What ruins most knives?

D

DocGP

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Feb 22, 2009
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Before the world of internet destruction testing that is :D

I look back at my own humble experience. I have an old box full of my fathers knives (and a few of my grandfathers knives). They were Buck knife fans. They were endlessly fussing about how brittle the edge on "New" knives were, but invariably, when I look at the blades that have been handed down to me, they flat ground them from the top of the blade to the edge. In my mind, totally ruining the edge geometry, and making it much too thin. I can remember, as a child, watching dad pick up a brand new knife that would shave, and flat grinding it down to a super sharp, super thin edge. I remember being impressed with how sharp they were, but I had no knowledge of edges. Dad has long since passed away, but I still have the old knives.

Since I have started carrying my own knives, I have never sharpened one down to where it really looks worn. Touch up on ceramic, maybe a strop or steel.

Anyhow, in my experience, we have ruined many many more knives due to terrible sharpening technique than anything else.

What say you? When using proper technique, shouldn't most knives last a lifetime?

Doc
 
err

bad sharpening will kill a knife I agree

SOME knives will last a lifetime with proper use
 
I've got a Sheffield Steel chef's knife that I've been kicking the crap out of for 12 years or so now. I regret never putting this to a stone like I have with my other knives, only used a diamond steel to maintain. Now it looks like a Kershaw with a massive recurve blade. It can be fixed, but at the moment I'd say it looks "ruined".
 
Throwing knives at tree stumps usually ruins them.

On a more serious note, taking it to a grinder and letting the edge heat up can ruin a knife. Gotta take it slow and careful.
 
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I have a Buck Cadet slippie that I recently replaced. Why? Because it lived in my pocket and got daily use, which meant it required re-sharpening. How much? Well, 35 - 40 years worth of re-sharpening. Blade finally got worn down to the point it was more of a spike than a blade. I guess you could say that sharpening ruined the blade, but I think any blade would be ruined by over thirty years of sharpening, no matter how careful you are. I have to say that I got my money's worth out of that knife, and the new one should outlast me.
 
Your father and grandfather were right. The factory grind on the old Buck knives were too thick. Back in 2000 Buck ran tests and polled customers and thinned-down their blade grind. They called it "Edge 2000". Buck knives are not intended for chopping down trees. They are intended to cut things. For that thinner is better, particularly for hunting. If you have to flat grind a blade to get there, so be it. Tom Krein has a major sideline business doing flat grinds on blades. Back in the 1960's (as a teen) I used to make pocket change hollow grinding switchblades. It was quite an art to do it on a kriss style serpentine blade.

In all my experience of thinning down blades I only had a few of the absolute cheapest soft foreign blades suffer damage simply from being ground too acute. I am talking about Pakistani stuff worse than you've probably ever seen. I have flat ground throwing knives and not had them take appreciably greater edge damage than with the stock edgeless profile.

What mostly ruins knives are an idiot with a grinder, hammering on them, or throwing them at hard targets over cement floors. I have done all of those things.
 
If a knife lasts a lifetime it has not been used very much or maintained optimally. For a knife that I carry all of the time it lasts 5 to 10 years before it is sufficiently worn down so that I want to replace it. Usually I replace them about every 5 years and they become backup. Frequently they get confiscated at some security screening before I am really done with them. The last ones got confiscated at the entrance to a McCain-Palin rally in Colorado Springs. I lost my SAK and the Sebertool from my keychain to insure that I didn't try and hijack the crowd of 5,000 off the runway tarmack.
 
mumblely peg, prying open paint cans, chopping cement blocks, mall ninjas, home grinders, bone, safes...
 
Come to think of it, stupidity ruins an awful lot of knives. People don't think before using it the wrong way.
 
I am a diehard fixed blade fan, even for EDC. Moving parts = failure, as far as that goes. Some folders are designed well and can resist it but it will happen eventually, especially for survival use. Negligence to maintain the blade and the action is the number one biggest killer for knives. The other part dawson bob hit the nail on the head with-people abusing their knives, being unnecessarily rough with them.
 
I've seen plenty of knives with broken tips or snapped blades so I would guess prying would be near the top.
 
Leatherface said:
bad sharpening will kill a knife
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Even good sharpening will kill a knife over time. Better edge retention steels allow for longer lasting knives though.

CWL said:
I've seen plenty of knives with broken tips or snapped blades so I would guess prying would be near the top.
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Still, one of the purposes of a knife is light prying. If the tip breaks off while prying open a beer bottle cap, then the blade is simply way too brittle.

IMHO a knife that lasts more than 10 years means that it simply hasn't been used enough.
 
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Stupid People ruin most knives...
To be serious..
I would say ..
Improper sharpening is the fastest way...
And battoning when it comes to folders..
 
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Using a knife instead of the proper tool for what you are doing.

Its not a hammer.
its not a screwdriver.
Its not a pry-bar.
Its not a scraper.

Its a knife and its made to cut.
 
If the tip breaks off while prying open a beer bottle cap, then the blade is simply way too brittle.
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Why would you need the tip to pry off a beer bottlecap?

I have popped prolly cases of beer with the bolster of my folder, keys, bic lighter, windowsill (not my home), as well as a traditional bottle opener.

How would you even use a knife tip to pop a beer? :confused:
 
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