What's the point in buying expensive traditional knives if you can't sharpen them?

C

cards94

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Jul 23, 2013
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Just curious what you all think. If someone isn't good at sharpening knives, why spend more than $50, $75, or more than $100 on a knife? Until you become proficient in the art of sharpening, stick with the cheaper ones.:p
 
Not sure that there's a correct answer but I'd think you would buy a more expensive knife just simply because you like it for many different reasons...covers, blade shape, limited quantities?

Hopefully it arrives sharp enough so one can enjoy and use ot until it dulls. Like you said buy/use an inexpensive knife until you become proficient with sharpening yourself but there are many that either send their knife to an experienced knife sharpener here on the forum or back to the factory from which it was purchased if the manufacturer offers a sharpening service.

This is all foreign to me as I've been sharpening knives free hand since I was about ten;)
 
I suppose if you can afford an expensive knife, you can afford to pay someone to sharpen it for you. :rolleyes: Also, some people just buy to collect, not use, so sharpening isn't an issue for them.
 
I buy to collect and use, and the first thing that goes through my mind before I drop more then 50 bucks on a knife is:
"Okay, how am I gonna sharpen that?" I just sort of consider knives to be tools, as well as works of art.
 
Sharpening takes some practice; with patience, I imagine anyone can learn to restore the edge on a knife. I free-hand too; it took some practice, but it was not so hard to learn... Especially when one cares about knifes. It seems that if knife collecting and using is one's passion, learning to sharpen/ hone a knife comes with the territory. So, buy what you like and practice sharpening... And enjoy every second of it!
 
I feel,no matter what the price of the knife,type,even,if you're a knife owner,you should know how to sharpen a knife.
The expensive custom folders I own & use,have a thin grind,and a good HT. The amount of use they see,is never enough that I can't simply strop them or a quick touch up on a stone,pretty effortlessly.

Improperly ground blades (too thick at the edge) with high Rc. , will give even an experienced knife sharpener a run for his money,once that knife is dull. The edge geometry is off
 
Who said anything about sharpening? When a knife gets dull, just buy a new one.:p
 
I guess if you have the money than it really doesn't matter whether you can sharpen or not. I've been thinking about this more recently though since I've been looking at alot of used older knives online and cheap. If someone like myself doesn't have money to blow, or wants to save for the future while enjoying a hobby, it just seems like it's a better idea to look at the older, used, but usable knives that are available online. Than when you get better at sharpening I can start to buy a few new more expensive ones.
 
Buy one inexpensive 1095 knife (like a well used but reasonably full bladed 34OT) and a cheap stainless knife (like a Rough Rider) and practice sharpening on them. There are subtle differences in sharpening SS and Carbon. Go ahead and get your more expensive traditional you really want, and enjoy it "as is" until you learn to sharpen on the cheapos. Then you will be good to go.
 
I didn't get serious about sharpening, until reaching a point where I decided not to spend so much $$$ on buying new knives. By that time, I'd purchased a couple-or-three hundred of them, in a wide assortment of blade steels, from 1095 to S90V including customs and high-end production knives at $200-$500 each, and most anything in between. I had to figure out a way to maintain my interest in the hobby without spending too much additional cash, and I had a ready-made inventory of blades on which to practice; it was a no-brainer what to do next. In retrospect, I'm glad it worked out that way, as I learned a TON about different steels, and what's needed to sharpen them most efficiently. My hands have also learned a priceless skill, one that I'd only dreamed of over many decades' time, and once thought I'd never learn. I think this is what was meant to be, looking back on it. :)


David
 
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Bjoern said:
i second that, thats why i like carbon steel and really dislike recurved blades
Click to expand...

I agree, but especially your comment on recurved blades. What a bizarre fad. It is like buying a very badly worn, badly sharpened knife NEW. Whut?!!!
 
Knife ownership and learning how to take care of and use properly use them all go hand in hand. I have a 50/50 split on knives that never get used for resale purposes and collectability and pure users. I can maintain any steel that I have come in contact with but the best steel for a guy who has bad or limited sharpening skills is good ole 1095 . 1095 if done right has a super fine edge and on a traditional should be easy to learn how to sharpen.

Like posted above stropping is probably the easiest way to maintain a knife. Easily made and easy to learn how to do. Just never let it get dull to begin with. That's the way it should be done. And a lot more efficient.
 
Moving to Maintenance. The topic applies to all knives, not just traditional patterns.
 
If it can be made, it can be sharpened.

It does not matter if it is a recurved blade, a serrated blade, or a straight edged blade. Expensive or inexpensive. No matter what knives we like, we should all walk the path to sharper horizons.

Sharper is better.
 
If you don't over think this there are all sorts of good sharpening aids out there. I have never needed one of the really expensive sharpeners so I haven't used them. The really cheap ones with preset angles are the ones I have used that really work very good. I have also always used free hand, but the only way I can free hand a knife edge is to move the stone over the knife not the usual other way around. It takes a lot of practice, get a sharpie & mark the cutting edge, then go to work on it with a stone. Use a cheap knife to practice on.
 
Not knowing how to sharpen a knife is like not knowing how to put gas in your car.
 
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