Knife sharpening service fail (with pics)

T

tommyg805

Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
93
Today I received my knives back from a well reviewed mail-in sharpening service and I can't describe my disappointment. The bevels from both knives have been smoothed and turned into one long convex grind. To be fair, the PM2 is sharp enough to cleanly slice paper, but the CRK is hardly sharper than it was when I sent it in (it had an okay working edge, I wanted it out-of-the-box sharp). I know it's not the worst sharpening job to appear on the forums, but am I wrong in feeling majorly disappointed? Would it be wrong to ask for a refund? This cost me $27 BTW.
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Was the $27 including shipping?

If a provider is going to alter the existing grinds they should tell you beforehand. To me that doesn't look like a very good job - as you say it is not as bad as many of the posts on this topic, but that does not look like someone's best effort.
 
I wouldn't be happy with that at all. It certainly is not what I would expect from a professional. I would be inclined to let it go if it was functionally the best edge I had seen but it doesn't sound like that is the case. I would be asking for my money back so I could send it to an actual professional to fix.
 
Not a bad price for the sharpening if it were hand sharpening, it would have been $30 plus shipping with my services. I hand sharpen where it looks like those were machine sharpened so that price is a bit high IMO.

I don't want to be too critical of any professionals work because any of us could be subject to ridicule but, there is a lot going on with those bevels and some aggressive grinding has happened.
 
Jason B. said:
Not a bad price for the sharpening if it were hand sharpening, it would have been $30 plus shipping with my services. I hand sharpen where it looks like those were machine sharpened so that price is a bit high IMO.

I don't want to be too critical of any professionals work because any of us could be subject to ridicule but, there is a lot going on with those bevels and some aggressive grinding has happened.
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Amen to that. I would have to say this job passed the small claims test - you wouldn't be able to convince a judge or anyone else who wasn't a knife nut that you should get your money back. The average non knife person would probably be quite satisfied if maybe a bit puzzled re the convex result.

The worst aspect is the altering of the grinds without a head's up, it will take a bunch of life off the edge to flatten them out should OP go that route, and now you're paying even more to have it altered back.
 
What a just strange sharpening job. Like they knew what they were doing but purposefully did it in a weird way.
 
I would be pretty choked with both of those sharpening jobs, the PM2 is convexed, but not the entire length (WTF?), and the CRK looks as though they didn't sharpen the serrations at all, just ran it over a buffing wheel and rounded off the teeth for ya.

Beauty. That's something I would do to my knifes 10 years ago when I didn't know a thing about sharpening....actually no, it's not, I would never leave a section of the blade untouched when sharpening.
 
I feel horrible for your CRK. I am really curious who in the world you sent these things to. Plenty of us guys do it as a hobby and can achieve a near professional edge. That is just pathetic.
Honestly looks like what I did back in middle school with a stone.
 
To say I would be disappointed is an understatement, but ...

I believe the answer to your question is related to what the blades looked like before they were sharpened, and specifically what you asked to have done (what edge grind, etc). As such, I would hesitate to comment on what you have now.

Without specifying (or having some type of agreement/understanding) related to how you wanted those knives sharpened, it would be difficult to cast fair judgement. The bigger issue, i.m.h.o., is that you can not put metal back (lessons cost time or money or BOTH). There are multiple ways to "sharpen" a tool, and multiple reasons for those various ways (know what you want before hand & have agreement related to expectations).

It seems confusing as to why you would not have used each of those manufactures sharpening services ... especially on the CRK?
 
Both blades were sent in with factory grinds. This guy had good reviews, and a reputation for a scary sharp polished edge. He was also selling his own line of $300 kitchen knives on his website so I foolishly assumed that he was also a knife nut and that he knew his stuff. Judging by the quality of services provided (the CRK is only barely sharper than it was when I sent it, and it can't even draw cut paper) would it be out of line for me to ask for a refund?
 
I would at least ask for a free do over with instructions on what you want done. Any way you go, the metal is gone and can not be replaced. He/they would not want any negative reviews out about them, so I would think he should do a do over for free + free shipping. Can't hurt to ask. I would never sharpen a knife like that unless the owner requested ??:eek: them done that way. If I could not turn out what was requested, then I would not even attempt to work on them, and would return them to the owner PP.


Omar
 
yeah, sounds like you didn't get a "sharpening" service, but rather some geometry adjustment that you didn't ask for. Give them a chance to fix their mistake (for no charge of course) and otherwise post some reviews about them.

Moral of the story: If you want it done right...do it yourself.

Bester 1200 (fantastic starter stone) is $46.90 on chefknivestogo.com so you would only need to sharpen 4 knives yourself to recoup the cost of the stone versus the sharpening service.
 
Id be livid. Those knives weren't sharpened. They were completely altered. Even go so far as to say ruined. That PM2 especially. No good at all comes from an edge that thin on that blade.

Yes. Refund. Absolutely. In a perfect world, you deserve replacement knives no questions asked.

Sorry about your situation, but this is yet another testament to sharpening your own knives.
 
Wow, Don't think I've ever seen a job botched that bad.The folder would have to be reground and the edge thinned out and then resharpened.The straight blade can be resharpened but the serrations would be a repair.Ask for a refund. No tell him he just bought them!
 
I see a lot of knives at the shop I work at, so I see all kinds of "sharpening." To me that looks like he used a work sharp on your knives. The grind is more pronounced on the CRK cuz its thicker, and it would also explain why the serrations look like that too. I would ask for a refund. Charging that much and sending them back that way is pretty bad. I *definitely* wouldn't send them back cuz that'll just be that much more metal youll be missing. Its apparent the guy doesn't know what he's doing. I'm starting my own sharpening service, and I would honestly be freaking out if I did that to a customer's knife - and I sharpen freehand. Correcting that is going to suck too because a bit of material will have to be removed again. The CRK can handle it, but that Spyderco is starting to get worn back a bit. I dont like leaving bad reviews, but I'd also hate to see this happen to someone else cuz no one ever says anything. I'd just post these pics on his review site and let people make up their own minds. If they know anything about knives, that will quickly make up their minds.
 
All that can be fixed, geometry and edge wise, but you can't put steel back into a blade - and it looks like he removed a lot of it especially judging from the heel of the edge on the pm2. Those serrations would need to be completely re-ground/profiled into the blade to make them pointy and sharp again - it looks like he took a power buffer cloth wheel to it of something.. very *interesting*.

All that being said, what condition were they in when you sent them to him? had they ever been sharpened before and if so, on what? Just trying to get an idea if most of that was his damage or somewhat existing.

edit: i just saw where you said they were sent to him w/ factory grinds. And I just looked the CRK up... looks like that actually is how they sharpen them at the factory, so other than being dull i don't see too much of an issue w/ this one other than that a lot of steel looks to have been removed, but it is the PM2 that looks butchered. The CRK probably just needs to be sharpened/fixed up. I would ask for a replacement on the PM2. And I would not mention his name until you contact him to see if he makes it right... common courtesy =) Lord knows we've all messed up blades before but good customer service can make a big difference.


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