Why is my Custom Knife not sharp?

Jon E Walker

Jon E Walker

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Not picking on any specific maker. But why would a person spend time making a knife for sale to customers, and not sharpen it? What am I missing? Knives are cutting instruments by design. Isn't a sharp knife the first priority? I have bought more than a few Custom knives that are not even reasonably sharp. Would you make a gun that doesn't shoot? A lighter that doesn't light? A heater that doesn't heat?
Why a cutting tool that doesn't cut?
 
Dunno. Maybe because some knives are bought for collections only and wont be used
The custom knives Ive had made all came sharp. They are users.
 
I will start by saying that I agree with you 100%. The probable excuses might be
a.) They are "Art" knives and too valuable to use so why sharpen?
b.) I don't buy this but the maker might say that he will leave the angle of the edge to the customer. This sounds stupid as I write it but a maker might use it as an excuse.
c.) Somehow an unsharpened knife is more mint than one that has been sharpened. During the OJ trial there was evidence that at some point he had bought a new knife (a Fox??) and the owner of the knife shop sharpened it for him. Maybe having an unsharpened knife is like having a blade with the box and papers.
Those are just 3 theories for the reason the knives are unsharpened. I find all three kind of lame, but that's just me. I want even my safe queen's sharp.
 
betover said:
b.) I don't buy this but the maker might say that he will leave the angle of the edge to the customer. This sounds stupid as I write it but a maker might use it as an excuse.
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This was the first thing I thought of too, but you'd think the maker would make that clear to the buyer
 
If you do ask the maker (and I hope you do) please let us know what he said. "Inquiring minds want to know". ;)
 
In one noteworthy case here, it was the genius customer who didn't realize that the custom dagger he ordered was probably not going to be winning any Bladesports cutting competitions, and that was hardly the maker's fault.
 
Name the makers. Maybe this is common laziness. Alot of makers just want to get paid and care less about much else. Some are just too new and don't get it.
 
I have had more than one supposed "custom " knife arrive with an edge bevel but not sharp enough to cut paper. sent them back to the maker at my cost and they came back again with a quick sloppy "touchup" from a Spyderco sharpener. something I could have done better myself

when this happens I make a note to never do business with that place again.

The only reason I can come up with that doesn't smack of BS is laziness and the I don't give a crap attitude cause Im so important and famous now.
 
I am not a sharpening fanatic and sharp is sharp enough. If it needs a little work to make it how I prefer, I am fine with that. I did however receive one that is duller than my butter knives. My gut says there is some reason that makers may be sending them out like this and would be interested to hear some makers chime in. Being the last thing to do they may just forget it, but seems that is a poor end to a lot of hard work.
Makers however are not necessarily going to put the edge you want-that is an opinion as to how the edge should be and varies person to person.
 
Most of the makers that I have asked have said that they thought it was sharp and I could send it back to be re-sharpened. Now to clarify, I am not looking for Zen level sharpness just enough to cut my steak cleanly. Also, I am no sharp fanatic either and am pretty terrible at sharpening knives. However, with some effort, I can usually achieve a decent level of sharpness out of most blades without getting carried away.
The sad part is that I can buy a $12.50 Cold Steel Roach Belly, and shave my beard off with it. It just baffles me that a person would put in all the effort to make a custom blade and leave it butter knife dull. I don't make knives, and it looks like hard work, but if I did, you can bet it would be shaving sharp when my customer received it.
I would like to hear from some makers, if they care to respond.
 
Jon E Walker said:
Most of the makers that I have asked have said that they thought it was sharp and I could send it back
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Not sure I understand. Are you saying other makers said THIS discussion knife was sharp or THEIR knives are sharp? :confused: I would be disappointed with a dull production knife; very upset with a dull custom. :mad:
 
Katanas. To clarify, twice (two separate) makers that I have bought knives from, when I asked about the sharpness or lack there of, have (matter of fact, maybe apologetically) replied that they thought the knife they sent me was sharp. They sounded surprised and offered to re-sharpen if I returned the knife. Didn't offer to pay postage though.
Needless to say, I didn't return the knife, nor bother buying from them again.
 
Jon, I hope these makers were not BF members. :( My customs, from around 5 different makers, were all sharp, some better than others but definitely sharp. :thumbsup: I wish I knew (from you) who these makers were so I could either avoid them or make sure I told them I wanted a SHARP knife. ;) I recently asked a maker if he could make the blade very sharp (no offense, but perhaps you should be doing that by now) and his answer was "I'll do the best I can"-NO SALE! :rolleyes:
 
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I've only bought 4 or 5 customs but they all came very sharp. Just got a B&T from Daado on the Makers Sale subforum and it was hair popping sharp in 52100.--KV
 
There are a few custom makers who sell knives that are NOT particularly sharp. They defend that fact...saying that the later "purpose" of the knife is not known...and therefore wish to leave the final included angle (and degree of sharpness) up to the new owner. In their eyes, a knife destined for heavy-duty use in the bush will likely have an included angle and edge which is vastly different than than the same knife carried casually for slicing an apple...
...and I'm speaking of one or more brands (fixed blades) that come with a price tag in excess of $300.
 
Jon E Walker said:
Not picking on any specific maker. But why would a person spend time making a knife for sale to customers, and not sharpen it? What am I missing? Knives are cutting instruments by design. Isn't a sharp knife the first priority? I have bought more than a few Custom knives that are not even reasonably sharp. Would you make a gun that doesn't shoot? A lighter that doesn't light? A heater that doesn't heat?
Why a cutting tool that doesn't cut?
Click to expand...

Knife making is actually a subset of different skills. Some makers are amazing at any number of those but not very good at sharpening.
 
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