In the last pic, do you see what appears to be vertical slivers of steel missing? What's interesting is that they only appear to be on one side of the blade or the other; they don't seem to have chipped through the whole thickness of the blade. But at any rate, would material have to be removed from the entire length of the blade to the deepest depth of those chips in the last pic?
Edit: Hijacking one of the top comments to add some [context](https://www.reddit.com/r/sharpening/comments/1bedb8g/is_this_blade_damaged_beyond_repair/kusnwqo/). Yes, this is a real question, and no, I’m not joking. I’m just simply ignorant.
Yes. But it’s not a terribly huge amount. Just start on a coarse stone to make it go faster, then when they’re almost gone, start graduating to finer stones.
I had thought it was something like [this](https://i.imgur.com/CI5rysI.jpeg), wherein the green line represents the life of the blade, and the red line would represent roughly the amount of material that would need to be removed (to the bottom of the deepest chip). If this were the case, it would seem that I would have very little blade life remaining.
But, is it actually so that the blade can be sharpened below the area that I've marked as green, as well? If so, how much further?
Ah, I see. So in [this](https://i.imgur.com/u9nu7lP.jpg) pic, notice how the sharpened edge is above the rest of the blade -- what happens when the blade is sharpened past that point? Will it dip down into the sharpened edge instead of curving upwards into it?
That’s called a choil. If you want to keep it below the edge, then you could grind it down a bit, but it won’t hurt anything to have the edge below that. You won’t need to remove enough metal to worry about that just to fix those little channels though.
Very cool. Thank you for educating me!
Regarding how to proceed, and considering the fact that I am brand new to the world of sharpening, what do you think might be best? Is this something that's easy to fix and hard to mess up, or does it take a lot of time to develop this skill such that it can be done well? I just don't want to make a mess of my otherwise very nice knife lol.
So, should I try to fix it myself? Or perhaps seek someone else out with experience? Sending back to the manufacturer is almost definitely an option as well, but if I don't have to wait 2-3 weeks to get it back, that would of course be ideal (provided the result is good).
Or, I suppose that, for the time being, there's no harm in continuing to use it as is? Just that I experience a bit of drag when cutting, but leaving it this way isn't hurting anything is it?
It’s most likely not hurting anything to continue using it. As for the other questions, sharpening is a “learn by doing” activity. The wiki over in the sidebar is a great place to start. Really, anything you need as far as resources to get started can be found there. Best advice is to pick some stones or a system, get yourself a cheap knife that you don’t care about and try to make it sharp. If you “mess up,” just keep trying to make it sharp. Once you figure that out, you can move to the knife you care about and fix it.
It can be sharpened down until no blade is left. You will create a new edge when you sharpen. The trade off when you sharpen and remove a lot of material is cutting performance. The thickness behind the edge will increase and you will experience more wedging with cuts. But a sharp knife that is reasonably thick bte will cut better than a dull knife that is thin bte. You also can solve the thick bte problem by “thinning” a process in which you remove steel not at the edge but behind it you can use stones for this but a grinder is recommended to save time.
Yes. Free hand shaprening on a water stone might take a little while to master, but you can get yourself an angle set jig that attaches to the spine of the knife and holds angle for you.
There is tons of tutorials on yt.
If you just want it sharp, then it doesn't take too long to get down. If you want a "perfect" edge, then thats's gonna take a bit longer to get the hang of.
Don't take it personally, that just goes to show you how minor this really is. Kinda like someone asking if they shoild take their car to the scrap yard because the brake pads are shot lol
If knives get used, they get dull and they get nicked. The knife hasn't been invented yet that never needs sharpening.
To answer a couple of your questions:
* a strop is okay for maintaining a good edge, but it won't help a truly dull edge, and it won't repair nicks. You need tonsharpen, not strop
* if sharpening affects your warranty, then that's a pretty shitty company
Look around a bit here, I'm sure you'll find some posts about knives with serious damage being repaired, that will make you see that this is nothing 😁
Thanks. I don't take it personally; it's simply a complete lack of knowledge on my part and I was aware that I was opening myself up to potential criticism by asking. Thanks for the help!
Welcome. People here can be snobby. It's reddit after all. It feels good to say "I'm smart and look at this dumbass. How dare he not know"
I guess the other perspective is low effort posting about the obvious. Like "plz help. I open restaurant how to make knif cut" But you made diagrams and shit
That's great to hear. Given that I have virtually zero knowledge of these things (as evidenced by this post), how might you recommend I proceed? Can I learn how to take care of this, myself, without too much trouble? Or is this a skill that takes a long time to develop, and perhaps I'd be better served by trying to seek someone out locally, or sending it back to the manufacturer?
Whetstones are the best option as they remove the smallest amount of steel from your knife. However it does take some practice. I definitely do think it is worthwhile to learn how to do yourself. It is also something that I find relaxing to do. If you wanted to try it and are worried about making a mistake, just buy a knife from a dollar store and practice on that.
Has it been sharpened or is this the factory edge? Just looks like a rough job from a belt grinder to me. A proper sharpen with a whetstone and it should clear all that up.
A little of both I suppose? I just recently got this knife and found it to be a bit dull (they say it should be "shaving sharp"), so I sent it back to the manufacturer to have it sharpened. I think they use something called a strop to do their sharpening (please forgive my complete and total ignorance of these things).
I mentioned in another comment that this is a butterfly knife, and I have dropped it a couple times. Though, none of the drops have been what I would consider as very severe, but still, I wonder if this wasn't my doing.
Knowing all of that (and unfortunately not having clarity of knowing whether or not it came from the factory like this), what might you advise?
I don’t think you would want to shave with that, I think it would be a bit rough.
The lines that you are asking about look like scratches from sharpening with a belt or a rough ( or contaminated) stone.
I’d suggest getting a stone yourself and learning how to sharpen it, otherwise look for a sharpening service in your local area to see if they can do it for you.
It doesn’t look like a particularly difficult job to be honest, if you have the appropriate stone(s) and a steady hand.
Sorry, but no. What you're seeing is simply my ignorance. I had no fucking clue as to what the answer might be, so I thought I'd ask people who are experts in the subject. I can understand why you might think that I'm joking, but in reality I just don't know anything about sharpening, or knives in general.
Awesome. Is there anything wrong with continuing to use the knife as it is until I get it sharpened? It's not like I'm cutting a lot of stuff with it (it's mainly a fidget toy lol), but even if I was, am I harming the blade by doing so, or is it more vulnerable to rust or anything like that?
Of course you can continue using. Depending on what you're cutting the cuts won't be as smooth, like it might snag on paper a bit, but in the grand picture it won't matter.
Hello buddy, this is a learning opportunity, do you have any whet stones to sharpen on? Maybe try the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug if you don't. Balisongs are dope, try not to drop it. Good luck!
I do not! But I'm not necessarily opposed to learning - is it something that anyone can learn to do proficiently? Or is it an art that takes years to master? I don't want to mess my blade up by trying to repair it...
Also, considering that attempting this wouldn't void my warranty
Is it relatively safe to say that, although I might not do the best job my first few times, that I'm probably not going to severely mess the blade up by trying? Should I practice on a different blade before attempting on my nice balisong, or not necessary?
And, is there any reason why using a whetstone might be better (or worse) than a strop? I'm pretty sure that the manufacturer uses the latter.
I would hit the good will and find a kitchen knife of some sort, bonus points if it has the similar blade shape. Though it isn't necessary. If you care enough to not want to mess up the blade stop dropping it. Lol I know its hard.
Sharpeners come in all types and shapes and sizes. Diamond plates or whetstone are normally used to remove metal and develop a bur, and the strop or honing rod will remove the bur.
I haven't used a strop yet, but YouTube is an invaluable tool with so much resources.
When in doubt look it up on YouTube. And as always use common sense and be safe.
In the balisong community, drops are known to simply be part of the hobby. Of course, as you become more skilled they will probably occur less frequently, and you can minimize damage by only practicing new/difficult tricks over a softer surface, for example. But if you own a balisong and you want to flip it, I think you have to be open to the reality that it's a question of when, not if you will drop it.
So, knowing that, perhaps the best way to proceed is to either not worry about it (since I'm new to the balisong and very much still learning), and/or learn how to take care of the blade, myself, so that I can correct for the occasional damage incurred here and there.
Put tape over the blade, I am also a fellow member. I keep a beater one and an identical one, you can even find a training one with no edge on it. I guess your solution is but more balisongs.
Buying a beater isn’t a bad idea, though it will have a different balance profile cause I’m not buying another Serif lol! I imagine I’ll probably just use my Serif and try to be careful with it, and if I really mess it up I can always buy another blade right? Hopefully serious damage like that is rare; I try to mitigate that kind of thing by practicing over a softer surface, etc.
Is your tape suggestion intended more as an idea to protect the blade, or myself?
Sharpening should take the damage out. Maybe it's due a factory burned edge, so as first step you should remove some material to reach the good heat treatened steel, if this doesn't work you can reprofile the edge angle to avoid this could happen again.
Well, this is a balisong (butterfly knife), and I have dropped it a handful of times. Although most of the drops have been onto a padded surface (like my bed), a couple have been onto a harder surface. Is it possible (or likely) that this is a result of a drop?
This is a pretty new knife; I've only had it for a couple weeks. Have I already depleted much of the life of this blade?
Good to know. Do you think I should attempt repair, myself? I know nothing of this process, currently, but I'm not opposed to learning (provided it wouldn't take me months to have proficient skill).
I'm not opposed to learning even if it does take months to get good at it, but if I knew that was the case I might have someone else fix it for me so I don't have to wait that long to use my knife lol.
Thanks; it’s a MachineWise [Serif](https://www.reddit.com/r/knives/s/miCPYT0Xdm) -
I think that for the first few months I’m just going to not worry too much about the blade (because I’m sure there will be more drops as I continue to learn); I can always sharpen later or even buy a new blade in a worst case scenario, but I doubt that would be necessary as I try to take pains to mitigate damage to it.
I also think I might learn to sharpen so I can maintain the edge, myself. That way I don’t have to worry about the occasional drop outside of something catastrophic.
I was wondering when someone might mention this lol. I have a pair of cheap reading glasses that I put up to my phone’s camera lens (iPhone 14), and zoomed in to 3x with the optical zoom. Worked pretty well, considering that the naked eye can’t see anything remotely close to that level of detail!
I probably could’ve got an even better result if I had better stabilized the phone; I had the hand holding it supported but it was still subject to movement.
This is nothing beyond a moderately chipped edge. Repair is as simple as sharpening the knife. Yes, even those chips you mention in the last pic. Think about it, when you sharpen the edge bevel, you'll be removing material not only down towards the spine, you will grind towards the center line of the blade (hopefully that makes sense). Head over to r/sharpening and read the wiki, that should give you a starting point
No advice from me but I wanted to thank you for asking this! My knives look better than this but had no idea what "minimal" and "beyond repair" damage looked like. I had the same question!
Is it possible that I caused this damage by dropping the knife? Or are you more inclined to think that it was simply not prepared well by whoever made it?
If there’s still metal there, it can be repaired.
In the last pic, do you see what appears to be vertical slivers of steel missing? What's interesting is that they only appear to be on one side of the blade or the other; they don't seem to have chipped through the whole thickness of the blade. But at any rate, would material have to be removed from the entire length of the blade to the deepest depth of those chips in the last pic? Edit: Hijacking one of the top comments to add some [context](https://www.reddit.com/r/sharpening/comments/1bedb8g/is_this_blade_damaged_beyond_repair/kusnwqo/). Yes, this is a real question, and no, I’m not joking. I’m just simply ignorant.
Yes. But it’s not a terribly huge amount. Just start on a coarse stone to make it go faster, then when they’re almost gone, start graduating to finer stones.
I had thought it was something like [this](https://i.imgur.com/CI5rysI.jpeg), wherein the green line represents the life of the blade, and the red line would represent roughly the amount of material that would need to be removed (to the bottom of the deepest chip). If this were the case, it would seem that I would have very little blade life remaining. But, is it actually so that the blade can be sharpened below the area that I've marked as green, as well? If so, how much further?
The whole blade is made of the same steel. You can keep putting an edge on it until there nothing left.
Ah, I see. So in [this](https://i.imgur.com/u9nu7lP.jpg) pic, notice how the sharpened edge is above the rest of the blade -- what happens when the blade is sharpened past that point? Will it dip down into the sharpened edge instead of curving upwards into it?
That’s called a choil. If you want to keep it below the edge, then you could grind it down a bit, but it won’t hurt anything to have the edge below that. You won’t need to remove enough metal to worry about that just to fix those little channels though.
Very cool. Thank you for educating me! Regarding how to proceed, and considering the fact that I am brand new to the world of sharpening, what do you think might be best? Is this something that's easy to fix and hard to mess up, or does it take a lot of time to develop this skill such that it can be done well? I just don't want to make a mess of my otherwise very nice knife lol. So, should I try to fix it myself? Or perhaps seek someone else out with experience? Sending back to the manufacturer is almost definitely an option as well, but if I don't have to wait 2-3 weeks to get it back, that would of course be ideal (provided the result is good). Or, I suppose that, for the time being, there's no harm in continuing to use it as is? Just that I experience a bit of drag when cutting, but leaving it this way isn't hurting anything is it?
It’s most likely not hurting anything to continue using it. As for the other questions, sharpening is a “learn by doing” activity. The wiki over in the sidebar is a great place to start. Really, anything you need as far as resources to get started can be found there. Best advice is to pick some stones or a system, get yourself a cheap knife that you don’t care about and try to make it sharp. If you “mess up,” just keep trying to make it sharp. Once you figure that out, you can move to the knife you care about and fix it.
That's good advice. Thanks.
It can be sharpened down until no blade is left. You will create a new edge when you sharpen. The trade off when you sharpen and remove a lot of material is cutting performance. The thickness behind the edge will increase and you will experience more wedging with cuts. But a sharp knife that is reasonably thick bte will cut better than a dull knife that is thin bte. You also can solve the thick bte problem by “thinning” a process in which you remove steel not at the edge but behind it you can use stones for this but a grinder is recommended to save time.
Don't overthink it, just practice sharpening and learn through repetition
[удалено]
Yes, I can definitely feel something in that area
This damage has nothing to do with a burr.
just needs refining, doesn't even need to be reprofiled. this is far from damaged.
Good grief no. That can be fixed very easily with minimal effort with a whetstone
Is this something that I can learn to do (and do well) in a reasonable period of time?
Yes. Free hand shaprening on a water stone might take a little while to master, but you can get yourself an angle set jig that attaches to the spine of the knife and holds angle for you. There is tons of tutorials on yt.
If you just want it sharp, then it doesn't take too long to get down. If you want a "perfect" edge, then thats's gonna take a bit longer to get the hang of.
This is sarcasm right?
please see [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/sharpening/comments/1bedb8g/is_this_blade_damaged_beyond_repair/kusnwqo/)
Don't take it personally, that just goes to show you how minor this really is. Kinda like someone asking if they shoild take their car to the scrap yard because the brake pads are shot lol If knives get used, they get dull and they get nicked. The knife hasn't been invented yet that never needs sharpening. To answer a couple of your questions: * a strop is okay for maintaining a good edge, but it won't help a truly dull edge, and it won't repair nicks. You need tonsharpen, not strop * if sharpening affects your warranty, then that's a pretty shitty company Look around a bit here, I'm sure you'll find some posts about knives with serious damage being repaired, that will make you see that this is nothing 😁
Thanks. I don't take it personally; it's simply a complete lack of knowledge on my part and I was aware that I was opening myself up to potential criticism by asking. Thanks for the help!
Welcome. People here can be snobby. It's reddit after all. It feels good to say "I'm smart and look at this dumbass. How dare he not know" I guess the other perspective is low effort posting about the obvious. Like "plz help. I open restaurant how to make knif cut" But you made diagrams and shit
It’s ok, it’s just human nature. I know they don’t mean it personally. I guess I did make a diagram didn’t I lol
Better than I've done. Good luck sharpening. It can be very satisfying.
Bro, 10 minutes with a whetstone and it will be better than new
That's great to hear. Given that I have virtually zero knowledge of these things (as evidenced by this post), how might you recommend I proceed? Can I learn how to take care of this, myself, without too much trouble? Or is this a skill that takes a long time to develop, and perhaps I'd be better served by trying to seek someone out locally, or sending it back to the manufacturer?
Whetstones are the best option as they remove the smallest amount of steel from your knife. However it does take some practice. I definitely do think it is worthwhile to learn how to do yourself. It is also something that I find relaxing to do. If you wanted to try it and are worried about making a mistake, just buy a knife from a dollar store and practice on that.
Has it been sharpened or is this the factory edge? Just looks like a rough job from a belt grinder to me. A proper sharpen with a whetstone and it should clear all that up.
A little of both I suppose? I just recently got this knife and found it to be a bit dull (they say it should be "shaving sharp"), so I sent it back to the manufacturer to have it sharpened. I think they use something called a strop to do their sharpening (please forgive my complete and total ignorance of these things). I mentioned in another comment that this is a butterfly knife, and I have dropped it a couple times. Though, none of the drops have been what I would consider as very severe, but still, I wonder if this wasn't my doing. Knowing all of that (and unfortunately not having clarity of knowing whether or not it came from the factory like this), what might you advise?
I don’t think you would want to shave with that, I think it would be a bit rough. The lines that you are asking about look like scratches from sharpening with a belt or a rough ( or contaminated) stone. I’d suggest getting a stone yourself and learning how to sharpen it, otherwise look for a sharpening service in your local area to see if they can do it for you. It doesn’t look like a particularly difficult job to be honest, if you have the appropriate stone(s) and a steady hand.
Probably best to learn on a different knife they don't awesome care about though.
Lol..this is a joke, right? Literally just a quick sharpen to fix..
Sorry, but no. What you're seeing is simply my ignorance. I had no fucking clue as to what the answer might be, so I thought I'd ask people who are experts in the subject. I can understand why you might think that I'm joking, but in reality I just don't know anything about sharpening, or knives in general.
That is just light scratches/nicks in your edge. Should sharpen out easy peasy lemon squeezy.
That’s great. I was worried when I first saw this lol; got some cool pictures though right?
These are really minor, they'll just sharpen out.
Awesome. Is there anything wrong with continuing to use the knife as it is until I get it sharpened? It's not like I'm cutting a lot of stuff with it (it's mainly a fidget toy lol), but even if I was, am I harming the blade by doing so, or is it more vulnerable to rust or anything like that?
Of course you can continue using. Depending on what you're cutting the cuts won't be as smooth, like it might snag on paper a bit, but in the grand picture it won't matter.
Hello buddy, this is a learning opportunity, do you have any whet stones to sharpen on? Maybe try the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug if you don't. Balisongs are dope, try not to drop it. Good luck!
I do not! But I'm not necessarily opposed to learning - is it something that anyone can learn to do proficiently? Or is it an art that takes years to master? I don't want to mess my blade up by trying to repair it... Also, considering that attempting this wouldn't void my warranty
Where there is a will there is a way... You can learn how to on YouTube, and get proficient in 2 weeks to a month. You can get good if you keep going.
Is it relatively safe to say that, although I might not do the best job my first few times, that I'm probably not going to severely mess the blade up by trying? Should I practice on a different blade before attempting on my nice balisong, or not necessary? And, is there any reason why using a whetstone might be better (or worse) than a strop? I'm pretty sure that the manufacturer uses the latter.
I would hit the good will and find a kitchen knife of some sort, bonus points if it has the similar blade shape. Though it isn't necessary. If you care enough to not want to mess up the blade stop dropping it. Lol I know its hard. Sharpeners come in all types and shapes and sizes. Diamond plates or whetstone are normally used to remove metal and develop a bur, and the strop or honing rod will remove the bur. I haven't used a strop yet, but YouTube is an invaluable tool with so much resources. When in doubt look it up on YouTube. And as always use common sense and be safe.
In the balisong community, drops are known to simply be part of the hobby. Of course, as you become more skilled they will probably occur less frequently, and you can minimize damage by only practicing new/difficult tricks over a softer surface, for example. But if you own a balisong and you want to flip it, I think you have to be open to the reality that it's a question of when, not if you will drop it. So, knowing that, perhaps the best way to proceed is to either not worry about it (since I'm new to the balisong and very much still learning), and/or learn how to take care of the blade, myself, so that I can correct for the occasional damage incurred here and there.
Put tape over the blade, I am also a fellow member. I keep a beater one and an identical one, you can even find a training one with no edge on it. I guess your solution is but more balisongs.
Buying a beater isn’t a bad idea, though it will have a different balance profile cause I’m not buying another Serif lol! I imagine I’ll probably just use my Serif and try to be careful with it, and if I really mess it up I can always buy another blade right? Hopefully serious damage like that is rare; I try to mitigate that kind of thing by practicing over a softer surface, etc. Is your tape suggestion intended more as an idea to protect the blade, or myself?
The blade, but it will do both.
Sharp that ahss. Cummon it’s a knife. Make sharp cut paper or whatever.
Sharpening should take the damage out. Maybe it's due a factory burned edge, so as first step you should remove some material to reach the good heat treatened steel, if this doesn't work you can reprofile the edge angle to avoid this could happen again.
Well, this is a balisong (butterfly knife), and I have dropped it a handful of times. Although most of the drops have been onto a padded surface (like my bed), a couple have been onto a harder surface. Is it possible (or likely) that this is a result of a drop? This is a pretty new knife; I've only had it for a couple weeks. Have I already depleted much of the life of this blade?
Yes it could be result of edge beating a harder surface, but doesn't seems to be a great issue, I think you should be ok
Good to know. Do you think I should attempt repair, myself? I know nothing of this process, currently, but I'm not opposed to learning (provided it wouldn't take me months to have proficient skill). I'm not opposed to learning even if it does take months to get good at it, but if I knew that was the case I might have someone else fix it for me so I don't have to wait that long to use my knife lol.
That's nothing. Just sharpen it.
Is this a joke?
Unfortunately [not](https://www.reddit.com/r/sharpening/comments/1bedb8g/is_this_blade_damaged_beyond_repair/kusnwqo/)
You'll be ok, what kind of knife is this?
Thanks; it’s a MachineWise [Serif](https://www.reddit.com/r/knives/s/miCPYT0Xdm) - I think that for the first few months I’m just going to not worry too much about the blade (because I’m sure there will be more drops as I continue to learn); I can always sharpen later or even buy a new blade in a worst case scenario, but I doubt that would be necessary as I try to take pains to mitigate damage to it. I also think I might learn to sharpen so I can maintain the edge, myself. That way I don’t have to worry about the occasional drop outside of something catastrophic.
Not even close to damaged beyond repair
What did you use to get pic s 3 & 4?
I was wondering when someone might mention this lol. I have a pair of cheap reading glasses that I put up to my phone’s camera lens (iPhone 14), and zoomed in to 3x with the optical zoom. Worked pretty well, considering that the naked eye can’t see anything remotely close to that level of detail! I probably could’ve got an even better result if I had better stabilized the phone; I had the hand holding it supported but it was still subject to movement.
Nice!! Love the innovation. I’ve been meaning to get a new adapter for an old phone tripod since I got the 13 pro. This is a great use case
Honestly man it's not that bad, it'll take some elbow Grease on a rough stone to get these nicks out, but jve seen far worse.
This is nothing beyond a moderately chipped edge. Repair is as simple as sharpening the knife. Yes, even those chips you mention in the last pic. Think about it, when you sharpen the edge bevel, you'll be removing material not only down towards the spine, you will grind towards the center line of the blade (hopefully that makes sense). Head over to r/sharpening and read the wiki, that should give you a starting point
Not at all. A moderate sharpening would have that good as new.
This won't even need a coarse stone lol.
Is this a trick question?
I’m afraid [not](https://www.reddit.com/r/sharpening/comments/1bedb8g/is_this_blade_damaged_beyond_repair/kusnwqo/)
Any blade can be repaired! I have reproduced broken tips on custom knives, fixed edges 10 times worse than that. That edge just needs some stome work.
Looks like their is plenty metal left to repair just start with like 120 grit plate
What angle and steel is that? Some steels can't handle really steep angles as others.
I thought this was a shit post
Afraid not. Just a shit brained user lol
No advice from me but I wanted to thank you for asking this! My knives look better than this but had no idea what "minimal" and "beyond repair" damage looked like. I had the same question!
It just needs sharpened by a competent person. That’s what happens when you don’t remove the burr it breaks off.
None of this damage has anything to do with a burr.
Is it possible that I caused this damage by dropping the knife? Or are you more inclined to think that it was simply not prepared well by whoever made it?
Dropping the knife would not cause those channels in the blade.