How To How to fix this knife edge?

Z

ZippyDan

Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
61
Wow I haven't been here in years...

Not sure if this is the right forum.

I have a Victorinox Kitchen knife. I let a friend stay in my place for a week and he absolutely brutalized one of my kitchen knives. He even admitted to opening a can with it.

So looking at the knife closely, the tip is gone, and the cutting edge is no longer perfectly smooth (has some very small chipping).

How can I fix this knife point and edge?

I have on hand a Spyderco Sharpmaker with the standard medium and fine rods, and also the ultra fine rods, but, while I have definitely been able to make the knife sharper, it hasn't had much effect on the visual appearance of the blade. Also, I have no experience with restoring a point tip - that seems to require extra skill!

I'm thinking maybe I need a more aggressive grit to "reprofile" the blade? I'm not sure if this blade is damaged enough to qualify as a reprofile, though.

Anyway, pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/8njjf

I hope someone can give me some advice.

Before you click, the reality is probably not as bad as I'm describing. You will have to really zoom in to see the damage - it is a lot of what I would describe as "micro-chipping", including the pointed tip which is only barely chipped off. But when I visually compare it to my other Victorinox knives which look practically new line they just came from the factory, the smoothness of the edge and the sharpness of the point are night and day.
 
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I have the same problem with a Spyderco Santoku. I have the same set up as you. I ended up doing literally hundreds of swipes on the sharpmaker. I got the knife back from dull to at least paper cutting sharp, but it still has those little tiny chips in it. Also, the cut is more ragged than my Victorinox that doesn't have any little "chips" in it. Almost like micro-serrations.

Maybe clip some more aggressive sandpaper to the rods and use as normal? I don't really know if that would work because I didn't try it, but I've read about it.
 
I've not used a sharp maker before but I have fixed this problem on numerous occasions.
The tip is not damaged too badly on this blade, if you take enough material off the edge then you will bring the tip back as well. Sharpen it as per normal, paying close attention that you do NOT alter the bevel angle to the normal way you have it set up. Keep sharpening it back until the chips and the tip come back into view undamaged. You are going to need an aggressive abrasive for this if you don't want to be doing this for eternity. Think 400 grit.
On the good side, you now know this friend cannot be trusted (non-knife people are notoriously treacherous ;) ) and victorinox steel is fairly soft and easy to work with.
 
Easy answer: your buddy just got himself a damaged chefs knife... and he should buy you a new one. I hate it when someone does not take care of borrowed tools...

Now, if you are set on fixing your knife. I would suggest you go to the hardware store and buy a carborundum oval stone. Cheap cheap cheap. Set the Sharpmaker at the desired angle (I use 30º for my kitchen knives), clamp it down to the table (so you don't need to hold it with your hand) and then rest the carborundum cheapo stone against the rods. One hand on the knife handle, the other hand holding the carborundum stone in place. Don't alternate the swipes in a 1-1 basis. Just grind back and forth aggresively until you rise a burr on the other side, then changes sides and get that burr again. Focus on the tip and anywhere still chipped. Repeat untill all chips are gone.

Now it is time for alternating. 10-10, 5-5, 2-2 and remove the carborundum stone. Your bevel is now set. Stick to the corners of the dark rods and sharpen as usual 1-1. No need to polish the edge any further. Kitchen knives, for my use, cut better wih a coarser edge (think ripe tomato skin).

Next time don't let your friend use your knives. Or teach him how to do it.
 
I would use an old, large file until the edge looked normal, then go to work with the SM.
 
1. Get a new friend
2. Sharpen it out, making sure not to slide the tip off of the sharpener (results in rounding). Instead, sharpen tip to choil, or sharpen the tip separately.
 
Have him buy a replacement. If you only have a sharpmaker I'd get sandpaper 180-800 grit and freehand it; then onto the sharpmaker
 
The good news:

- Victorinox kitchen knives have wonderful thin grinds that're more simple to sharpen and repair.

- Their steel is relatively soft and doesn't present difficult sharpening issues as with harder & more wear-resistant steels. This means they can be sharpened up on a wide variety of simple stones.

The 'bad' news is (with a qualifier):

The Sharpmaker's standard ceramic rods won't be aggressive enough to fix the heavy edge damage, or the broken tip. A much faster solution would be a larger & coarser abrasive surface, like a coarse stone at ~150 - 220 grit, or hard-backed sandpaper (SiC wet/dry or aluminum oxide) in the same grit range.

The tip would actually be easy to fix on such a surface, grinding the spine side with the blade held as low in angle to the abrasive as possible (knife's handle as close to the abrasive surface as can be controlled safely in your grip). Use tip-trailing strokes along the length of the abrasive, making sure the blade is maintained at the low approach angle. The goal is to gradually grind the spine down to meet at a sharp point with the existing cutting edge. If the edge is really dull, you could (carefully) exert a little pressure with your fingertip/thumb against the edge-side, directly behind the tip section being reworked. If the edge is still a little bit sharp, a wine cork or something similar can be pressed onto the cutting edge as a protective buffer/pad for your fingertip pressure. Be careful with that too; if pressing the cork onto the edge too firmly, you might just cut through it, into your thumb. Other materials could be substituted for the cork, like a softish wood block (balsa) or maybe a thick pad of heavy leather or heavy cardboard. I suggested the wine cork simply because it was a handy & readily available solution for me, in fixing the tips on a few of my own knives in the same manner.

The damaged edge can be reground on a coarse stone at roughly the same grit as above, or on hard-backed sandpaper. Could likely do it up to something like ~ 320 grit. A two-sided aluminum oxide oilstone, such as Norton's India or a similar stone from ACE Hardware would work pretty fast for this. This is where Victorinox's thin grinds and minimally wear-resistant steel will be something to be thankful for, as that'll make the grinding and rebevelling easier. The 'bad news' part of this is, it requires some freehanding skills (that's the qualifier). It's doable, but it may be worth spending some practice time on a bench stone first. If that's done, this work on this particular knife won't be that daunting anymore.

An alternative would be investing in coarser rods for your Sharpmaker, such as diamond/cbn or other aftermarket alternatives in aluminum oxide or silicon carbide. But you'll still be limited by the setup and small abrasive surface area of the SM-sized rods.

Bottom line, the knife isn't ruined and it's actually not that damaged. Could be a lot worse. Take a deep breath and allow yourself enough time to plan your 'fix' strategy, and take your time carrying it out. You might find it's not so bad after all, if you allow yourself enough patience & time to prepare for it.
 
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Hi,
What sharpening angles are you using?
How long have you been using a sharpmaker?

Are the looks your only complaint?
To me, the tip looks functional, as does the rest of the edge, looks like it will still slice printer paper without issue.

Its not a lot of damage , it could be completely removed with a 200-600 grit stone in 1-5 minutes, and in similar time with stock sharpmaker.

If it were me, I'd just give it 1-3 minutes per side on sharpmaker medium at 15 degrees (30 degree), 1 to 4 strokes per second, scrubbing style, whatever is comfortable.
If you're doing the math, that is about 150-300 strokes per side, a nice 5 minutes max.

Do it only once, or once a day for a for a week, and sooner or sooner it'll be back to looking good in no time :)

Remember to keep the tip on the stone, and it'll be back to its original pointyness right quick.


Here is an idea, use the sharpmaker concept with single full sized stone and some wood.
You can do the same with one or two dollar tree sharpening stones and some cardboard and tape . Horizontal version easier. Vertical version would need some weights (books, waterbottle).
 
A mill bastard file will straighten out the edge and tip with no problem.
Then, sharpen as usual.
 
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