How many verydull/damaged blades?

[Ken S]

I ask this in the spirit of curiosity, without an agenda or intent tocriticise. I have read numerous posts over the years about frustrations with very dull or damaged blades.

My question for those of us with higher sharpening volumes than me is, How many of the knives you sharpen are "very dull or damaged"?

Please don't be shy and do reply.

Ken

[Royale]

My question for those of us with higher sharpening volumes than me is, How many of the knives you sharpen are "very dull or damaged"?

I think a good place to start would be to indicate the volume of knives you sharpen, to get responses from your target demographic.

[Ken S]

Iagree; however, I don't want to limit the conversation at first. We can always place limits later if needed, I hope responders will mention theirtypical volume of knives to sharpen.

Ken

[John_B]

I limit my customers at around 10 total and they each bring around 6 knives more or less. It would be easy to increase but I don't have the desire. I also try and limit sharpening for this group to the colder months when outdoor activity is limited. I have had a few Shuns that had chips out of them but nothing with larger chips like you see on the internet. I also have had a couple of broken tips that needed reprofiling to fix. By my standards most of the knives they bring are moderately dull but not damaged. Since my group is so small I have worked with them on knife use, care and maintenance so the knives don't return as dull as they were the first time. I am also lucky in that none of my customers have cheap knives and no supersteel ones. For the most part I see Wusthof, Victorinox, Zwilling, Shun and Global. I manage with the SG-250 and guided honing as described in Wootz's book.

[Sir Amwell]

I confer with John B.
I sharpen more knives than him by the sounds of it, maybe 20 regular customers.
From new customers I guarantee that the knives are at best extremely dull by my standards. At worst require chip/tip repair and or complete re grind to get them in order. The worst being those with a smile on bolstered knives which is a ton of work plus bolster reduction.
Repeat customers are usually just in need of a quick touch up. As with John I've given them the low down and they are generally taking care of their sharp knives.
As I've said before : ' quality over quantity' every time. More satisfaction for me, more satisfaction for the customer.
It's essentially less about the knives, more about the customer.
Having said all that I do always inform my customers, new or old , what I'm proposing to do when I've assessed their knives. Potentially bad customers can be weeded out that way!

[Royale]

So far, since I've started business officially this year (February), I've sharpened about 90 knives (with 3-4 repeat orders)

Only 4 knives did not have any damage
- 1 Katto santoku
- 1 Shun Santoku
- 1 Richardson Sheffield cleaver
- 1 generic cleaver (Hakkoh brand)

Common damage encountered, from most frequent to least:
- Concave blade profile
- Broken knife tips
- Chips extending beyond secondary bevel
- Severe corrosion
- Blade bent away from knife handle (out of alignment)
- Warping of blade above chipped area
- Knife tip bent to one side
- Lateral cracks on blade (parallel to spine)

So as a rough estimate, approx. 80% of knives handed to me have one or more types of damage listed.

I suspect it can be quite the cultural thing as well. Where I'm at (Singapore), disposability is the name of the game, and choosing repair over replacement is still considered a "new fad". Knife sharpening and repair is still considered menial dirty blue collar work, and people still think in 1980s prices.

[Ken S]

Sadly, we live in a disposable culture. The problem is not unique to Singapore. It is all too prevalent in the US. Many will never know the pleasure of using a really sharp knife or tool.

Ken

[Sir Amwell]

So Ken, I agree.
But slowly we can get the message out there.
Us sharpeners are doing that hopefully.
A frequent argument to me by potential customers would be " why would I pay £10 to sharpen a knife when I can buy a new one for £5!?"
Two answers to that:
Off you go then, why bother coming to me then? OR...
Buy a decent knife, I will get it sharper than out of the box and come to me once a year (or once every two if you follow my advice with knife care etc) and you'll not go wrong your favoured tool will last a lifetime.
To reiterate my last post: GET GOOD CUSTOMERS!
And while we're at it ask HOW MANY KNIVES DO YOU NEED!?
Three at most unless you're a high end sushi chef?
It's not just about making money for me as a sharpener, it's spreading the word that is important.
Sorry, I am in danger of going on a rant here.
Your average sharpener wants their customers to abuse their knives right?
Because it leads to more volume, more money...
Im polar opposite to that.
I also sharpen high end hairdressing scissors and grooming tools.
It's the same.
I want my customers to be completely satisfied, come back and recommend me to other potentially good customers by spreading that ethos.
I'll stop ranting, just some thoughts.

[tgbto]

And while we're at it ask HOW MANY KNIVES DO YOU NEED!?
Three at most unless you're a high end sushi chef?

I love that question.

IIRC, a japanese chef needs at most three knives : Deba, Yanagiba, Usuba. A sushi chef should even not need the Usuba.

Shifting to the western world, most home cooks should only need a chef knife (gyuto) and a hawkbill paring knife. Throw in a deba or similar if you need to work with fish... Yet I have dozens, and even though I mostly use three, using another one for a taks where it shines is such a delight.

[John_B]

I also have too many knives. Some time ago I separated them into sets and placed them in rollups. I have a traveling set that I take with me to friends and family occasions where I am almost always asked to carve meat  or poultry and sometimes help with prep. A second sharp but less expensive set is for cooking outdoors. My best knives are in the kitchen in wooden blocks. There I have a chefs knife, slicer for bread and roasts, filet knives for breaking down meat, a couple utility knives and paring knives. Additionally I have a Japanese Usuba,Honesuki and a cleaver. Another slicing tool I use often is a mandolin. Especially useful for paper thin slices in quantity and short time.