Need to get a nice custom knife professionally sharpened

S

Sunbum47

Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
1
I live in South Florida in West Palm Beach and have a beautiful drop point "Zack" hunting knife that was given to me by the late Don Zaccagnino that needs sharpening.
Zack made all his knives by stock removal using belt sanders and that's also how he sharpened them.
I know this is a long shot, but does anyone know of GOOD custom knife makers in the Palm Beach County area of Florida who could sharpen this knife for me. I don't trust anyone but a pro to do it correctly.
thanks,
Bob Michals.
 
+ 1 for Richard J. Amazing work for an amazing price. You won't be disappointed.

Omar
:rolleyes:
 
Have not (yet) sent any knives to Richard yet, but he did talk with me for a good long while about what he does. Very nice guy. Solid rep on the forum.
 
Richard J does all my sharpening! He is a master at what he does! I would trust him with my best knives!! I have and he puts an amazing edge on a knife! He once sent one of my knives back with a moustache hair that he had split in half with it! Richard is the man!! :thumbup:
 
It all depends on what your "custom knife" is worth as to what I'd recommend... $200-300 range someone who uses a power system would be fine. But when you start getting up into the $1000+ range I would never take it to a power system... I don't care how good someone is. Anyway, that's my $. 02 for what it's worth. Didn't look up the knife in question.
 
The problem is you really better trust who you take it to. Richard J WILL NOT let you down or mess up your knife. Some "professional knife sharpener"? Who knows what the heck that really is in terms of someone who represents himself that way. They may even do a halfway decent jobs hacking useable sharp edges on cheap kitchen knives in volume...an edge that would be a travesty on a nice custom.

So Richard J. You really need to learn how to sharpen your own knives frankly. But I would concur that a valued custom is not the one to start on. I'm not sure I'd start on a Pakistani/Chinese gas station knife either (or not stay there very long). Start on maybe a Buck or something that's not expensive but which will be made of good heat treated steel and you'll get the best representative experience.
 
HoosierQ said:
The problem is you really better trust who you take it to. Richard J WILL NOT let you down or mess up your knife. Some "professional knife sharpener"? Who knows what the heck that really is in terms of someone who represents himself that way. They may even do a halfway decent jobs hacking useable sharp edges on cheap kitchen knives in volume...an edge that would be a travesty on a nice custom.

So Richard J. You really need to learn how to sharpen your own knives frankly. But I would concur that a valued custom is not the one to start on. I'm not sure I'd start on a Pakistani/Chinese gas station knife either (or not stay there very long). Start on maybe a Buck or something that's not expensive but which will be made of good heat treated steel and you'll get the best representative experience.
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I think you meant SunBum47, and not richard j...

In any case learning to sharpen your own knives would be a good place to start... I started on a 110, and moved to my mother kitchen knives... you wanna learn quick... mess up your moms favorite cutter... you'll get it pretty darned sharp pretty darned quickly lol...

And to add to what HoosierQ said, I would stay away from sharpening systems until you have at least done a few knives with a stone... the basics are very important here and it will help later on... others may disagree with me on this but thats just my feeling on the matter...
 
HoosierQ said:
Some "professional knife sharpener"? Who knows what the heck that really is in terms of someone who represents himself that way. They may even do a halfway decent jobs hacking useable sharp edges on cheap kitchen knives in volume...an edge that would be a travesty on a nice custom.
Click to expand...

+1. This.

I am under the impression that most "professional" knife sharpening services (the kind in the local strip mall) do very fast and crappy work with grinders or sanders. I've read a few stories here on BF of members taking their knives to a "professional" only to have it returned in worse shape than it previously was. I've only had my knives sharpened by one other person, a friend of mine in high school a long time ago. He used a guided system and put a very sharp edge on a cheap knife I had, but the edge was ridiculously acute (maybe less than 17 degrees inclusive). Since then, I've only sharpened my own knives.

Question: I've seen knife makers (and some professional sharpeners) use those wheels (paper wheels?) and put a very sharp edge on a knife in what seemed like seconds. Has anyone compared the durability of such an edge with a hand-done edge by a good sharpener with water stones, for example? I don't doubt the sharpness, at all (I've seen the vids). But I am curious about the durability of such an edge.
 
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Magnaminous_G said:
+1. This.

I am under the impression that most "professional" knife sharpening services (the kind in the local strip mall) do very fast and crappy work with grinders or sanders. I've read a few stories here on BF of members taking their knives to a "professional" only to have it returned in worse shape than it previously was. I've only had my knives sharpened by one other person, a friend of mine in high school a long time ago. He used a guided system and put a very sharp edge on a cheap knife I had, but the edge was ridiculously acute (maybe less than 17 degrees inclusive). Since then, I've only sharpened my own knives.

Question: I've seen knife makers (and some professional sharpeners) use those wheels (paper wheels?) and put a very sharp edge on a knife in what seemed like seconds. Has anyone compared the durability of such an edge with a hand-done edge by a good sharpener with water stones, for example? I don't doubt the sharpness, at all (I've seen the vids). But I am curious about the durability of such an edge.
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If richardj pops in he has a video of a guy pretty much chopping down a tree with a knife he made and it still shaved afterwards. :eek:
 
Jason ( knifenut1013 ) is an amazing sharpener.:thumbup:
Here is a link to his thread in "services offered".
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/888261-Traditional-Sharpening

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theHobbyist said:
I think you meant SunBum47, and not richard j...

In any case learning to sharpen your own knives would be a good place to start... I started on a 110, and moved to my mother kitchen knives... you wanna learn quick... mess up your moms favorite cutter... you'll get it pretty darned sharp pretty darned quickly lol...

And to add to what HoosierQ said, I would stay away from sharpening systems until you have at least done a few knives with a stone... the basics are very important here and it will help later on... others may disagree with me on this but thats just my feeling on the matter...
Click to expand...

Sorry. That Richard J line was a reiteration of my recommendation, not an address.
 
Magnaminous_G said:
+1.

Question: I've seen knife makers (and some professional sharpeners) use those wheels (paper wheels?) and put a very sharp edge on a knife in what seemed like seconds. Has anyone compared the durability of such an edge with a hand-done edge by a good sharpener with water stones, for example? I don't doubt the sharpness, at all (I've seen the vids). But I am curious about the durability of such an edge.
Click to expand...

Just curious as to your thoughts behind the above question? If a knife is sharp and has good edge retaining steel, what difference does it make how it got sharp? Not being a smart @@@ but I am not following your train of thought. The edge angle could be the same, along with a secondary bevel, so what is the difference between the way it was sharpened?

Omar
:rolleyes:
 
Magnaminous_G said:
Question: I've seen knife makers (and some professional sharpeners) use those wheels (paper wheels?) and put a very sharp edge on a knife in what seemed like seconds. Has anyone compared the durability of such an edge with a hand-done edge by a good sharpener with water stones, for example? I don't doubt the sharpness, at all (I've seen the vids). But I am curious about the durability of such an edge.
Click to expand...

No difference what so ever when a quality abrasive (synthetic stone, belt, mesh, paper whatever) versus a natural water stone.
I have access to natural arkansas stones, as well as quite a few japanese natural water stones (private collection of someone I know, needless to say his cheapest Japanese stone is $350).
It doesn't make a difference in edge retention or sharpness, that's why I only use them for show.
Geometry, angle, and consistency matter more if the steel/ht is the same.
 
I have no doubt that the edge is sharp and clean. I'm curious about the final edge, since I haven't tried paper wheels myself. I see all the work is edge trailing at speed, sloughing metal. Then you move on to the rouge on the slotted wheels, which is polishing that edge to take the burr off and clean it up rather than "stropping." I imagine that the edge is left polished, smooth, and very, very clean and sharp. But it's very different from stone work, and I'm sure the edge is different. So, I'm wondering what it looks like really close (under magnification) and how durable it is relatively speaking. Does the edge turn out slightly convex... or very convex? Does the final edge under magnification look very toothy with highly polished teeth (that's my guess, but I don't know). That's all I'm asking about...
 
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There are stones that reach approximately 30,000-50,000 (high polish rogue reaches approximately 15,000-25,000) grit which leave a very fine mirrors edge. The edge is incredible smooth with the proper technique. Compared to slotted wheels using rouge which are too fast to control.
For example: utilizing the mud left after polishing using extra extra fine stones one can get a high grit paste to further polish.

It's been done for a long time since the 1600's in Japan, with art polishes which leave mirror polishes and perfect 0 bevel edges. Then again those take approximately 4 weeks of hard work to from a master polisher, and cost an arm and a leg.
Abrasives are abrasives are abrasives. One can achieve the same edge by hand as one can with a buffing wheel. Difference is, it will take days or weeks to reach that type of polish by hand.
The other thing to consider is steel is not obsidian and can't take a 1 atom edge. Some steels perform differently under different angles.
 
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