Little disappointed in sharpness of GEC knives. Need help.

All knife knuts need to know how to sharpen a knife. The alternative is to buy ceramic bladed knives (but you likely won't be able to post about them in Traditional).
 
OP should start with a sharp maker, fairly easy to learn at a fair price. While I use DMT diamond stones I still use the sharp maker on occasion also, it can make a very sharp edge.
 
I agree with the general advice here, if you own a knife, you definitely need to own sharpening equipment, however simple, and know how to use it. I had a sharpening session yesterday, and always enjoy it :)

I also agree that GEC's edges are generally, in my personal experience, not sharp. Of more concern to me are the obtuse angles at the belly and point of the knife, where only the straight part of the edge has been sharpened.
 
I currently have one GEC that I purchased in LNIB (T?) condition just a few weeks ago. And I remember taking it out of the box and trying to cut a piece of paper just to be surprised at how dull it was. After a bit of research, it sounds like that's just how they come from the factory.

I ended up spending some time on my Sharpmaker (which has really been well worth the money and far superior to the Lansky system which just sits in some box somewhere now) and the knife is now sharp enough. I refrained from making it any sharper because that spring tension to close kind of scares me--versus something like a Sebenza which is much more predictable to open/close. Maybe GECs come somewhat dull from the factory to protect newbies from themselves. Haha!
 
They , GEC knives vary. Yes, sharpening is an essential skill but it's made harder than it should be by a new knife arriving blunt or with poor edges. This can be discouraging for the inexperienced.:mad:

These threads come up from time to time about why Traditional knives often arrive blunt or poorly edged. I just feel that a brand new knife MUST arrive sharp enough to shave arm-hair, cutlery companies make knives, knives are for cutting, new knives must be ready for the job straightaway. Then you can tweak your edge or practice your skills to your heart's content but it will be a lot easier if the knife is properly sorted in the first place. It's an impressions thing. All the Moderns I've bought (a few but not dozens..) have arrived satisfyingly keen, Traditionals should be the same. Somebody may add that the time spent sharpening Traditional knives would add horrific costs to the end product and would put the company out of business, uh uh not buying that one, literally...

There could be an amusing internet meme here: Buys an SFO Monday, sells it for 4 times the amount Wednesday, still blunt and won't cut anything. Knives are like for cutting???:eek::D:D:D
 
Mr. Chips said:
To me, sharpening is an absolutely essential skill. ... It does take a bit of effort, and a little bit of investment, and some practice, but pretty much anyone can learn to do it if they want to.
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Yep. :thumbup: That right there is the crux of the biscuit. Should knives come sharp from the factory? Well, sure. But for $80-$100, I'd rather have a "dull" GEC than any other knife. You'll sharpen your carry knife probably dozens, if not hundreds, of times over the years. So getting a less-than-sharp-out-of-the-box knife means you'll have to sharpen it dozens (or hundreds) of times -- plus one.

Lastly, I've found over the years that chicks dig guys who can sharpen knives. :cool:

-- Mark
 
This is very common that we buy knives online very easily but face bit problem when it comes to choose a knife sharpener. From my experience I prefer Accusharp knife sharpener.
 
Learn to sharpen a knife.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I was a little pitiful in my knife sharpening skills until coming here. I could make an edge do, but it just wasn't very good. I figured out the riddle of steel by starting with a DMT aligner and a 30X, lighted, hand held microscope. I could actually make edges sharp and see exactly what was going on at the bevel. It helped me understand how much work goes into sharpening a knife if you change the geometry.

Thanks to Carl and the Cult of the Peanut, I was forced to abandon the DMT Aligner set up because the blades were too small. I was forced to freehand then (I did use the DMT diamond stones though). I figured it out. I now freehand almost all the time as I can no longer stand a knife that ain't sharp. I'll use the aligner to reprofile though as it makes the many many required strokes a little easier. I've also learned to look at edge to find what's wrong without using the microscope.

One last thing, after getting the work done on a coarse stone, I'll drag the blade through some wood in an attempt to rip off that thin curl of metal.

Those tools I used in the beginning were a big help to me.... I still use them from time to time, but that's what I did.
 
Can anybody enlighten me on why people are willing to tolerate NIB dull knives from some manufacturers and not from others?

Let's say that the OP had posted this on Spyderco/BM sub-forum, instead of getting these "learn to sharpen" replies, he would most likely have gotten "return it for your money back and get another brand" and (esp. with BM) "Their quality is so bad these days!" replies.

IMHO when you buy a knife, you buy something sharp. If you want something to sharpen yourself, buy a wooden spoon and sharpen that with your sharp NIB knife!
 
Vedenant said:
Can anybody enlighten me on why people are willing to tolerate NIB dull knives from some manufacturers and not from others?
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The reason GEC sometimes gets a pass for their mediocre sharpening is because their knives are of a higher quality otherwise than anything else on the traditional market. Traditional knives require the cutler's art to build them up properly, step by step, knife by knife, with lots of hand work. Modern knives are for the most part stamped out and screwed together, so there is very little difference in the quality of one brand to another besides the materials used. The build quality of my $19 CRKT is every bit as good as that of my $100+ Spyderco, just with less expensive handle material and steel. I enjoy freehand sharpening my traditionals, and don't mind touching up a new knife. Sure, I wish my GECs all came Spyderco sharp, but it isn't a deal breaker for me, considering the quality of their build.

But I agree with Will, they should come sharper. With power tools it shouldn't take a long time to put a sharp edge on a knife, and shouldn't add a lot to the price. When the knives are already a hundred bucks or more, adding five dollars to the price would mean very little, but good edges would take away the last remaining negative of their production process. GEC have listened to their consumers by adding more medium and small knives, by lightening their pulls, by producing fewer serialized knives, etc., so I have hope that they will get their sharpening process corrected as well.
 
Other than maybe Buck, I think I've found pretty much all slipjoint manufacturers to be greatly lacking in putting an edge on their knives. Maybe it's because of all of the various blades, or the smaller sizes, or.... I don't know. Slipjoint manufacturers just aren't ever particularly concerned with out of the box sharpness. Certainly not like tactical manufacturers.

I think that if you're going to get into traditionals, reprofiling, sharpening, stropping, and steeling are all essential skills.
 
Putting sharp edges on multiple blades especially thin ones leaves little room for error and would add more labor time and cost. If they came sharp for the same price I'd be happy. As it stands I'll put up with the poor sharpness because usually everything else is fantastic.
 
Relee1 said:
I really don't want to buy an expensive sharpening system to bring these knives up to standard, so what are some of you doing to sharpen knives that have come from the factory somewhat dull?

Any suggestions for me?
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I have three GEC knives of relatively recent production. One was sharp (Northwoods), two were kind of dull but easily tuned up.

This is the tool is use most of the time - lansky 4 rod turn box sharpener. Takes guess work out of the angles and is easier to use than a guided rod system. I also like the guided rod systems, but this one takes care of 95% of my knife maintenance.

I use the 4 rod sharpener to set the edge angle. Then I mostly strop on a sharpening steel rod to maintain the edge. K.I.S.S.

- Rex

Lansky 4 rod turn box sharpener by tens339, on Flickr
 
Quote from Buzzbait: "Other than maybe Buck, I think I've found pretty much all slipjoint manufacturers to be greatly lacking in putting an edge on their knives."
I have a lot of new Traditional style knives of nearly every brand. Everyone of my Rough Riders has shaving sharp blades. I have used a few of these, some for up to 5 years and their edges hold very well. I cannot understand why American made knives do not come with shaving sharp edges.
I know of no other tool that needs to be worked on before it can do it's intended function. Knowing how to sharpen is part of being a knife owner but you should not have to sharpen a brand new never used knife so that it will cut decently.
The only answer i can come up with for USA made knives arriving with less than sharp edges is that it is traditional. Even as a kid over 50 years ago the new knives that i bought (Imperial was what i could afford) were not sharp when new.
Was there ever a time when American made Traditional style knives arrived with sharp edges ? I think not and today's dull GEC is simply an example of doing things the way they have always been done.
Time for a change GEC !
kj
 
I have acquired an Edge Pro which at first seems expensive , it still seems expensive at second ! I didn't want to buy a system at this price until I worked out how much I had spent on knives in the past year. After that the Edge Pro didn't seem too bad , I can't stand blunt knives .
 
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black mamba said:
The reason GEC sometimes gets a pass for their mediocre sharpening is because their knives are of a higher quality otherwise than anything else on the traditional market. ... I wish my GECs all came Spyderco sharp, but it isn't a deal breaker for me, considering the quality of their build.
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^ What he said. :thumbup:

-- Mark
 
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