stuff up and bring it to work the next night and I would gladly teach him how to sharpen a knife.

He never asked me to sharpen a knife again and never showed up with the proper stones and other stuff on his list. That was pretty effective. ;)
 
I have just the tool for this kind of knife and job...Chef's Choice electric sharpener. I use it on inexpensive kitchen knives sometimes. It really does sharpen them quickly, but they tend to take a lot of metal off in the process. Some years ago I even sharpened a inexpensive machete with this.

His knife will get sharp; the edge just won't last long with use.
 
I'll take the time to teach someone how to sharpen a knife, but I won't sharpen their knife for them.

This policy of mine applies to a lot of things-

I will teach a person how to change the oil in their motorcycle, but I won't do it for them.

I will teach a person how to clean a firearm, but I won't clean their guns for them.

I will teach a person how to use a power-washer to wash their house, but I won't wash their house for them.

I believe that people should learn to do things for themselves. And if they aren't willing to learn, I'm not going to reward their laziness by doing their chores for them. That's the way I am.
 
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SGT405 said:
Remember it's your name, integrity and reputation at stake here. This could be a future customer possibly for life. Treat them how you would expect to be treated if you we're in a situation where you had no knowledge of a product. Patience, compassion and education would be my course of action.
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+1... Usually it's not worth burning a bridge to tell someone what a jerk they are.
 
My advice here would be to simply politely tell the person the truth about their knives and explain why. To me, simply being honest with the person in a situation like this is always the best place to start.

killgar said:
I'll take the time to teach someone how to sharpen a knife, but I won't sharpen their knife for them.

This policy of mine applies to a lot of things-

I will teach a person how to change the oil in their motorcycle, but I won't do it for them.

I will teach a person how to clean a firearm, but I won't clean their guns for them.

I will teach a person how to use a power-washer to wash their house, but I won't wash their house for them.

I believe that people should learn to do things for themselves. And if they aren't willing to learn, I'm not going to reward their laziness by doing their chores for them. That's the way I am.
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I find myself liking this line of thought. It's worth a whole lot more if the person can learn the skill themselves vs always having to have someone do it for them. In the long run it even saves them money. Heck if they don't want to pass their knowledge along or even if they do, it could end up making them a little money as well. Either way, I don't have an issue with teaching someone a skill that they can use to better themselves.
 
There's nothing worse than being taken advantage of for doing something nice for folks. It's one thing to do a personal favor for friends, but for some guy you see in the office every once in a while, that's entirely different. There is no investment in your life, personally, so why should you volunteer personal time to help out these folks.

When anyone drops off a knife, before you agree to do a thing, let them know that you are happy to lend your talents to a friend. If you can't honestly call them a friend, you owe them nothing, past circumstances being past.

Of course, being a nice guy, you hate to be considered a jerk, by anyone. If you can find a way to lighten the tension and maybe joke a bit, that might help the next time. e. g. Say, "Hey, at least buy me a drink first!" with a genuine smile. Only the most dense individuals, or true jerks will take offense at that, and decent folks will realize the rude assumption on their part, and hopefully apologize.

I really want to know how this turned out. Hopefully no bridges were burned, and a little educational opportunity will arise, if not a new friendship. Okay, maybe a little too optimistic, but you know what I'm saying. :D
 
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