So I'm at a gun show and a guy wants to sharpen my knife...

Kaizen1

Kaizen1

Joined
Jan 4, 2006
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I went to a show this weekend with a few of my friends and they were at one of the tables with a guy who was giving a sharpening demonstration with a small "V" sharpener. My friends were amazed at his pitch and asked me what I thought about it- in front of him. So the guy asks me for my pocket knife (Spyderco Yojimbo) to give me a demonstration on how sharp he can get my knife:eek::jerkit:.

I respond immediately by telling him no and that I sharpen freehand. So he hands me one of his blades and a piece of paper to test how sharp he was getting them. It caught on the magazine paper. I pull out my Yojimbo and it melted through the paper. My friends were able to tell by the way it sliced through the paper that his knives were nowhere near the level of sharpness on my blade. The guy looked a little irritated like I killed his sale or something.

To save face he mentions something about how I must've been taught when I was young by my grandfather. Nope, it's thanks to BF that I can sharpen better than anyone that I've met in person (not including the custom makers at the BAKCA shows). And I learned this skill maybe over th last year or so.

And for the record, I'm not totally opposed the crappy V pocket sharpeners. I think they're okay for people who won't put forth much effort towards learning how to really sharpen. Better to sharpen horribly than never sharpen at all.
 
Was it a Sharpmaker type thing or a pull through? The pull thoughs are worse than not sharpening
 
Good stuff, Phil. Where was the show, by the way? I've been busy with a lot of BS the last couple weeks, so I wasn't aware of any local stuff going on. Did you pick up anything good?

Cheers,
Jon
 
Isn't it sickening how ignorant, and even aloof, most knife owners, dealers, and manufacturers are when it comes to sharpness...OR SHARPENING??!!!

I recently stepped into a crappy mall knife store that also sells "battle ready" katanas...
Upon inspecting the quality, I mentioned to the owner that they shouldn't be displayed edge down (cuz they will dull), and that they were rusty (duh)!!!

He didn't like my advice, responding with:

"I just sell Um"....

I then told him that I saw all his swords online at half of what he claimed was his buying price! And this is after he discounted his swords 60% off retail!!!

Ignorant "cutlery" dealers should either be:

1: Educated

-or-

2: Drawn & quartered

Sadly, most of these maggots are neither...
 
I have had that same experience twice and both times the guy at the booth got upset. First time I was carrying a Boker Congress that was SCARRY sharp and the last time was about a month ago and I had my R. Bose Back Pocket loaded w/52100..The Bose is scalpel Sharp, thin grind and could split a hair. Of course my little Gents knife in D2 would do the same..Just wish it was a Wharncliffe instead of a clip..I think for the average guy who just wants to cut a box open these type sharpeners are fine..but I still like to free hand. I also had a guy at work bet me a steak dinner he could get a better edge with a "clamp type" sharpener. That was one tasty steak ;)..but now I have to sharpen all his knives before he goes hunting.

Stay Sharp,

Randy
 
i cant stand thoes sharpeners. my bro in law used one on a knife of mine that i loaned him. needless to say that was the last time i loaned him a knife. it looked like he was draw filing the edge with the coarsest file he could find. he showed me the sharpener and the carbide cutters had chips in them. it still makes me mad to this day, it took quite a bit of life out of the blade to get rid of the grooves he put in the blade. (but what can you expect from someone who works on a live electric barb wire fence while its on wearing leather gloves with holes in them. it was so funny watching a 6'6 guy jumping in the air trying not to touch the ground while trying to unhook the fence from his glove:D)
 
Let’s see if we can find the right forum …
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Cougar Allen,

Sorry, I thought this was more of a general discussion topic because I wasn't asking about sharpening. It was more about "what happened to me last weekend in knife-related issues".

Jon,

Didn't pick up anything. Knives were overpriced and I wasn't prepared to gun shop. I was acting as a offical advisor for my friends because they can't tell the difference between a piece of crap pistol and Wilson Combat. They went to handle the guns and they're going to buy online. The price difference on the Taurus snub nose .357 was too big.

Garage Boy,

It was one of the pull through things. Sorry, I wasn't sure how to describe it. Sharpmakers are great in my book. I learned how to sharpen on them originally, they acted like training wheels.
 
I wish I had the skill to do freehand. I do okay on most blades, but the chisel grind knives are somei I still haven't masteted.

As for carbide sharpeners, I've found only one use for them. l quickly put an edge on a single-edged S&W black boot knife (the standard comes w/double-edged blade). Then I sharpened it the standard way. Other than sharpening my wife's cheap kitchen knives thy have no use whatsoever.
 
a set of cardboard wheels cant be beat for speed and consistency when you learn how to use them. it doesnt take but minute to work up a burr and less time to remove it. the knife my bro in law screwed up was an uncle henry steelhead. it took a few sharpenings to get past the grooves gouged into the sides of the edge. they are perfect for chisel ground knives too. the last one i made has an edge that slices through newspaper easily.
 
good to see there are still a few people that know how to freehand. ouch a carbide sharpener is about the worst think you can do to a knife
 
I was forced by my boss to sit through a Cutco demonstration (We were in need of new kitchen knives in the food company R&D lab I manage part of). The little lady got to the "cut through leather" demonstration of their "Double D" serrations and she asked if anyone had a knife on them and wanted to try it first. I pulled out my Benchmade AFCK (ATS34) and neatly sliced through the leather in one draw. She was flabbergasted and didn't know what to say next because the script says something like, "see, a non-serrated blade can't do what the Double D grind can". We didn't buy any Cutco knives. My boss let me buy some Forschner knives and a stone – I do the sharpening and nobody complains about dull knives.
 
bruce said:
I was forced by my boss to sit through a Cutco demonstration (We were in need of new kitchen knives in the food company R&D lab I manage part of). The little lady got to the "cut through leather" demonstration of their "Double D" serrations and she asked if anyone had a knife on them and wanted to try it first. I pulled out my Benchmade AFCK (ATS34) and neatly sliced through the leather in one draw. She was flabbergasted and didn't know what to say next because the script says something like, "see, a non-serrated blade can't do what the Double D grind can". We didn't buy any Cutco knives. My boss let me buy some Forschner knives and a stone – I do the sharpening and nobody complains about dull knives.
Click to expand...

Now that's what I'm talkin about:thumbup::D.
 
hehehe Outstanding!

Just coincidently, I attended a gun/knife show in my neck of the woods this weekend. The guy at my favorite booth was the opposite of your guy, Kaizen. He admired my Barkies and loved the convex edges. The second day, I took in my RAT-3 in D2 that I was telling him about. I told I could get it sharp, but not like I wanted. He says, "let me see it"

Using a fine Arkansas and a strop, he put a sweet little edge on that knife. I gladly gave him $4. I feel confident sharpening knives now, but I still consider myself a rookie. But I know enough to be able to recognize that this fellow was an expert....he knew what he was doing.
 
best I can figure, he means resting the blade on its edge on whatever display it's on. could be repeated edge contact from picking up/putting down, moisture, maybe galvanic corrosion, or perhaps something else.
 
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