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Old January 17, 2008, 11:38 AM   #28
The Tourist
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Join Date: June 20, 2005
Posts: 2,348
Quote:
Originally Posted by AK103K
Because I dont want to, nor can I afford to, waste quality.

I think your misunderstanding some things too. I dont (usually, again, the time thing) go to work with a dull knife, its the work that dulls it, and that can often be in just one day.
I want to address your concerns as a "stand alone" issue for the belief in working knives.

One of the reasons I see to it that I sharpen in sporting goods stores is that I keenly realize that working guys should have good stuff, too. Many years ago I was a mechanic, and stuff broke.

There are knives made in the "hard use" category. For example, Ernest Emerson makes dozens, and lots of them in the affordable range.

Now the reason I bring this up is that many guys in the trades are usually cutting the very things that dull their knives the quickest. This is where the relationship between the client and the 'tinker' (that's the correct name for my job) is the most important.

One example. I have a client who uses cement in his job. In one big job he had to open over 90 bags of cement in one day. He did this in the worst possible way a man could do it--the old "poke and cut" method. (Farmers open bags of fertilizer the same way.)

That is, they grab the top of the bag, pierce the top edge somewhere, and then push cut the remainder of the top away.

This is hard on both the tip and the belly of the knife. Paper is hard on a knife, but cement dust (akin to an abrasive) can actually wear down a knife like a polishing stone. The knife I sold him easily lasted all day.

When my client wished to purchase a new knife, we discussed his job. Part of the reason I suggested the Emerson was that the tip design derived from a feudal Japanese battle spear, made for thrusting. I also told him that serrations would not help him with a dull knife, and they used up half of the remaining belly of the blade.

We found a knife he could afford, and I mirror finished the edge. As you pointed out, continuous work can dull a cheaper knife within one day. With a mirror edge his blade "slips" through items and does not wear down as quickly.

This abuse made him and his co-works believers. My client returned to buy a shorter version of the same knife for dress pants and as a spare, and then an Emerson with a rounded profile for deer hunting. His philosophy was that a knife must not be allowed to fail in the middle of nowhere with a downed deer.

There is also another consideration. My co-workers found it odd that I always bought six-point deep-well sockets. However I never rounded bolts or slipped off rusted fasteners. I didn't break as many tools.

I believe that a good knife and a relationship with your knife maker or tinker is better than six crappy knives that fail--and about the same cost.

BTW, the locking mechanism on an Emerson isn't going to fail and fold up on your fingers, either.
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