"Sharpening" Nightmare

T

thegreatfulred

Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Messages
59
Hey folks,

I'm newer to the the forums, but wanted to share with you all a story about one of my favorite knives. I am the proud owner of a LPC full titanium with a beautiful Hamon blade. It needed a quick strop, just to clean it up a bit so I found a knife sharpener. He is local here in Denver, and has a stand at a local farmers market close to work. I explained the type of steel and what I wanted done, he returned my knife to me and said "Couldn't get an edge on it I'm not charging you". I examined the knife to discover he had ruined the grind, high polished a quarter of the perfect matte finish, and managed to remove anodizing from the titanium frame on the edges. I am beside myself with disappointment and anger. I walked away, examined the knife a bit more and returned to his stand.

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I calmly stated " I want to let you know that you ruined my knife. I told you the type of steel and what I wanted done. You ruined 700$ worth of knife, and I am beside myself with disappointment." His reply was…
"700$ is a lot for a knife, I'm sorry". I then walked away.

$hit happens and I understand I made a big mistake not just sending it away to Lance to have it touched up. I already shot Lance an email and hope it can be salvaged. Here are some photos. Thanks for letting me vent folks, let me know if y'all have any ideas, or suggestions.

Best,

Red.
 
I probably would have taken away $700 worth of his stand :eek: I'm sorry for your loss
 
That is honestly terrible. I would seriously request that he pay another individual to correct everything he ruined or I would consider bringing him to court (and I'm NOT a litigious individual). Wow that's bad...
 
So, you took a very high end knife to a guy at a farmers market, and you're mad that he messed up the job?

Why not take it to a shop that sharpens law mower blades?

If you cared about the knife, and couldn't do the job yourself, then you send it back to the guy who made it. Not some yokel who probably sharpens sickle blades and old pocket knives. Ya take your car to a shade tree mechanic that works cheap, ya got no complaint if it don't run for jack.
 
That's why there are professionals like myself that would have hand sharpened that blade and never used a machine.
 
jackknife said:
So, you took a very high end knife to a guy at a farmers market, and you're mad that he messed up the job?

Why not take it to a shop that sharpens law mower blades?

If you cared about the knife, and couldn't do the job yourself, then you send it back to the guy who made it. Not some yokel who probably sharpens sickle blades and old pocket knives. Ya take your car to a shade tree mechanic that works cheap, ya got no complaint if it don't run for jack.
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I had to laugh at this post. The "gentleman" who agreed to sharpen the OP's knife, AFTER hearing an explanation of the blade steel, etc, had a responsibility to do the job satisfactorily. Otherwise, he should NOT have taken it on. He agreed to do it, automatically assuming responsibility by doing so, then screwed it up royally. The liability is his, as his actions represented the largest portion of any mistake that was made. This should be easy to understand.
 
Kinda agree even if its a bit arsh ... Paying 700 for a "hard use" tool and not being able to maintain it yourself is something else.

The guy did a bad job, obviously but he didn't ruin anything, he just messed the finish of your super manly uber tough hard use folder, that's surface wear. The maker can make it look like new in 10mins including take down and re assembly.

Next time learn how to care for your toys or drop another 700 on a full option wicked edge.
 
pwet said:
Kinda agree even if its a bit arsh ... Paying 700 for a "hard use" tool and not being able to maintain it yourself is something else.

The guy did a bad job, obviously but he didn't ruin anything, he just messed the finish of your super manly uber tough hard use folder, that's surface wear. The maker can make it look like new in 10mins including take down and re assembly.

Next time learn how to care for your toys or drop another 700 on a full option wicked edge.
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Hah. Well said
 
This is just disgusting and I agree with the previous suggestion to give him the option of paying to have this fixed (if possible) or replacing the knife. Either way, this is something that shouldn't have happened. Even when using a machine to sharpen a knife like this, I don't see how anyone with experience would mess up a blade like this or flat refuse to make things right if they did. I don't see someone like Richard J or any professional knife sharpener doing something like this, messing it up or otherwise. If they're not going to be able to do something or don't think they can, you're going to be informed of it right up front before they risk ruining your knife. And if they did somehow damage it, they'd do whatever they could to make things right with the customer.
 
I agree with some here.

I would never trust a kiosk type business to sharpen a high end knife.

shit, I sharpen peoples knives for free because I hate seeing dull blades.
 
Have the guy who screwed it up reimburse you for whatever the maker may charge. After all, it was his responsibility regardless of whether sharpening custom knives is his primary occupation or if he's a plumber. If ya' can't do the job, don't say ya' can and, even more importantly, don't even try it.
 
Your mistake was small in comparison with the knucklehead who bungled the job. You obviously should have known better but he should have as well. You put your trust in him based on what he told you after what you told him. Be harder on him than you are on yourself. Regardless, the maker will work his magic!
 
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91a2jettavr6 said:
...whether sharpening custom knives is his primary occupation or if he's a plumber. If ya' can't do the job, don't say ya' can and, even more importantly, don't even try it.
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That's what you didn't get: The guy's a plumber. I'm pretty sure the peoples bringing him Buck 110 or SAKs are pretty satisfied with his services. Fact is he probably never saw a knife worth that much in his life. My guess is he did what he usually did; sharpening the knife like if it had been a buck 110 or any other low end knives/blades/shears peoples brought him. The results were however not the same. If I have a Ferrari, and I go to the street corner mechanic for oil change, I won't have anybody but myself to blame if anything bad happens. Even I can understand that.
 
Turbomammoth said:
That's what you didn't get: The guy's a plumber. I'm pretty sure the peoples bringing him Buck 110 or SAKs are pretty satisfied with his services. Fact is he probably never saw a knife worth that much in his life. My guess is he did what he usually did; sharpening the knife like if it had been a buck 110 or any other low end knives/blades/shears peoples brought him. The results were however not the same. If I have a Ferrari, and I go to the street corner mechanic for oil change, I won't have anybody but myself to blame if anything bad happens. Even I can understand that.
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No...I DID get it, and completely. If I have a Ferrari and I go to a "street corner" mechanic for an oil change, I am at fault for the act of choosing that mechanic IF something should go awry. I am not responsible for the screw up, though...only for the choice I made which led to it. I would hold myself responsible for the decision I made and I would hold him responsible for everything that happened after it. Bottom line, IMHO: the person who accepts the job, then screws it up, is the most at-fault individual in the entire equation. I would absolutely blame myself for choosing that person in such a scenario but, had he known what he was doing, I wouldn't have blamed myself at all and even someone such as yourself would likely not insult his abilities. I have used individuals to provide various types of repair services that were not in line with their daily gigs at all. They said they could do the work and they did it with excellence. Did the positive outcomes still mean I was at fault for choosing them? Using your logic, they did and that is something my tiny little brain just can't grasp. Anyway, I've said all I want to about this. Good luck with the knife!!! I'm out ;) .
 
If it makes you feel better, I've seen and heard of worse from some these "professional" sharpeners. Next time do a little research before you hand it off to some schmo at the local farmer's market. The guy probably sharpens cheap $1 frost folders for people who could care less if its actually sharp or not.
 
As my old Grandpa used to say, "hind sight is 20/20". The OP has been beat up enough, and has probably learned a good lesson in the process. I would recommend that he observe the ability of the next person who sharpens knives and make his decision based on his observations. The guy he used probably sharpens kitchen knives and Leroy's old pocket knife that he paid $10 for. Hopefully his knife is not ruined other than cosmetic damage and he can get it fixed up like new again. It looks from the pictures that all it needs is some "lipstick and rouge" and re sharpened. I hope so for his sake.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Jetta, I guess that our conceptions of "Farmer's market sharpener" are irreconciliable.

I do think the poor sod's only fault to have taken this knife as yet only another knife. You are right tho about peoples sometimes exceeding expectations. However, sadly, with the human nature being what it is and due to a lot of other circumstances and variables, expectations are often only that; expectations.
 
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