Neglected/battered edges -- You asked for it

[unit]

Last week in another thread here we were discussing some of the (shall we say) lower forms of sharpening. I was trying to defend some pretty pathetic methods of sharpening citing that some people use their knives really hard, put them up wet, and "sharpen" them with about as much skill and understanding as they use them.

I said:

... I can post up some photos of knives people bring to me if you want examples of the levels of neglect I am talking about.

and a few of you indicated that you would like to see them. So I went to visit a few knife abusers to see if they needed any touch up work. I did not spend a lot of time getting good images, but I think a few of these ought to convey the point...that is, a carbide pull through sharpener may a viable tool for some knives and users (it certainly is not worse than some of the other things they do to these knives).

On with the images....
EXHIBIT 1
These first 2 images are a knife that my grandfather modified and sharpened. My mother had it in a drawer and offered it to me as a "gift" a few years back. Basically she thought it would be a challenge to me as a knife to sharpen. The edge looked like swiss cheese from where the grinder bit very deeply in some places creating random serrations ~1mm deep. These images are from after the repair...and another year of use by my mom. Notice how Gramps seemed to want to extend the cutting edge past the original plunge?

EXHIBIT 2
These 3 images are of a mechanic's knife. It is a cheap combo edge that primarily is used for scraping, prying, and cutting with the tip. Apparently he tried to think out the area he uses most.

Here is the other side...notice the small area of recurve?

It looks like he rolled the edge and then "repaired" it himself. That is the reason for the recurve.

EXHIBIT 3
This blade I had real difficulty capturing an image of. It is another mechanics knife. The edge has numerous kinks and ripples in it and a nice arc. I declined this challenge.

EXHIBIT 4
This knife was a Christmas gift from a supplier...and was treated to a rough life (so far). The guy that had it was unaware of this nick in the blade. It appears to have been "touched up" a time or two on a cinder block. It actually had a decent bite to it, but was quite coarse.

If there is any interest in this thread, I will continue to share images of the knives people ask me to sharpen (only the good ones). If anyone else wants to share, feel free...

 

[Medic1210]

When someone brings me a knife that's been treated like that, I don't even waste my time trying to put a quality edge on it, because they've already proven they could care less about the knife. Besides, most of the time it's a knife that's so cheap, it would be better to just purchase a new one. I guess I just don't feel like putting my time and effort into something when it's not going to be appreciated by the other person.

 

[unit]

I agree with you to an extent, but generally I can fix this stuff really quickly (it is not super steel) and the deal is they buy me lunch or a soda or whatever (and I get to talk to a different type of knife user in the process).

These guys know nothing about, and care nothing about the artistic side of sharpening, knife collecting, or any other form of "pride" that we take in a knife....they view these things the same way we might look at the lug wrench in our trunk, or a shovel in our garage (it is a tool that gets a job done in a time of need).

I generally do some maintenance for them too (tighten screws, adjust pivots, etc.) The response I get at times is interesting. I have helped a few guys see the light. One guy particular now owns a few quality knives that he treats better and calls me before they get thrashed...oddly, it takes longer to sharpen his knives now

 

[Ankerson]

I have also see some in similar condition that take time to fix.

I don't do that anymore as time is taken by other things such as testing so I don't offer that service anymore.

I leave those things to other talented people right here on this forum.

 

[richard j]

i have had some pretty poor looking knives come to me for regrinds. some were put on a bench grinder by someone who thought they could regrind the blade and do a good job only to find out they cant. i'll see if i can find some before pictures of a few i had sent in and post them.

 

[unit]

i have had some pretty poor looking knives come to me for regrinds. some were put on a bench grinder by someone who thought they could regrind the blade and do a good job only to find out they cant. i'll see if i can find some before pictures of a few i had sent in and post them.

They might be fun to see...I wish I would have started taking photos a long time ago.

A couple months ago, I had a serrated Spyderco (VG-10) come to me. The guy had his head hanging low and sheepishly informed me that his young son attempted to cut down a tree with it (I guess he thought it was a saw?). It cleaned up pretty easily (much to his surprise).

Too bad for the boy...he caught it from his mom for killing her tree, and his dad for messing up the knife. Lessons learned....

 

[richard j]

unit, i sent you a pm.

 

[Any Cal.]

I bought my mom one of the less expensive Messermeister kitchen knives, and gave her several coupons for sharpening at the mall they went to. Several months later my dad told me about how he needed the knife sharpened, but it was great 'cause he found this thing he could pull the knife through and it would be sharp again...

 

[jimnolimit]

When someone brings me a knife that's been treated like that, I don't even waste my time trying to put a quality edge on it, because they've already proven they could care less about the knife. Besides, most of the time it's a knife that's so cheap, it would be better to just purchase a new one. I guess I just don't feel like putting my time and effort into something when it's not going to be appreciated by the other person.

^ +1.

i've sharpened so many abused (and mistreated low quality knives), i feel the same way. the farthest i go is basic edge with one of my inexpensive coarse stones (that i use for wiping an edge to change the angle). im not going to soak my waterstones if it looks like someone took their $10 knife and beat concrete with it.

p.s. when i fix these abused knives, i tend to put a higher edge angle back on the knife so it's harder for them to dent or chip the edge.