Sharpening and removing too much metal

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koolstof

Joined
Sep 21, 2002
Messages
249
I was wondering how many sharpening sessions a blade can ondergo...

Since the blade itself gets thicker towards the spine, the transistion between the edge and blade surface is less gradual sooner or later...

If you look at butcher knifes or knifes in big restaurant kitchens you can see this effect very dramatically... As much as two thirds of the blade surface is "gone". Strange that a professional settles with such an abberration.

Yeah, I know, there are many factors that determine the wear-resistance (geometry, heat treatment, steel type, way of sharpening, use...).

Which sharpening method "saves" the most steel...?

Nibbling away the precious knife particles into oblivion - aaaarrrggghh, the horror, the horror *lol*
 
Stropping and steeling are what saves your blade. IMHO, too many people sharpen their knives when stropping or steeling would do the trick.

The grind is a big issue for hard use knives. A good hollow ground knife can be sharpened many many times before there's any real loss in cutting efficiency. A convex ground knife, when properly sharpened, can be ground down to a toothpick without any significant loss in cutting efficiency.
 
In my experience most of us have to sharpen for years to really damage a knife. With a knife that is use heavly on a daily basis, if it is a good quality knife, and sharpened properly,it will take a long time.
 
ok so far of all my hard use knives NONE of them show any signs of wearing out, and they have all been sharpened many manytimes, i experament with differnt edge's, my custom 4" Blade drop point Flat grind was convex edge, then went to a 40 degree V, then back to convex, then to a 30 degree V, now its back to convex and almost convex ground lol. But it doesnt seem to be any worn down and im sure it will outlive me by a long shot. My CRKT M18 is my hard use folder and i totaly re grind it to 30 degrees V every week, i have to, it cuts so much crap(think metal staples, metal straps etc.) that it needs the regrind every week to repair the edge damage, sometimes a strop will do if the edge is only rolled but usualy it gets the full treatment which is sharpmaker/Strop/strop with higher grit compound. And it shows no signs of calling it quits either. Im sure it will outlive me.
 
Sharpening skill is easily the most significant factor. Assuming you have not damaged the edge but have just dulled it, you only need to remove ~1-10 microns of steel to restore it. If you can match the exact angle on the edge, and do it with every pass on the hone, you will restore the edge taking just enough steel off and thus minimizing the amount of waste. However odds are that unless you are using a guide or are very skilled, you are removing easily 10x as much steel as necessary.

-Cliff
 
I have a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker along with the diamond rods AND the ultrafine ones.

Does a 204 eat away your blade like crazy? Will regular light touchups (provided the knives don't have to work a lot)with the fine and ultrafine do the job?

Cliff, it is no surprise to me that people often exagerate in grinding a good edge... Think that mechanical thingies with a motor are the worst (perhaps a bit too fast...).

Anyway, I have a decent butcher's steel and I don't plan to pursue "the ultimate razor-edge". When I need a shave I'll use a safety razor from the supermarket and when I have to fell a tree I will use an axe, not vice versa, you know... *grin* If a using knife gets worn out... Well... Time for a new then, I suppose :-/
 
koolstof :

Does a 204 eat away your blade like crazy?
Click to expand...

It is one of the very best tools for minimizing steel removal. Since the angles are preset, there is no change from one session to the next. Even very worn edges should be able to be restored with just a few passes per side.

-Cliff
 
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