Out of the Box Sharpness Doesn't Matter?

As far as getting a knife that is not properly sharpened I can do it myself but their are two things that I consider, #1 when spending as much money on many of these knives you expect it to at least do the basic thing that it was designed for well, if not the manufacturer is missing the point. For a knife who's sole purpose is to cut things it should at least be sharp. I have had knives that cost $50 and they were razor sharp when I first opened the box and I have had $300 knives that were not sharp enough to cut paper smoothly. In reality getting a knife that is not properly sharpened is akin to buying a brand new car and it needing a full tune up. I am sure this would not be acceptable to the consumer.
#2 When selling a knife from your collection their many people that consider it a flaw if it does not have it's factory edge, this entails sending it back to the manufacturer to have a crappy edge put back which has it's own risk. I had once owned a Kershaw Tilt and the person interested in buying it wanted a factory edge, the person that I had bought it from touched it up and dulled the blade. I sent it to Kershaw and they completely ruined the edge. It had devalued the knife by quite a bit. I was upset enough to buy a KME and learn how to sharpen myself. Now if someone wants a factory edge I just reduce the price by $$10 to cover shipping both ways.
In conclusion buying a knife with a dull edge should be caught by the manufacturers QC dept. If they can't get that right it's time to get your knives elsewhere.
 
I am more frustrated by obtuse or uneven bevels that require long reprofiling sessions to correct. I prefer a knife to come sharp but as long as it comes with bevels that I can easily whip into shape I don’t sweat it too much. This coming from someone who is able to sharpen and enjoys it.

I have had premium knives come with bevels at around 50 degrees that were super sharp. Since the knife needed a lot of work to get where I wanted it that initial sharpness was not adventageous to me. On the other hand I have had knives come with 30 degree bevels that were not very sharp that needed just a minute on the stones to get where I wanted it. I prefer the latter.
 
My only issue with out of the box sharpness is that I have a tidbit of an OCD and having to take steel off of a brand new blade is not something I enjoy.
 
leghog said:
Why would anybody but knives if they can't sharpen them?
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Assume you mean 'buy.'

Whilst it may seem strange to some of us (I quite like sharpening my knives after honest wear in the field), there are plenty of people (not least on this forum) who seem to genuinely like knives but send them to a person, who sharpens knives for a fee. There have been plenty of posts on the subject - not least by persons, who offers this sharpening service.
 
There's a difference between knowing how to sharpen and choosing to use a professional sharpening service and not knowing how to sharpen and requiring the use of a professional sharpening service. I'll never understand people buying knives if they can't sharpen them.
 
leghog said:
There's a difference between knowing how to sharpen and choosing to use a professional sharpening service and not knowing how to sharpen and requiring the use of a professional sharpening service. I'll never understand people buying knives if they can't sharpen them.
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Yes, so you have already stated.

Plenty of people buy cars but dont know how to fix them.
Plenty of people fly airplanes but dont know how to repair those either.

Whilst knives are not as complicated nor difficult to sharpen, once you got the hang of it, some dont seem to want to bother.
Having disposable income, affords them the means to send their knives off to a sharpening service.

Perks of an affluent soceity.
Just the way, civilization has 'evolved.'
 
BladeScout said:
Yes, so you have already stated.

Plenty of people buy cars but dont know how to fix them.
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The mechanical complexity of cars and knives aren't comparable.

Plenty of people fly airplanes but dont know how to repair those either.
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Most fly in others' planes and are buying a service vs.a plane. With a knife it would be akin to paying others to cut what you needed cutting.

For those buying planes, the complexity of planes to knives is no more comparable than the complexity of cars to knives.
 
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You'd also never see me have a large car collection or plane colletion if I couldn't do the very basics of maintenance on them. Sharpening and maintaining an edge on a knife is very basic knife maintenance.
 
leghog said:
You'd also never see me have a large car collection or plane colletion if I couldn't do the very basics of maintenance on them. Sharpening and maintaining an edge on a knife is very basic knife maintenance.
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You are in luck then, as I suspect, that you dont have a large car collection nor a plane collection.

Anyway, as this is a thread about sharp things ... and not so sharp things, the point is, that some people can afford to send knives to a sharpening service and they do so, as they dont want the 'bother' of sharpening the knives themselves.

We have 'evolved' to a point, where some people dont need to sharpen their own knives. Send them in or buy new ones (in the case of cheap kitchen knives).

They miss out on the interesting task of sharpening a favorite knife but most likely dont give a hoot. Just the way it is with many things these days in the affluent world some enjoy.
 
leghog said:
There'
a difference between knowing how to sharpen and choosing to use a professional sharpening service and not knowing how to sharpen and requiring the use of a professional sharpening service.​
I'll never understand people buying knives if they can't sharpen them.
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Seems like that is a contradiction.

You differentiate between knowing how to sharpen but still sending knives away for sharpening and not knowing how to sharpen knives at all.

At the same time, you'll "never understand people buying knives if they can't sharpen them."

Please elaborate.
 
Yup. I'll never understand people who buy knives without knowing how to sharpen them. It's a very basic skill. Millions upon millions have learned how to do it. I learned 45 years ago. It just isn't that hard to do and doesn't require much expense in the way of materials.
 
leghog said:
Why would anybody buy knives they can't sharpen?
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Because they feel that they need a good knife?
Some people do not enjoy sharpening knives, and some have tried and just feel they are not good at it.
Doing an oil change on your car is pretty basic too, but a lot of people choose to pay someone else to do it.
 
emjay4248 said:
In reality getting a knife that is not properly sharpened is akin to buying a brand new car and it needing a full tune up.
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I wouldn't say it is that extreme. I might say it would be akin to adding a quart of oil, or filling the wash reservoir...

Edge maintenance happens regularly, sometimes daily, depending upon usage type and frequency. As would filling the wash reservoir wuld depend upon driving conditions. A full tune up is a bit overboard.
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If I am keeping a knife, I sharpen it.
If I am not, I will not.

A dull knife doesn't stop me from buying it, and it doesn't cause me to look down upon or second guess a company as a whole. Their "sharpening" crew on the other hand...

I use, sharpen, and repair my knives when needed. A simple edge tune up isn't an issue that I concern myself with.
 
leghog said:
Yup. I'll never understand people who buy knives without knowing how to sharpen them. It's a very basic skill. Millions upon millions have learned how to do it. I learned 45 years ago. It just isn't that hard to do and doesn't require much expense in the way of materials.
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We get, that you feel that way by now.

My question how ever still stands;
But why state, that there is a difference between those who know, how to sharpen a knife but still choose to use a sharpening service and those who dont know how to sharpen a knife and who require a sharpening service?

leghog said:
There's a difference between knowing how to sharpen and choosing to use a professional sharpening service and not knowing how to sharpen and requiring the use of a professional sharpening service. I'll never understand people buying knives if they can't sharpen them.
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To me, it boils down one thing; some dont sharpen their own knives - whether they know how or not as per your post.
I sharpen all my own knives and would never send a knife - any knife - to a sharpening service.

To each his own and all that of course.
I just choose to NOT use a sharpening service.
 
As for whether or not a knife should arrive sharp from the factory, I would certainly expect it to come with a decent edge.

If the knife is sharp, Ill use the knife and then sharpen it myself.

If it isnt, Id be a tad surprised but no biggie - again, Id just sharpen it.

Which KNIFE manufacturer consistently sends out dull knives though - seems like an oxymoron. Why produce a dull knife - that way it isnt a tool but just a hunk of metal etc.

As an aside; for some reason, I dont really consider the knife 'mine,' until Ive used it and sharpened it.
 
NJBillK said:
I wouldn't say it is that extreme. I might say it would be akin to adding a quart of oil, or filling the wash reservoir...

Edge maintenance happens regularly, sometimes daily, depending upon usage type and frequency. As would filling the wash reservoir wuld depend upon driving conditions. A full tune up is a bit overboard.
-----
If I am keeping a knife, I sharpen it.
If I am not, I will not.

A dull knife doesn't stop me from buying it, and it doesn't cause me to look down upon or second guess a company as a whole. Their "sharpening" crew on the other hand...

I use, sharpen, and repair my knives when needed. A simple edge tune up isn't an issue that I concern myself with.
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Others like us who are proficient at sharpening don't have as much of a problem but their are many people that are new to this hobby do not have that skill. The reason I say tune up is simple, a car has one purpose which is to move you from one place to another. If the engine is not running properly it is not accomplishing it's one vital purpose. The same thing goes for a knife that is not sharp and does not cut well. You, I and many others can sharpen a knife which is the same as looking under the hood and knowing how to fix the problem. Most people don't and do not expect to know how to do that.
Hopefully I am convincing as to the validity of my analogy.
 
I expect to be able to maintain my knife with a Sharpmaker as a casual user. I should not have to set bevels, fix bevels or have to sharpen on flat stones. I shouldn't have to fix anything about the edge. I should not as a user need any system any more advanced than my sharpmaker and a strop. Unfortunately I have to drop ship my knives (from experience) to a sharpening pro to make sure that the above is possible by having the edge set to where it should have been originally and properly sharpened for easy maintenance. One notable example of where this is not necessary is with Victorinox. Reliable and even edged with every single one I've bought or sharpened. With the traditional knives I buy and carry, they are unfortunately the exception.
 
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