Local knife sharpening service just butchered 3 of my knives.

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Wow!!! If you can't communicate what you want, it's more than likely you won't get what you want.
 
Modoc ED said:
Wow!!! If you can't communicate what you want, it's more than likely you won't get what you want.
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I blame myself for assuming he knew what he was doing. All he knows, it seems, is butcher knives and sharpening lots of others for restaurants.
 
Sorry. I had the same thing happened to me years ago on an Emerson Spec War. Had a green handle. I used it and loved it for a while before it became dull. I was not good with sharpening the chisel edge. I took it to a sharpening guy who told me verbally that he knew how to sharpen it. He took it to the back of the shop and returned with a blade grounded way down and grind marks on the handle. I was sad and angry but I didn't bust the guy up too bad because I felt that it was my own fault. I ended up getting the edge pro system and some Spyderco stones along with some cheap knives until I could sharpen them properly. I still miss that knife and I am sorry for your loss.
 
There are multiple lessons to be learned. The biggest one being to learn how to sharpen your own knives. There are so many resources, so many members willing to help. You don't need to spend a lot of money either. When I first got into knives I hated sending them out to get them sharpened. You'd have to wait a few days for the knife to arrive at its destination, a day or two for them to sharpened it, and another few days for the knife to be returned to you. Total turn around times totaling to 1-2 weeks. Plus I'd have to worry about the knife getting lost in the mail and the shipping costs were definitely not a plus. I started with a cheap no brand india stone and an arkansas stone. It took me a few attempts, but I got good results. I practiced a bit and received lots of help from forum members and youtube. Eventually my results were good enough to justify purchasing a nice set of waterstones. In time I was getting great results able to get thin keen edges. I still have issues here and there, and I still have yet to get really crisp edges off the stone that don't need stropping. Don't get me wrong though, I've ruined my fair share of blades but I rather would have had them ruined and got something out of it then to have it ruined for nothing at all.
 
If I can learn freehand, anyone could in theory do it to. I have a long standing policy to not let someone else do something that I could learn to do. This has two benefits. First: I learn something new and build confidence in myself. Two: If something gets messed up, I have no one to blame but myself.

Get a good stone, a Norton India Combo stone will do. This one: http://www.knifeworks.com/norton8indiaalundum175thanniversaryedition.aspx#.VCYRMUO8q24

And some cheap knives. Local pawn shop may provide these but you could also go with Rough Riders. http://www.knifeworks.com/roughrider-3.aspx
And everyone should own an OPINEL! http://www.knifeworks.com/search.aspx?find=opinel
 
Ribeyeguy said:
I was doing the sharpening myself since I got into knives but the tip I couldn't correct and it kept getting more round. I thought it might help and it didn't.
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Your tip was rounded out from the sharpmaker it's a common outcome when pulling the tip past the stone while drawing the blade downward.
 
Ribeyeguy said:
Either that or when I dropped it.
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It is most likely the former. Even if you drop a knife, unless it chips the tip will stay sharp. Take the advice of everyone here. 1) Contact GEC to see if you can get a new blade. 2) Learn how to sharpen your own knives.
 
Wow, he jacked those knives up seriously.

Pull through sharpeners and actual grinding wheels (not paper wheels which are the bees knees according to many who are set up for them) are both no go in my book.


I have a belt sander, and have removed steel quick on an Opinel before, but that is about the worst (I was too lazy, and did not put the high grit belt on to re-profile......still did not remove near as much metal as that guy!)


I have seen this many many times on here though.



There are quite a few service providers on here that could do a supreme job without removing much from the very edge.


Richard J comes to mind (he uses several methods, including paper wheels).











Sorry for your loss. The Old Timer does not even look like the same knife, nor does the TC!
 
kamagong said:
Ridiculous. I know you're engaging in hyperbole, but it's just a knife. Admittedly Charlows are very nice knives, but it's not like the guy destroyed Abraham Lincoln's congress.
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:thumbdn: Each of my pocketknives means as much to me as that congress meant to Abe Lincoln.
 
These look my grandfather's knives after his weekly use

on a medium Arkansas stone lathered with 3-in-one oil.

I have great success with Spyderco and Benchmade mtce/repair work.
 
Yowch.

Here's an unintentional recurve mod I did on a GEC #73 once upon a time:

mutl.jpg

bnhy.jpg

nagh.jpg

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Actually it was the result of boneheadedly grinding away at the spot where the backspring was nicking the edge when letting the blade snap closed. I'd snap the blade shut, check for a nick, grind out the nick, repeat process until it slowly dawned on me to my horror and amazement what I had done. I felt quite mortified and humiliated at the time. In fact I couldn't bear to look at my mangling and hawked the knife on the exchange for less than half of what I paid for it. Pretty funny in retrospect, wish I had kept the knife!

The above incident as well as sending a different knife away to a sharpener that came at high recommendation and getting a less than desirable result were what prompted me to take up sharpening in earnest. Digging through the Maintenance & Tinkering forum archives plus spending ample time watching Youtube vids have been invaluable resources to me. I still wrestle with it at times late into the night frantic and cursing, but I'd like to think it pays off in the long run. At least I haven't done any bang-up recurve jobs lately!

Mishaps happen, live and learn. Your knives aren't a total loss, maybe shelve them for a bit and come back to them when the storm has passed.
 
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Ribeyeguy said:
I guess I should blame nobody but myself for trusting Jose who spoke broken English if that.
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Wow, pretty lame to blame this on his race or bilingual ability.

Especially when you're English speaking, presumably non-Latino self apparently can't sharpen a knife yourself. With perfectly decent gear at that!
 
This thread is about sharpening and is being moved to the Maintenance forum.
 
SincerelyNow said:
Wow, pretty lame to blame this on his race or bilingual ability.

Especially when you're English speaking, presumably non-Latino self apparently can't sharpen a knife yourself. With perfectly decent gear at that!
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Lame my a$$. I explained I was having trouble with the tips of the knives, and yes I can sharpen a knife myself but I'm no expert. Yup, I blame this on his inability to effectively communicate. Thanks for chiming Mr. Liberal and have a nice day.:)
 
klineh said:
Yowch.

Here's an unintentional recurve mod I did on a GEC #73 once upon a time:

mutl.jpg

bnhy.jpg

nagh.jpg

vfsc.jpg


Actually it was the result of boneheadedly grinding away at the spot where the backspring was nicking the edge when letting the blade snap closed. I'd snap the blade shut, check for a nick, grind out the nick, repeat process until it slowly dawned on me to my horror and amazement what I had done. I felt quite mortified and humiliated at the time. In fact I couldn't bear to look at my mangling and hawked the knife on the exchange for less than half of what I paid for it. Pretty funny in retrospect, wish I had kept the knife!

The above incident as well as sending a different knife away to a sharpener that came at high recommendation and getting a less than desirable result were what prompted me to take up sharpening in earnest. Digging through the Maintenance & Tinkering forum archives plus spending ample time watching Youtube vids have been invaluable resources to me. I still wrestle with it at times late into the night frantic and cursing, but I'd like to think it pays off in the long run. At least I haven't done any bang-up recurve jobs lately!

Mishaps happen, live and learn. Your knives aren't a total loss, maybe shelve them for a bit and come back to them when the storm has passed.
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Good advice Sir and thank you.
Time to move on.
 
Wow.... just.... wow. You're temper must be better than mine. Jose would be bleeding and on his way back to Mexico if those were mine.
 
You would be surprised what you can achieve yourself with a piece of leather and some $2 green compound.

That sucks. Our local grocerie store offers $1 sharpening. I wonder what that would look like!
 
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