When do you call it quits on a knife?

[CrimsonTideShooter]

That's a well loved blade Jim! I'd say (without measuring of course) you have taken a little over a 1/16 more than I have. Do you still use the knife or did you retire it?

I am just going to continue carrying it I guess. It just kills me to see the stubby blade. Haha

Mine is getting pretty worn also, so I dunno....

 

[Ankerson]

That's a well loved blade Jim! I'd say (without measuring of course) you have taken a little over a 1/16 more than I have. Do you still use the knife or did you retire it?

I am just going to continue carrying it I guess. It just kills me to see the stubby blade. Haha

I still use it John, carried it to work last night.

I figure one more time thinning it out and that will be it, time to retire it. :thumbup:

 

[RevDevil]

I did maintain a sub 20 degree inclusive edge on it for a while, and to keep it hair whittling I was touching it up fairly regularly. I use a 30 degree edge with a 40 micro bevel now. I dropped it and broke the tip off about 6 months ago. Had to grind away a lot of steel to get my nice point back. That's where a lot of the wear came from. I hate I had to do it, but I hate a blunt tip even more. Lol.

That drop is what did it in, stuff happens though. I'd keep on using it, I too originally had 3 of them. I sold one and have 2 with the one user. Blunt tips don't do anyone much good. Keep up the microbevel and it should last a few more years with moderate use.

 

[Chris "Anagarika"]

Ankerson,

That blade still has usable length. Why would you retire it?

Having said that, I' be happy to take on the 'retired' one
Getting a Spyderco down here without inflated (2-3 times online) price is almost impossible

CTS,

I'd never retire any unless it's broken or unsafe to use. Bent the tip on my EDC's and repofile them all.

Especially the Navy, it's 1/8th inch shorter than the backup (NIB), and thinned down a lot as well

 

[mesoscopic]

The time when I decide to retire or mothball a knife is when one of its clip screws are missing, or its handle are dinged up and lost its black anodizing and when there is obvious vertical and horizontal blade play. I keep a such a knife for occasional handling and cleaning.

IMO, I wouldn't want to wear out a knife unnecessarily, be its edge, washers, handle, screws etc as I want my knives to be in working condition for as long as possible.

 

[CrimsonTideShooter]

That drop is what did it in, stuff happens though. I'd keep on using it, I too originally had 3 of them. I sold one and have 2 with the one user. Blunt tips don't do anyone much good. Keep up the microbevel and it should last a few more years with moderate use.

I have adopted a micro bevel on most all of my well used knives. Does the micro bevel really help that much in longevity?

It makes sense. The amount of steel you need to remove to get that razor sharp edge back is infinitesimal. Do you use a micro bevel on most of your knives?

I apologize if I am asking a lot of questions.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

I've gotten a blade straight from Spyderco with that much of the blade removed. If it can be sold as a new knife I'm sure it can still be used. A narrow blade doesn't hurt much and if you send it to Spyderco they might be willing to thin it out so its not real thick behind the edge.

I still think it is a result of excessive sharpening. More frequent honing to refine the edge instead of frequent sharpening should prolong blade life. A strop or ultra fine stone is going to remove very little steel.

 

[Chris "Anagarika"]

CTS,
I do micro them, only because the steel won't hold up to the thinned down angle.

 

[matt1987]

This Buck was my EDC for the longest time...... The main blade was a clip point....once. The only reason I stopped using it was in case I lost it (has sentimental value).

When a knife looks something like this it's about the right time to retire it. Sadly, I could never keep a knife long enough to make it look this cool.:thumbup:

 

[RevDevil]

I think it does help, it really allows a quick touch up and remains very sharp. I've taken to using my EP less and less in favor of the sharpmaker. It keeps my knives pretty dang sharp once the initial edge is set. Give it a shot with the stones, you seem to have gotten the hang of them pretty well. You could hit the ideal angle in a matter of seconds. Granted, I practiced on a 154CM MiniGrip before going to town on the S90V Para. Needed a confidence booster

 

[unit]

My grandfather had some depression-era kitchen knives that he must have sharpened regularly on a bench grinder. They got passed on to my mother who still uses some of them. One in particularly looks like a ~6 inch long fillet knife based on its shape, but it is fairly thick carbon steel....I would guess it started out a few inches longer and with a much thicker profile.

As far as giving up on it...Probably never. I hope she passes this and the others to me someday. I will (occasionally) use them as long as they can be sharpened (even if I have to struggle through the job just to use them...and recall some good memories in the process).

 

[The Government]

Answer: When the tip/ edge of the blade is sharpened (raised) to the point where it is no longer covered by the handles when closed.

I have never used a blade enough for that to happen, but I have seen countless retired traditional knives with this "well used" characteristic.

I am actually kind of envious of people who have such well used knives. Imagine how connected they are to it at that point.

As a knife collector/ accumulator I never have few enough knives to even put a dent on the edges (what with EDC rotation and all). I am not sure that I could ever sharpen down the entire collection without simply wasting the steel.

I have always wanted to be a "one knife guy" with a single well used blade...

Don't retire it yet, it is only now just starting to ripen. :thumbup:

 

[thatotherguy]

I have never worn a blade out. I use a loaded strop to touch up my edges after every day of use, and i have gone for as long as a year without actually touching the blade to stone.

 

[Chris "Anagarika"]

I also usually only strop them, as my usage is not heavy. Only go back to sandpaper or stone when they dull significantly and stropping doesn't help.

The last time I did this was when testing all 3 EDC against cardbiard like what Ankerson does
Boy, it's such edge eater

 

[Dorito Monk]

I have yet to 'retire' or 'call it quits' on a knife. I've lost some and broken one or two, but if a knife still works, I put it to work - regardless of how much of its blade has been sharpened away and how banged up it gets.

 

[yablanowitz]

Sounds like you need a less aggressive sharpening method. Ditch the power tools or don't work up such a big burr when sharpening. You also don't need it to whittle hair all the time if it is an EDC. Get used to working Sharp and only sharpen it once a month. Or if you have to have it shaving Sharp touch it up on a diamond loaded strop every day you use it.

I suspect you are using power equipment, like paper wheels, if you have ground off that much of such a high wear resistant steel like S90V.

Your suspicions are incorrect. I do not use power tools, but I do work for a living. You have no idea how many drywall repairs I've done with that knife, or how many linear feet of caulking I've removed from concrete, porcelin and ceramic tile, not to mention the plywood, OSB, Masonite, Vintex and mastic adhesive that I've cut with it. Only sharpen once a month? Dude, I might as well carry a butter knife. The things I do will dull an ordinary knife in minutes. I carry S90V, M390 and CPM M4 so I can make it to lunch before it is so dull I can't stand to use it anymore.

 

[upnorth]

Knives come, knives go. Some stay forever. A few years ago I gave many away and today let go of a J.A.B. Pot Belly. If bud has some such interesting bit for trade, fine. If not, fine, he can just keep it. Not that I disliked the knife, it's probably more effective than my BK-2. But I am very fond of the 2 and do not want\need one more heavier F.B. I just seem to go through purging periods.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

Your suspicions are incorrect. I do not use power tools, but I do work for a living. You have no idea how many drywall repairs I've done with that knife, or how many linear feet of caulking I've removed from concrete, porcelin and ceramic tile, not to mention the plywood, OSB, Masonite, Vintex and mastic adhesive that I've cut with it. Only sharpen once a month? Dude, I might as well carry a butter knife. The things I do will dull an ordinary knife in minutes. I carry S90V, M390 and CPM M4 so I can make it to lunch before it is so dull I can't stand to use it anymore.

I should have included quoted text since my post wasn't clear and I was directing that to the OP. From your posts I know you are a much heavier user than most. Most construction materials are abrasive and will dull anything quickly like you mention. But the average user doesn't subject their knives to that use.

Since you responded, and out of curiosity, how much edge have you removed from your heavy users?

I've taken about an 1/8" off a Spyderco Native in about 6 months using the slotted polishing wheel on a set of paper wheels. Since then I have been a lot more careful and aware of the wear I put on a blade during sharpening.

 

[Ankerson]

I've gotten a blade straight from Spyderco with that much of the blade removed. If it can be sold as a new knife I'm sure it can still be used. A narrow blade doesn't hurt much and if you send it to Spyderco they might be willing to thin it out so its not real thick behind the edge.

I still think it is a result of excessive sharpening. More frequent honing to refine the edge instead of frequent sharpening should prolong blade life. A strop or ultra fine stone is going to remove very little steel.

One can't strop out chips, dings and other damage that mine tend to see in my normal use at work so metal has to be removed, honing isn't an option.

Sharpen once a month?

Yeah right, they would be butter knife dull in a few days and or have so many dings in the edge they would look like a serriated blades.

Some of us use our blades harder than others, and we rotate them out to spread out the wear over more than one knife.

Not everyone just uses their knives to open mail or bags of chips every once in awhile.

 

[EZ Bake]

I have a much loved CF S90V Para 2 that I have carried extensively over the last year or so. I have 3 of these knives total, but the one I carry has a very noticeably shorter blade on it from sharpening.

I have sharpened away about 1/8 of an inch of blade. It still has a lot to go before it's completely gone, but seeing it so short bugs me. It makes me want to start carrying one of the NIB ones.

So that leads me to the question, when do you guys call it quits on a knife? Have you ever used a knife so much the blade was much shorter over the course of a few years? I am curious to see some of your knives and hear the answers.

If you call it quits on that CF Para - shoot me a PM. I'm looking to use an S90V Para 2 and I want to use it, so if someone else has already used it hard, I won't be worried about using it hard myself.