Is there a doctor in the house? ( a shrink?)

[Lavan]

I need to be cured. I am sick. SICK I tellya. I have ...sharpenitis..

I am so fixated on SHARP.....REAL SHARP....that when I use my EDC knife to ......CUT.......things, I am thinking about the BLADE.

That's STUPID! It is for CUTTING! When plastic wrap just PEELS away with only the weight of the blade and NO resistance I get a perverse sense of PLEASURE!

And opening a BOX??? Watching a cardboard BOX just slit open like butter....oh....oh....oh....it's AWFUL!

My mind is saying..."THINK OF THE BLADE...THINK OF THE BLADE"

And I know that far before it is DULL, I will be taking out my secret stash of crock sticks and doing the thing again.

I used it to cut some HOSE! Dirty old HOSE!

I think I .....RAN.....from the scene and whisked into the house to SHARPEN.

Does anyone else suffer from this? Is there a 12 step program? What about filing down a butter knife and drilling it for a nut and bolt and making a folder out of THAT so it would be DULL after every use?

Please help. Give what you can.

 

[Ken C.]

You need help. Removing the problem usually is the cure. Send me all of your knives and you'll be feeling better in no time at all.

 

[Paratrooper]

I'm not a doctor (shrink) but I've been to one, and I can tell you what he told me. It might help.............

 

[Don Luis]

Here´s my suggestion based on my own experience:

Get yourself a good traditional stockman knife.

Put a slightly coarse edge on the clip blade, you´ll use this for slicing soft things like bread and vegetables.

Put a smooth razor sharp edge on the spey blade, you won´t use this one much, just very occasionaly when you really need a super sharp smooth edge on a thin blade, fantastic cutter, keep it real sharp.

Use the sheepfoot for just about everything, the straight edge is easy to touch up often, carry a pocket steel or small hone for that, don´t worry about getting it a bit dull with use, remember, you have two other blades in the knife that stay sharp.

Edited to add: Wow, my 500th post!.

 

[Jeff Clark]

My 12 step program usually starts with a very dull blade:

1. Admit the blade has a problem.
2. Rough sharpen the left side using 80 grit sanding belt.
3. Rough sharpen the right side using 80 grit sanding belt.
4. Rough sharpen the right side using 120 grit belt.
5. Rough sharpen the left side using 120 grit belt.
6. Intermediate sharpen using 220 grit belt alternating right/left/right/left sides.
7. Remove all burrs on medium coarse diamond hone alternating side-side.
8. Clean up bevel and do primary fine sharpening on extra-fine diamond hone alternating sides (under running tap water).
9. Refine edge using Sharpmaker medium grit rod edges at 15-degrees per side.
10. Further refine edge using medium rod flats.
11. Deburr the edge using diamond hone at 40 degrees per side.
12. Finish the edge at 20 degrees per side on Sharpmaker.

On back-sliding days I sometimes strop my blade or hone them on the slick white rods.

There is something to be said for two or three-bladed knives. I used to carry a stockman. I kept the long blade razor sharp to use in emergencies. I used the sheeps foot for most utility work. I used the spey blade for odd whittling tasks or (I must confess) as a tiny screwdriver for things like watch screws.