14 December 2020

Tedium

You don't realize how many shitty little knives you've been using around the shop until the last one is too dull to cut drawn butter and it's time to sharpen them.

While it's tedious, I don't really mind so much.

The nice thing about a shitty shop knife is when it breaks, you shrug and toss it.

You don't feel compelled to try and fix it or pay to have it repaired because it cost as much as used Glock 19.

Gods forbid you LOSE the expensive knife...

I admit, they are very nice.  They hold their edges longer, the don't break as often.

But the 10x as expensive knife doesn't hold its edge ten times longer than the cheapo.  The cheapos don't break ten times as often.

I think I'd want the expensive one out camping or trying to live off the land.

In the garage?  Sitting on my desk?  The worst that can happen is I need to wait a day to get it replaced.

But, since I seem to accumulate these cheap knives, I just change to a different one when it gets dull or breaks.  Sharpen the survivors as needed.

For the record, the most useful knife I own, and keep in a pocket, has been a non-locking Victornox Super Tinker or its larger, and discontinued, cousin the Champion.  The Champion is the Swiss Champion without the pen and pliers.

3 comments:

  1. In my experience, I tend to lose expensive knives more than cheap ones, same with flashlights. I have a little single AA light in my pocket all the time. I replace the battery 2 or 3 times a year and the light breaks after about 2 years - but it cost $3 and a dozen of them cost less than 1 expensive light.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Since you used the word "tedium", I'm guessing you're hand-sharpening with stones or the like?
    There's a hobby grade belt sharpener that I *highly* recommend that takes the work right out of it, I'll reply with a link if you're interested. (Amazon, I learned about it from one of Wirecutter's posts)

    Let 'em get dull, then get several dull ones and sharpen 'em all up fast with this thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use a Spyderco Sharpening System. The one with the two ceramic bars you rub the knife against.

      Delete

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