How often do you sharpen your babys

[rabbitanarchy14]

I don't know if this has ever been asked but let's talk. How often do you sharpen your knives. When the working edge gets dull or when you lose the bleeding edge. Some don't sharpen their knives until it's dull, but also what does "dull" mean.

[TkoK83Spy]

I wish I would use my knives until they were truly dull, so I could really understand how each steel reactes to sharpening...but I'm a bit ocd, and touch up any knife I use every day after using it. Working in a warehouse, I cut through a lot of abrasive materials so every knife is slightly dulled after a day and can use a little love.

I tell myself to carry 1 particular knife for a week to really test the steel, but with so many options to choose from each day... it's tough! :p

[Evil D]

After every use/end of any day I use them. I can't imagine leaving the house with a knife that isn't as sharp as it could be.

[vivi]

If it doesn't at least scrape off arm hairs I won't carry it.

How often I sharpen varies but I never let them get completely dull.

[Sonorum]

I strop almost daily. As soon as they start hanging up, snagging or generally don't slice anymore they will get a proper sharpening. And by then I'll often rotate to another freshly sharp knife. I don't have time sharpen as often as one single knife would need so therefore owning more than one knife is good. When I can sharpen I often do more than one knife at a time.

[olywa]

Pretty much daily when used. Sometimes just for the heck of it. I admit that I have a free hand fetish though. It's kinda therapeutic for me.

[Halfneck]

I touch up the edge on a fine ceramic stone and strop my knives after use. Bare minimum, I strop it.

[wrdwrght]

Unless I’m sharpening to learn something (or just for the Zen of it), I don’t sharpen until I sense the edge I’m carrying is losing its working sharpness. Hair-popping sharpness isn’t essential to me.

Typically, however, I will run the edge of whatever Spydie I’m about to carry over my homemade strops a few times so as to clean off any molecular reaction on the apex.

[Pelagic]

I've been lazy lately. After a 12 hour shift I don't feel like getting my knife bag out of the trunk (it's heavy). I've been stropping back my Shaman as much as possible, but I'll be busting out the stones again soon. Frequency of sharpening completely depends on specifics of use.

[JD Spydo]

When I'm sitting down and watching a ball game, movie or documentary and have the spare time I use one of my sets of Spyderco 701 Profiles to put a super sharp set of teeth on my Spyderedged Units. For my plain edges I use quite a variety of sharpening tools and it depends on which "steel" I'm sharpening.

I actually enjoy sharpening SE & PE blades the hard/manual way. LORD knows I use my two Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker units quite a bit during the course of a year. The harder some of these newer supersteels are getting I'm also finding myself using diamond sharpening tools more and more.

I'm to the point now that whatever is handy at the time and whatever will provide me with a really good finished product.

[Mattysc42]

Once a week for the knives I use during the week. Every day after work for my primary box cutter (currently a zdp dragonfly).

[Slash]

NEVER! I buy too many, too often; And carry all them. Use? Not soo much these days...

Plus, I still haven't set up my paper sharpening wheels for grinder yet and/or bought the multitool grinder attachment for it? May eventually build one(2x72) that can hook up to variable speed jet???

[rabbitanarchy14]

if i used them more often i might sharpen them more, but the ones that get used i sharpen about once a week when they lose that bleeding edge sharpness. i will be buying a house soon and i am hoping i will need to use my knives much more.

[A.S.O.K.A]

For me, not often. I have a collection of knives, they are properly sharpened for optimal performance which means for the most part, I can get away with using a knife exclusively for a month. Only thing I do to them in between that time is strop them. Once they start struggling to cut printing paper, they go into the sharpening pile and I carry a different knife till then.

[soc_monki]

Depends... I don't like them getting dull because that means I need to put more time into them later. Generally if they get to the point where I feel they aren't that they don't have that stupid sharp feeling anymore ill hit the sharpmaker and bring that edge back. Usually just a few swipes will do.

It's usually not often though. Maybe once a week or every other week.

[standy99]

For me, not often. I have a collection of knives, they are properly sharpened for optimal performance which means for the most part, I can get away with using a knife exclusively for a month. Only thing I do to them in between that time is strop them. Once they start struggling to cut printing paper, they go into the sharpening pile and I carry a different knife till then.

Same rotate until the pile needs attention. Repeat

( Have a fruit bowl of 5 or 6 that get picked from daily, the pile is usually next to the fruit bowl )

[Albatross]

I sharpen brand new knives, strop until the edge retention begins to noticeably decrease, then I sharpen again. If one of my knives won't shave hair, it needs to be stropped. Sometimes my knives are stropped every day, sometimes less, but sharpening is used as a last resort, to prolong the overall life of each blade. Thankfully I have several blades with stellar edge retention, which makes for less sharpenings to begin with. BUT I do enjoy sharpening, so every once in a while, I'll sharpen a knife that might not need it. If nothing else, it scratches the itch.

[tonijedi]

And this, kids... (points finger at most answers in this thread) ... is why edge retention is overrated.
:rolleyes:

[Evil D]

And this, kids... (points finger at most answers in this thread) ... is why edge retention is overrated.
:rolleyes:

I came to this hard realization about 2 years ago. I really only need VG10-ish edge retention for my daily uses. I have had more demanding jobs that required more, but these days I value ease of sharpening and toughness over extreme edge retention.

[knivesandbooks]

Depends on the knife. Some I sharpen after they can't push cut well. Some after the don't shave hair. Never ket then get too dull. Even my knives that are waiting to be sharpened have at least a useable edge if I decide I want to carry them. Not sure if I count spiffing up the edge on an ultrafine stone as sharpening.

Also, I'm with Evil D on edge retention. I'm no longer cutting miles of cardboard everyday.