Un-Sharpable knives ???

I

inkncraig

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Aug 24, 2014
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So I went over to a friends house and was going to sharpen his knives. They we very dull. So I went through two of them. I brought a medium India stone. Hard Arkansas stone, and a ceramic rod. I was able to shave hair off the arm with one and the other just wouldn't take an edge. The stones are flat.
I have USA and euro steel at my house and they taken edges real well and keep them.
He has cuisine art kniVes. I think the steel just is just inferior
Any ideas ?
 
The one that couldn't take an edge...were you getting out to the edge of the edge with you stock removal? Check your line with a sharpie.

Apart from that, you might find that the steel is so soft that you're left with a burr despite many sets of alternating side passes. In that case, use less pressure and more strokes.
 
Use a coarse stone. Even low grade steel will take an edge, even if it doesn't hold well. Sharpened many no name knives in the kitchen.
 
I have a Gerber Gator that was sharp from the factory but once it needed sharpening I could not for the life if me get it sharp again. I can usually get e decent edge in any knife with a little patience but that Gerber got mediocre at best even with my best efforts so I feel your frustration.
 
Yep. I get it. I'm flummoxed with one particular knife I own.

It's a real sharpening mystery. The knife is a rather nice and fairly expensive German-made Bulldog Cutlery Stockman pattern. It's a good looking knife with stag grips and etched non-stainless carbon steel blades. It wasn't very sharp when new but I'm not new to sharpening knives so I had no concerns about it. That changed fairly soon.

The sheepsfoot and spey blades can take on a screamin' sharp edge. But there is about 25% of the main clip blade just above the tang that will not get decently sharp no matter how I work at it. I've tried resetting the bevel at 15 degrees per side and microbevel at 20 degrees to no avail. I used a Sharpmaker from diamond through ultra fine rods, followed by a leather strop with green compound. This always gets my knives as sharp as I ever need them and it's been my normal procedure for a while. Doesn't work on the small section of that Bulldog's blade. The rest of the blade sharpens perfectly. Working specifically on that small section of the blade alone never accomplishes anything. I've also tried freehand with Arkansas oil stones, DMT diamond stones and medium and fine Spyderco ceramic bench stones. None of this will sharpen that last 1/4 of the blade.

So, yeah, I do understand the frustration of having a knife that will not sharpen.
 
One way to absolutely KNOW if the steel is truly bad or 'unsharpenable', is to take the edge angle very LOW, finishing at near-mirror* or better with extremely light pressure (*coarser finishing will destroy a very thin & soft edge on the hones). I've frequently been surprised at the fine edges taken by what I assumed to be 'bad' steel (disregarding whether they hold it or not, which is a different issue). Even with very soft steels, such as found on many no-name imported kitchen knives, the steel will usually take very fine, thin edges (but they fold if you look at them wrong). The very first tree-topping edge I ever made was on such a blade, though it was too thin to be durable for even simple kitchen chores. At more typical sharpening angles (30-40° inclusive), some very soft blades will produce tenacious burrs which immediately fold over and leave the impression the edge is never getting apexed fully.

The ONE blade I've ever seen, that simply wouldn't sharpen at all, was on an imported mini 'multi-tool' I bought at a sporting goods outlet for ~ $5 or so. The edge on it's tiny blade would simply crumble into dust at the nearest hint of an apex, when rubbing the edge with my fingertip. Didn't take long to see something seriously wrong in that one.


David
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
One way to absolutely KNOW if the steel is truly bad or 'unsharpenable', is to take the edge angle very LOW, finishing at near-mirror* or better with extremely light pressure (*coarser finishing will destroy a very thin & soft edge on the hones). I've frequently been surprised at the fine edges taken by what I assumed to be 'bad' steel (disregarding whether they hold it or not, which is a different issue). Even with very soft steels, such as found on many no-name imported kitchen knives, the steel will usually take very fine, thin edges (but they fold if you look at them wrong). The very first tree-topping edge I ever made was on such a blade, though it was too thin to be durable for even simple kitchen chores. At more typical sharpening angles (30-40° inclusive), some very soft blades will produce tenacious burrs which immediately fold over and leave the impression the edge is never getting apexed fully.

The ONE blade I've ever seen, that simply wouldn't sharpen at all, was on an imported mini 'multi-tool' I bought at a sporting goods outlet for ~ $5 or so. The edge on it's tiny blade would simply crumble into dust at the nearest hint of an apex, when rubbing the edge with my fingertip. Didn't take long to see something seriously wrong in that one.


David
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Literally LOL'ing at this; I love sharpening inexpensive knives just to see the results. Sometimes, it's either good or bad... :foot:;):D Mystery stainless is a treat. :rolleyes:
 
If the knives in question are "Pakistan" steel and made there, then the best thing is to not waste time or energy or supplies on trying to make a "silk purse" from a sow's ear.:D
Just my experience and opinion.

Have a Blessed day!

Omar
 
OHALLUM said:
If the knives in question are "Pakistan" steel and made there, then the best thing is to not waste time or energy or supplies on trying to make a "silk purse" from a sow's ear.:D
Just my experience and opinion.

Have a Blessed day!

Omar
Click to expand...

"Steel"

If your having a hard time keeping the edge on the knife , lets say it disappears after a couple cuts on paper , then I would bump up the geometry. All my customers mystery steels now get 20DPS because I got tired of trying to find the sweet spot for every single junk knife that comes through my door.
 
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