Rob Babcock
Head Chef
Man, I like a challenge as much as the next guy but I gotta stop volunteering to sharpen knives for people! It's no secret that I'm a knife-nerd; you'd have to be deaf not to know! So about a month ago a guy I work with asked me what I'd charge him to sharpen he & his wife's kitchen knife set. Well, I'm fairly skilled at sharpening but I don't consider myself good enough to charge for it. I told him, "just bring 'em in- I'll sharpen them just for kicks."
After a month of forgetting to bring them for me his wife got tired of waiting and took them to be "professionally sharpened". I figured that was that, but a few days later he told me the guy really screwed 'em up, and do I think I might be able to fix them? Hmmm...at this point I'm starting to wish I'd never offered. My mind conjured up images of this "pro" grinding away with either an 8" wheel or a belt grinder with 80 grit belts. Oh, well- I'll take a look at 'em. After all, how bad could they be?
D'oh!Pretty bad! If it wasn't for the shape I swear you couldn't tell which side was supposed to be sharp and there were "nicks", to use the term charitably, more than a 1.5mm into the edge. It was so bad I didn't even want to waste my coarse waterstone, so I started with my DMT ultra-coarse diamond plate. After at least ten solid minutes of grinding/reprofiling the nicks were finally ground out to the point where I felt ready to use the stones. I used my coarse EP stone followed by the medium, finally getting a pretty good edge. Since I know neither of 'em knows how to sharpen, and given the cheap nature of the knives, I opted to go no higher (it's generally a waste to try to get a polished edge on soft stainless). I stroked it lightly on the ceramic rod and tested it on some paper. Not bad, pretty smooth, quiet cuts. It shaves hair, albeit not incredibly well, but it has an edge that's pretty sharp for practical uses- ie cutting stuff.
All in all I should learn to keep my trap shut but it was kind of interesting resuccitating such a badly mangled blade. And given the "pro" sharpeners in this town I really ought to start charging after all!
After a month of forgetting to bring them for me his wife got tired of waiting and took them to be "professionally sharpened". I figured that was that, but a few days later he told me the guy really screwed 'em up, and do I think I might be able to fix them? Hmmm...at this point I'm starting to wish I'd never offered. My mind conjured up images of this "pro" grinding away with either an 8" wheel or a belt grinder with 80 grit belts. Oh, well- I'll take a look at 'em. After all, how bad could they be?
D'oh!Pretty bad! If it wasn't for the shape I swear you couldn't tell which side was supposed to be sharp and there were "nicks", to use the term charitably, more than a 1.5mm into the edge. It was so bad I didn't even want to waste my coarse waterstone, so I started with my DMT ultra-coarse diamond plate. After at least ten solid minutes of grinding/reprofiling the nicks were finally ground out to the point where I felt ready to use the stones. I used my coarse EP stone followed by the medium, finally getting a pretty good edge. Since I know neither of 'em knows how to sharpen, and given the cheap nature of the knives, I opted to go no higher (it's generally a waste to try to get a polished edge on soft stainless). I stroked it lightly on the ceramic rod and tested it on some paper. Not bad, pretty smooth, quiet cuts. It shaves hair, albeit not incredibly well, but it has an edge that's pretty sharp for practical uses- ie cutting stuff.
All in all I should learn to keep my trap shut but it was kind of interesting resuccitating such a badly mangled blade. And given the "pro" sharpeners in this town I really ought to start charging after all!