Victorinox blades dulling quickly?

Frailer said:
The blades of Victorinox knives are hardened to around 56 Rc, which they have deemed appropriate for everyday tasks while remaining easy to sharpen. Yes, this is softer than many modern knives.

For my part I like them this way. One of the jobs I had during college was cutting steaks for a popular restaurant, and the preferred knife for this task was a 10” Forschner (Victorinox) butcher knife. Its handiest feature was that a minute or two on a corundum stone at the beginning of a shift and a few touch ups on a steel would get you through a couple hundred pounds of sirloin roasts.

Since those days I’ve valued ease of sharpening over edge-holding (within reason). There is no place in my life for “supersteels.”

With that said, I can understand why others might want a knife they can use for weeks or months without sharpening.

Ain’t diversity great?
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That hits a very big and important nail on the head!

Yes, edge holding is nice, but its a fact of life, just as much as the sun rising in the east, that knife is going to be needing a sharpening. Sooner or later. I don't want to spend a lot of time trying to sharpen a knife out someplace, that needs special hones or a a lot of time to re-bevel the edge.

Like the old pocket knives of the 1930's and before, its a cutting tool that needs to be put back into work soon as possible. Some working guy on a job site, or soldier in the field, don't carry sharpening gear that is complex. A small pocket stone, maybe. I know I don't. Most of my fellow soldiers didn't. Old Schrade and Camillus, Victorinox, all touch up fast and easy with some minimal stone, coffee mug, piece of broken crockery, smooth river rock in a few minutes.

I've had a few of the higher end steels, and frankly, they were a giant PITA. Not worth it. I love SAK's, Schrade Old Timers, Imperials, and the other knives of the old days. Life is for living, not sitting there trying to sharpen a super steel. If my knife can't be sharpened up in a minute on the next coffee mug I drink, forget it. I ain't interested.
 
I don't take mine to the stone very often. Once I get a useable edge, I touch them up on a strop . . . OFTEN! Yes, they do dull quickly, but the strop usually does the job and keeps me from taking too much steel off.

And the Trekker / German Army Knife serrations take better to stropping than stones and sticks.

Zieg
 
gaj999 said:
I use shaving sharp to decide when to stop sharpening. If it won't shave arm hair, I keep at it. Once it shaves, I'm done unless I'm trying for tree-topping or hair-whittling sharp for some reason. Sometimes it's fun to do. Mostly it's not. Even freehand on a coarse stone, shaving sharp isn't at all difficult.



This is huge. Thick-ground edges and thick spines are a real pet peeve of mine. Traditionals are usually better than moderns in that department, and although certain mass producers do appear to put warranty costs above cutting performance, V'nox doesn't. I like that.
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I also use the 'shaving arm hair' method also to check when I've arrived at sharpness. Unlike trying to find some receipts lying around to test on, my arm is always there. :)
 
The Zieg said:
I don't take mine to the stone very often. Once I get a useable edge, I touch them up on a strop . . . OFTEN! Yes, they do dull quickly, but the strop usually does the job and keeps me from taking too much steel off.

And the Trekker / German Army Knife serrations take better to stropping than stones and sticks.

Zieg
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THIS!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Stropping often and sharpening less means a much longer lasting blade. Ive seen more knives worn out from over sharpening than real world wear. Every time you sharpen, you remove a bit of steel. A stropping with a SAK, either on the back cardboard of a legal pad or notebook, or a leather belt, will restore the edge somewhat. I know I sure as all heck have over sharpened in the past. When I was much younger and obsessed with he whole knife thing, I'd practically get an anxiety attack if my knife got less than shaving sharp. I'd go some cutting job, opening a box or cutting rope or something, and if it wouldn't shave arm hair anymore I'd pull out there sharpening gear and go to town until it would shave. Happily, I outgrew that obsession, but not before some of my knives had somewhat "narrower" blades.

My old man was a great teacher as well as a father. It was like growing with Sheriff Andy Taylor with a dash of Jethro Leroy Gibbs tossed in. One day I was obsessively sharpening my knife until it would shave. Dad came up, and asked quietly "Whata doin, kid?" and I told him my knife wouldn't shave anymore. He just walked off and I obsessively kept on sharpening on a fine stone. A few minutes later dad came back and gently smacked me on the back of the head, and tossed a piece of twine and a Gillette safety razor in my lap.

He told me to cut the twine with the razor. I looked at him baffled and he told me that the razor is for shaving and my pocket knife was for the twine, so cut the twine right now. I took my Camillus scout knife that I was unsatisfied with the non shaving edge and doubled over the twine and slipped the blade in the loop and pulled. It cut right through the twine like normal even though it wasn't shaving sharp. Dad had taught me a valuable lesson in his own way and it stayed with me all those years. I never again obsessed over my blade being shaving sharp again. If it will decently slice paper from a notepad or cut jute twine easy, its good enough to go through the day with. If I need to trim around the edges of my beard, I use a Bic razor.
 
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jackknife said:
The secret is don't polish the edges. I've used a corse edge from a silica stone or corse diamond hone and the edges last a lot longer. I haven't used a shaving edge for a long time now, as I fond for most field use, a real toothy edge works better on all kinds of cordage, fishing line, cloth, and food stuff. SAK steel works best toothy.
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Since reading your similar advice posted many moons ago, I've been trying your advice not only on my stainless pocket and fixed blade knives but also on the big kitchen slicer my wife loves to abuse. That sharpening works dandy and the edge holds up much better. Thank you.
 
While not a Victornox, I've been carrying an old Ulster Scout knife from the 60's or 70's lately, and find that the thin bladed single beveled awl is an amazing secondary cutting tool when it comes to plastic straps and clam packs. Saves a lot of wear and tear on the main blade.
 
Storm 8593 said:
Just make sure you don't sharpen too many at once or you'll be out of test material as it were
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I once managed to shave off a layer of skin when I had a blade sharp enough to tree-top hair. That certainly expands the amount of test material available. :) I'd use the cat, but I only have a total of four arms and legs available for my wife to break ... I'm not all that hairy and my arm hair is blonde, so not too many people notice that my right arm is much hairier than my left.
 
jackknife said:
It is an obsession, and kind of a silly one at that for a day to day utilitarian pocket knife. That adge you get off an India stone or diamond home is very similar to the edge you will get off the bottom of a coffee mug, smooth stone out of a creek, or the old fashioned "carborundum" stone like we had in the Boy Scouts. A good all purpose working edge.

Since very few of us are barbers, and the odds of having to shave with our knife is slim to none, a shaving edge is kind of silly, unless the whole act of sharpening in itself is your hobby. I've tried all kinds of mediums for the sharpening of knife blades, and found that a very good working edge is an easy thing to do with crude materials. IKEA soup bowls have a great ring on the bottom for meat carving edges, and any piece of broken flower pot will put an edge on that will slice right through jute twine and plastic blister packages.

Then time I had to actually really use a knife a real life or death emergency, it was a toothy edge on the sheepdog blade of a well used Buck 301 stockman. It cut a seat belt in an upside down old Datsun B210 that was boring. The rough course edge sawed right through the nylon webbing just fine.

Don't obsess. Life is too short.
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So true and well said. Do it like this guy.
 
I reprofile and sharpen all my SAK’s on a Sharpmaker and haven’t had any problems. In my opinion the fantastic blade geometry makes up for any lack of edge retention. I touch up my work knife every week and it just takes a few minutes to get it perfectly sharp. I also have to give Victorinox kudos for their nice even grinds.
 
Might have to give that a go on my farmer as I struggle to get to the same stage as on my thinner blade stock knives. Cheers for the tip:thumbsup:
 
Wowbagger said:
I'll try to find that Vid and post it later.
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Here you go.
Reprofile the very apex and put on a shallow grind. If it dents increase the sharpening micro bevel by one degree per side until it doesn't dent. As it comes from the factory though the sharpening bevels are like the second triangle in his example. Wide angle and dulls quickly even after making the edge crazy sharp.
Enjoy.
 
Victorinox knives hold edge just fine....and sharpen up easily,geometry cuts,not the latest steels and expensive stones,sil carbide norton is all you need,or dmt diamond coarse or medium...
 
In my book victorinox or opinel 12c28 m9d...does the job,have many more expensive knives in better steels,its not needed,i dont want to spend much time sharpening,for what...these knives sharpen on coffe mug,plate or on any stone,hold edge long enough and cost much less than other ones.They perform better than most knives with super steels because of geometry.
 
Seemed to hold up ok for me battling with mega fauna...

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I've been carrying a Victorinox SwissChamp for months now, one month of that in the field. The edge actually holds up quite well, if treated properly.

Like many here, I don't go too fine on my edges. I generally use an India stone to sharpen the blade at a 30 degree inclusive angle. Then I put on a 40 degree microbevel. The coarser finish cuts beautifully on everyday stuff, and I've found stainless steel in general to be fairly abrasion resistant, in comparison to common carbon steels. The fact that Victorinox grinds their knives fantastically thin, helps them to cut far longer than many other brands with similar steel. But many Case Tru-Sharp knives exhibit these same excellent characteristics, so it isn't just Victorinox.

The secret to working with softer stainless is to "steel" the knife ever now and then. More often than not, the edge doesn't become dull, but it deforms. You can feel it by running your finger down the edge bevel. You'll feel a catch on one side. Just use a sharpening steel such as a Schrade Old Timer Honesteel, or even the tiny Victorinox serrated steel that comes with many of their pouches. I used a Victorinox steel as my sole method of sharpening for my entire month in the mountains, and it performed admirably. I was never want for a sharpening stone in all that time. Heck, I bet you could find a very hard piece of wood to realign the edge in a pinch. Steeling a knife also hardly removes any steel at all from the blade, even on the serrated honing steels, so the blade will last a ton longer than continually sharpening it on a stone.

My bet is that people who successfully strop these knives are actually realigning the edges from the pressure applied to the strop, rather than merely polishing the edges.


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