New knife with less than keen edge

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
27,254
Getting a new knife is usually a happy experience, the hunt as we know is a greater part of the pleasure of getting, but when it arrives it may not live up to the expectations you held. Usually the edge is 'sharp' but you expected something more, something along the lines of vorpal quality. Now some knives arrive brightly sharp as there are a few companies that provide a sharp edge right out of the box, but even those can benefit from getting their bevels leveled out and that brings a nicer experience when cutting.

Recently I've a couple higher priced knives that I was surprised to see that the edge bevel wavered a little bit which meant that I will have to spend some times on the stones to get them evened out. I hate sharpening something right from the get go as that just removes metal/life of the blade, albeit slightly but still there is some loss. And some take a good deal of time to right things.

Here's a rough drawing of what I'm trying to say, the grey areas are where the edge bevel dips/wavers and is not in a single plane. For me, I angle the blade up towards a ceiling light and sight down along the bevel to see if it is all in the same plane and that each side is about the same width.

edgebevel by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Getting that flattened down so it is in a single plane takes time and patience. But I believe that it results in a much better cutting experience.

Now some of you guys and gals might not be up to getting things back to a flat bevel (or convex for those types of edges) and I would recommend that if you really like the knife a lot, take the expense of getting one of the folks on the forum that deals in sharpening to set those bevels for you. You'll be a lot happier for sure and maintaining that edge will be something that should be easier for you to do, by stropping or stoning as once the bevels are set you have a good starting point.

I put this in General as most in General are people that get new knives all the time but may feel buyers remorse if the knife doesn't perform like they envisioned. One other thing that helps a great deal is the edge bevel angles, some knives arrive with a very very narrow bevel grind that while might shave hair, doesn't cut into material as efficiently as a better more acute bevel would do and that's where you will see benefits from having your knife sharpened up.

Start the new year with a fresh edge bevel, it'll certainly help ;)
G2

Edited to recommend one person that I've had personal experience and Bryce's sharpening is really very nice Petunia D. Feeble Petunia D. Feeble

 
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One way or another I recommend getting a QUALITY edge on one's new knife.
It will be an eye opener compared with many, most factory edges.
WORTH IT !

It is entertaining for me . . . and my "victim" , when I set up a stout cord with one end in a vise at work and ask them to cut the cord with their knife or more often a factory edged knife I have with me. They hack away until the cord is cut and roll their eyes like , can we get this over with ? Then I hand them one of my sweet babies with one of my reprofiled , acute , polished edges.
They roll their eyes again and try to humor me by making another cord cut.
They start to hack away again but the edge slips through the cord in less than a full stroke. 😑 😳
Invariably they cut pieces off again and again like they were doing a magic trick. 😃
 
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I completely agree. I normally don't bother carrying a new knife until I've sharpened it because most factory belt sharpening jobs are just too lacking in keenness. Spyderco has been the big standout for me with everything arriving more than satisfactorily sharp right down to their budget Byrd line.

When I do set out to correct the factory grinds, it always the heel of the blade that keeps me on the job the longest, correcting depressions in the bevel plane like you are mentioning, as well as small recurves.

Sometimes I throw in the towel before the heel is fully evened out just due to the amount of good edge that would need ground away. Sometimes the tradeoff to lost steel and blade life just doesn't seem worth it. When buying a new knife in a store, I will always scrutinize the heel, and ask to see another example if it looks bad.
 
Spyderco K390 Endura and Endala arrived here nothing short of amazingly sharp. Haven't touched either and don't plan to until a touch up is needed. And with K390 I expect that will be a while. On the other hand, I've definitely gotten new knives that immediately went to the stone. Looking at you KaBar.
 
It's only been the last ten years or so that I bothered to pay better attention to sharpening beyond "good enough" or even better to sharpen with more than one hone. But I can for sure say now my knives are far better than anything I've ever carried and used in my younger years. Wish I'd learned far earlier in life.
 
Boattale said:
Spyderco K390 Endura and Endala arrived here nothing short of amazingly sharp. Haven't touched either and don't plan to until a touch up is needed. And with K390 I expect that will be a while. On the other hand, I've definitely gotten new knives that immediately went to the stone. Looking at you KaBar.
Click to expand...
My VG-10 Endela was the sharpest blade I have yet received in a factory folder.
 
I like for a new knife to come with a good edge for several reasons but it isn't a deal breaker.
I don't want to spend the time to sharpen a new knife if I don't have to.
I want to be able to use a knife for a little while. Knife enthusiasts seem to be very fickle, I may be less fickle than average but I still do buy and sell a few knives. It is always better to sell a knife with its original edge, if I have to sharpen a knife immediately then I've already lost a little bit.
 
Maximumbob54 said:
Wish I'd learned far earlier in life.
Click to expand...
I can eco that.
I never learned REAL SHARPENING until I decided to stop being such a pathetic looser at hand tool wood working and learn it right if it was to take the rest of my life. That was my first taste of a sharpening jig (Varitas) for plane blades and chisels and it was EYE OPENING. God what a difference ! And shortly after that I learned what difference a few degrees change (steeper or shallower) could make .

To quote Frank Klaus ; his Dad said to him, after Frank finally learned to make a first class, hand cut dovetailed drawer, and do it quickly :
Yes, in ten or fifteen years you'll make a pretty good beginner too.

Interestingly and oddly enough when I inherited my Dad's small and very modest collection of folders I saw that he had reprofiled all of them to basically Scandy grind and quite coarse. Once or twice I had seen him sharpening on Wet or Dry sand paper on the bench top. I found a SiC axe stone and a V set of crock sticks but I don't think he used them from the edges I saw.

He never offered to show me how to sharpen though he was a big time Steam Fitter (Steel Mills, Coal Steam Electro generating plants, Dam flood gates etc) . . . meaning he was very competent at anything he set out to accomplish.

The proverbial Quiet Man.
I wish he would have taken me aside and said : KID . . . if you want to have a hope in hell of surviving in this world you are going to have to learn to sharpen.
I carried a pocket knife from when I was five or six . . . so the interest was there . . .

. . . anyway I get the urge to "talk story " from my Mom's side (though she was an accomplished crafts person for sure for sure ).
 
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Wowbagger said:
I can eco that.
I never learned REAL SHARPENING until I decided to stop being such a pathetic looser at hand tool wood working and learn it right if it was to take the rest of my life. That was my first taste of a sharpening jig (Varitas) for plane blades and chisels and it was EYE OPENING. God what a difference ! And shortly after that I learned what difference a few degrees change (steeper or shallower) could make .

To quote Frank Klaus ; his Dad said to him, after Frank finally learned to make a first class, hand cut dovetailed drawer, and do it quickly :
Yes, in ten or fifteen years you'll make a pretty good beginner too.

Interestingly and oddly enough when I inherited my Dad's small and very modest collection of folders I saw that he had reprofiled all of them to basically Scandy grind and quite coarse. Once or twice I had seen him sharpening on Wet or Dry sand paper on the bench top. I found a SiC axe stone and a V set of crock sticks but I don't think he used them from the edges I saw.

He never offered to show me how to sharpen though he was a big time Steam Fitter (Steel Mills, Coal Steam Electro generating plants, Dam flood gates etc) . . . meaning he was very competent at anything he set out to accomplish.

The proverbial Quiet Man.
I wish he would have taken me aside and said : KID . . . if you want to have a hope in hell of surviving in this world you are going to have to learn to sharpen.
I carried a pocket knife from when I was five or six . . . so the interest was there . . .

. . . anyway I get the urge to "talk story " from my Mom's side (though she was an accomplished crafts person for sure for sure ).
Click to expand...
My pops uses a huntsman until it is too dull to continue, his dad loved to sharpen chinesium multi tools on his bench grinders, I appreciate both philosophies, and provide my pops with more huntsman than he can dull in a lifetime and I tucked a freshly sharpened tool in my grandpa's coffin.
 
Gary W. Graley said:
Getting a new knife is usually a happy experience, the hunt as we know is a greater part of the pleasure of getting, but when it arrives it may not live up to the expectations you held. Usually the edge is 'sharp' but you expected something more, something along the lines of vorpal quality. Now some knives arrive brightly sharp as there are a few companies that provide a sharp edge right out of the box, but even those can benefit from getting their bevels leveled out and that brings a nicer experience when cutting.

Recently I've a couple higher priced knives that I was surprised to see that the edge bevel wavered a little bit which meant that I will have to spend some times on the stones to get them evened out. I hate sharpening something right from the get go as that just removes metal/life of the blade, albeit slightly but still there is some loss. And some take a good deal of time to right things.

Here's a rough drawing of what I'm trying to say, the grey areas are where the edge bevel dips/wavers and is not in a single plane. For me, I angle the blade up towards a ceiling light and sight down along the bevel to see if it is all in the same plane and that each side is about the same width.

edgebevel by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Getting that flattened down so it is in a single plane takes time and patience. But I believe that it results in a much better cutting experience.

Now some of you guys and gals might not be up to getting things back to a flat bevel (or convex for those types of edges) and I would recommend that if you really like the knife a lot, take the expense of getting one of the folks on the forum that deals in sharpening to set those bevels for you. You'll be a lot happier for sure and maintaining that edge will be something that should be easier for you to do, by stropping or stoning as once the bevels are set you have a good starting point.

I put this in General as most in General are people that get new knives all the time but may feel buyers remorse if the knife doesn't perform like they envisioned. One other thing that helps a great deal is the edge bevel angles, some knives arrive with a very very narrow bevel grind that while might shave hair, doesn't cut into material as efficiently as a better more acute bevel would do and that's where you will see benefits from having your knife sharpened up.

Start the new year with a fresh edge bevel, it'll certainly help ;)
G2

Edited to recommend one person that I've had personal experience and Bryce's sharpening is really very nice Petunia D. Feeble Petunia D. Feeble

Click to expand...
Hey, thanks for the shoutout Gary!

It’s worth noting that if you’ve got something novel I may be willing to sharpen it for free, just for the chance to check out a knife I might be interested in owning myself. I won’t use or carry the knife of course, but I’m willing to trade service for the opportunity to handle specific knives. Feel free to shoot me a DM if anyone’s interested.

Worst case scenario I’ve got a pretty reasonable rate for a “utility” edge that’ll save you some $ over a mirror polish and still fix the geometry of the factory bevel. I imagine most of my competitors/colleagues can offer a similar service if you just reach out and ask.
 
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