Knifemen, knifewomen, downvoters, upvoters, it’s time to update you on the salvation of this kitchen knife. Mr. McKay, based knife sharpener, did the best he could do to restore the edge to something like symmetry. I expected a salty comment or two on the topic when I picked it up, however, he did not offer any, only a pitying silence as he gave me a meticulously handwritten receipt. Yet, his silence was full of kindness. Cost: $4.00 USD Many have asked, how did I achieve the ragged edge seen in my previous post? I wish I had a better answer for you, except that I used a shitty Coghlan’s sharpener that was probably full of metal filings and dirt. That one is going in the trash. Any suggestions for buying a beginner’s sharpener for $30.00 or $40.00 ? I don’t know how to use a file or a stone.
No judgement from me. Nothing wrong with using a tool as a tool.
This knife does need more repair if it’s going to be effectively and consistently sharpened. The blade profile needs to be flattened, which can be done on a brick or cinderblock. Is that something you’d be interested in doing yourself? It’s simple but somewhat laborious. Then the cutting bevel needs to be reestablished.
As is the smaller pocket knife guided solutions (Lansky, Sharpmaker, the like) will really struggle. A cheap pull through from an outdoor goods store would actually follow that bevel better, though it would further exacerbate the profile issues. After the edge is flat those guided solutions are okay, but they would take a long time to set a bevel.
The easiest and sadly cheapest option is to buy a new knife. On the affordable end, the Kiwi knives out of Thailand are cheap and fun. Then probably some of the budget Henckels knives, I don’t keep track of those, or maybe a Dexter Russell. Then a Victorinox santoku. IKEA has some knives I like, too, very affordable, including a small wood handled chef knife (Vardagen apparently) that is similar to a cheap Sabatier I own. I like the Sabatier so much I rehandled it and it’s my primary home knife, over knives that cost twenty times as much, because it’s a great size. Maybe even a small slicer, utility, or boning knife if you usually just slice things.
If you just want to be able to slice, and rocking and push cuts aren’t a concern, you could also maintain this on a ceramic honing rod. That isn’t full sharpening but would work for a while. The unglazed bottom of a ceramic cup is similarly effective but finicky.
I will say I’ve seen worse. My grandmother sharpened her knives on a can opener. I could fix your knife, and do fix similar issues for pretty much anyone because I like making cooking easier for people. There isn’t enough left of hers to fix.
How do I learn to reprofile it with a cinder block or brick? Would watching videos be enough? I have little to lose at this point.
Yes, it’s very simple. After that you would need to fully sharpen the knife. That could be with a stone or maybe the Scary Sharp Method if you’re okay with scratching up the face.
I’ll try to find one today. Failing that I’ll record one.
Edit: Here’s a good sandpaper sharpening tutorial. You would not want to form a full burr on both sides of the knife after fully grinding in a new edge profile, you’d want to alternate sides to avoid sharpening one side too deeply given that you’d be forming the cutting bevel. https://youtu.be/GqYfDnEHpTQ
I do think you should seriously consider letting u/dual_sport_dork do it. I would also do it, but I recognize it’s weird to send things you need to random strangers on the internet.
And let Captain Anonymous over here (to the extent that I wear gloves in all of my photos/videos with my hands in view, you will notice) tell you all about how it feels having my return address on every parcel I send from my store…
Thanks for the offer, it’s not so much sending a knife that is really not worth anything, that’s not much trouble, it’s the cost of your time to fix it.
District Cutlery did a shockingly good demo of what needs to be done here:
https://youtu.be/fdB8M7h___E
Very similar to my own process. Don’t worry about the thinning yet.
Your knife has a frown, rather than a smile, but the solution is the same. The edge needs to be ground straight into an abrasive until the profile is flat at the heel and sweeps up evenly to the tip. Without a power tool that means sawing the knife into the abrasive, back and forth. Laborious but simple. Then the knife needs to be sharpened.
With this sort of repair work it helps to mark the desired profile with a sharpie before starting, to avoid overshooting.
This is a task where a good sharpening stone won’t do, it gouges the stone. Bricks are cheap and surprisingly abrasive. It’ll gouge the brick, too, but that’s fine.
——
I would consider my time very well spent doing this.
I sharpen around thirty knives a year that aren’t mine and I refuse to commoditize my every breathing moment. I have never asked for a penny for sharpening, it’s pure love of the game.
How I sharpen is also tbh not a great business model, which makes having a moral stance a lot easier.
Indeed, generally my method is to show up somewhere with my Ruixin and all my stones like Timothy Leary and his kit in Fear and Loathing, and start taking knives off of people. “Anybody want
some LSDtheir knife sharpened? I got all the makings right here. All I need isa place to cooksomewhere to clamp my jig.”I generally don’t want people’s instruction on how a knife ought to be sharpened. I take reasonable user input based on how something will be used, but if I think it should get a highly polished edge, or a hungry 800 grit edge, or even to leave a chip to save the grind, I’m not inclined to spend a lot of time doing otherwise. I collaborate on a lot of things, when I’m sharpening I like doing things my way.
I also don’t really want more deadlines. If I’m busy I like being able to tell people I don’t have time, which I could not do as a business.