Overthinking sharpness

[Lesknife]

I usually sharpen only the area that is dull and it doesn’t remove that much unless it’s chipped or the edge is damaged. Most of the time my tip end will dull first and there’s no reason to sharpen the whole edge and i just blend in the profile and it’s like nothing happened. That saves a lot of blade.

 

[Precision Edge Sharpening]

This highly depends on what system you use or how proficient you are with it but especially if you use a guided system line a wicked edge, once you set your edge the first time, you can come back and precisely replicate that angle and position so that you take off as little steel as possible

 

[yepimonfire]

Ok, i have Many knives. My newest is an S30v Benchmade mini bugout. I love this blade it was a gift from my brother. Slightly used because it was his which is even more special. It was sharp but toward the tip just at the end it skates across the fingernail some. I took It to my worksharo field sharpener on the fine stone and touched up the entire length of the blade some then went fine ceramic and stripped a bunch. It’s laser sharp but i find Myself thinking at the very end of the tip it’s just a little less sharp than the belly i have stropped more and hit it on the ceramic rod some too. I find Myself checking a lot. Is this a situation where i should Just use my knives and quit overthinking overall complete perfect sharpness? Thank you in advance I’m proud to be a blade forums brother

You probably have a spot near the tip that isn't fully apexed. Go back to the coarse stone and go until the entire edge has a burr.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

No wonder I’m always so impatient. I’ve been waiting decades for somebody to invent the extra smooth round file, or the knob-and-tube ceramic insulator, or wet/dry sandpaper around a tapered dowel…

ETA: that’s a sweet ‘75, David. Nice regrind, and I love the patina. You inspire me to try the same on a couple of my Schrade 858s.

Parker

Thank you, Parker.

One of my favorite efforts at regrinding was with the (former) spey blade on my Buck 301, as pictured below. Shallow convex of the full cutting edge, then polished with white rouge on a denim strop (3rd photo below). I also reshaped the spey tip profile into more of a spearpoint profile, as I didn't really care for the look of Buck's spey on this knife, which sat very high with the tip of the cutting edge somewhat exposed above the liners. Ground from the spine side to remove the clipped spey portion and lower the tip a little bit. Now it nestles nicely into the liners when closed (1st & 2nd photos below).

 

[catspa]

That turned out great! What an improvement. Good work.

Parker

 

[vltor17]

Nah, get the edge where it needs to be, then you can enjoy it.

What this guy said. Never settle!

 

[Blade Lab]

Also it depends on your angles, if you want a slicier edge you want to lower the degrees per side but if you want it to last longer, a higher dps will help but I am probably getting off topic

That's not necessarily the case. If you're only cutting things that you're supposed to cut, and use an appropriate cutting board, a lower edge angle will actually stay sharp longer than a high edge angle. Where it falls apart is when people cut stuff on ceramic plates, glass cutting boards, granite counter tops, metal cookie sheets, etc. Or when they use a fine edge like a cleaver.