03-03-2020, 11:31 PM
I was given a dozen knives to sharpen, 6 steak knives, 4 8” chef’s knives and a couple of shorter santoku. Nothing special, just average good quality knives. Except for one they were Henckels type variety with modern sealed mostly impervious to anything plastic like handles. You know the type.
One however had a wood handle. The handle was totally dried out and starting to show small cracks. The type of damage that occurs during the heat cycle in a dishwasher. I didn’t think to take a picture of it because it was just another knife. Nothing remarkable, just a wood handle knife. It looked exactly like this one I found on ebay.
I checked it out before I sharpened it and there were a number of small chips in the edge. The chips weren’t very big. I didn’t think much of it and went about sharpening with my usual method using a 150 grit Cubitron and deburred with a Scotch-Brite belt. When I was done I checked it out and the chips were still there. Crap!
So I reground the edge but the chips seemed to propagate. I couldn’t seem to grind away the little chips out of the edge. Very frustrating. So I reasoned that maybe the 150 grit was too coarse and switched to a used 180 grit Deer ceramic belt. For whatever reason that worked and removed the chips. Then I deburred as usual with the S-B belt. The blade was nice and sharp, well deburred and no doubt not bad at all.
But… the 180 grit belt that I used was pretty old and no longer really 180 grit. I imagined that that I was not giving the guy as toothy an edge as I would like. So, I started over and reground the edge with the 150 Cubitron. This time, for whatever reason it worked. No chipping.
I’m not sure what was happening with that blade, but I needed to get rid of the chips with a finer grit abrasive before I could grind with a 150 grit for a nice toothy edge. The steel didn’t seem particularly hard but it was prone to chipping. Live and learn I guess. I spent well over an hour on that knife. When I was done the sharpness ranged from 130-170 along the edge. Not as consistent as I would like, but plenty sharp enough and nice and toothy.
But I wasn’t done yet. It was a nice knife and it bothered me that the handle was so dry and starting to crack. I returned all the other knives but kept that one for two days. I gave he handle a good thick coat of a combination of mineral oil, carnauba and bee’s wax. Then put the knife over the heat register and let it all soak in for hours, wiped it clean and repeated the process. I did that 3 or 4 times over the two days. When done, the handle looked really nice and was in much better condition.
Unless it’s for a friend I actually charge for sharpening, but have no illusions about making any money doing. I do it for fun because I enjoy it. I charge $2.00 for less than 5” blades and jack the price up to a whopping $2.50 for > 5” blades, not counting really long blades like machetes. Over many years I’ve made just enough to pay for the Kally. What more could I ask?
Anyway, I think the guy got a good deal for $2.50. Hope you enjoyed the story.
One however had a wood handle. The handle was totally dried out and starting to show small cracks. The type of damage that occurs during the heat cycle in a dishwasher. I didn’t think to take a picture of it because it was just another knife. Nothing remarkable, just a wood handle knife. It looked exactly like this one I found on ebay.
I checked it out before I sharpened it and there were a number of small chips in the edge. The chips weren’t very big. I didn’t think much of it and went about sharpening with my usual method using a 150 grit Cubitron and deburred with a Scotch-Brite belt. When I was done I checked it out and the chips were still there. Crap!
So I reground the edge but the chips seemed to propagate. I couldn’t seem to grind away the little chips out of the edge. Very frustrating. So I reasoned that maybe the 150 grit was too coarse and switched to a used 180 grit Deer ceramic belt. For whatever reason that worked and removed the chips. Then I deburred as usual with the S-B belt. The blade was nice and sharp, well deburred and no doubt not bad at all.
But… the 180 grit belt that I used was pretty old and no longer really 180 grit. I imagined that that I was not giving the guy as toothy an edge as I would like. So, I started over and reground the edge with the 150 Cubitron. This time, for whatever reason it worked. No chipping.
I’m not sure what was happening with that blade, but I needed to get rid of the chips with a finer grit abrasive before I could grind with a 150 grit for a nice toothy edge. The steel didn’t seem particularly hard but it was prone to chipping. Live and learn I guess. I spent well over an hour on that knife. When I was done the sharpness ranged from 130-170 along the edge. Not as consistent as I would like, but plenty sharp enough and nice and toothy.
But I wasn’t done yet. It was a nice knife and it bothered me that the handle was so dry and starting to crack. I returned all the other knives but kept that one for two days. I gave he handle a good thick coat of a combination of mineral oil, carnauba and bee’s wax. Then put the knife over the heat register and let it all soak in for hours, wiped it clean and repeated the process. I did that 3 or 4 times over the two days. When done, the handle looked really nice and was in much better condition.
Unless it’s for a friend I actually charge for sharpening, but have no illusions about making any money doing. I do it for fun because I enjoy it. I charge $2.00 for less than 5” blades and jack the price up to a whopping $2.50 for > 5” blades, not counting really long blades like machetes. Over many years I’ve made just enough to pay for the Kally. What more could I ask?
Anyway, I think the guy got a good deal for $2.50. Hope you enjoyed the story.
