Local knife sharpening and restoration work

[bigmike349]

Anyone know of a good local place that can sharpen and polish my knife? I have a Damascus bowie knife I got at auction that needs some serious professional sharpening and I need the sides smoothed/polished to remove some burrs. Would be nice to get a better sheath too. I'm located in Hanover md.


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[DanGuy48]

Anyone know of a good local place that can sharpen and polish my knife? I have a Damascus bowie knife I got at auction that needs some serious professional sharpening and I need the sides smoothed/polished to remove some burrs. Would be nice to get a better sheath too. I'm located in Hanover md.


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Not sure what you mean by local but this young guy has a really nice shop. It's worth a visit if you're in town. He's probably the largest William Henry stocking dealer in the entire mid-Atlantic and also has a lot of nice customs from out of state blade smiths as well as a very large inventory of the popular stuff. Best of all though, he really knows his stuff. Don't remember his name, young, thin, short hair and a few tats and piercings.

http://www.edgeworksonline.com/index.html

 

[ohen cepel]

Pretty sure his name is Sean, great guy to do business with and I would 2nd giving him a try. If he can't do it he will likely be able to refer you to someone who can.

 

[gunrunner]

His name is Sean Norris. He is the owner at edgeworks in Frederick, md. Great guy, he can fix you up.

 

[gunrunner]

Just to let you know. When you polish Damascus you remove the patina that both protects the steel and shows the fold lines between the different steels used. If it is deburred and smoothed on the flats the Damascus lines will vanish. An acid etchant will have to be reapplied to bring the pattern back into view. Then the edge sharpened. That's why you don't really see high polish Damascus steel. It must carry a patina. The secondary edge bevel will be the only polished portion of the blade.

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

What about our own tss1004? Justin has a custom knife business and is a valuable member on MDS. At the moment , he has a few of my knives for touching up.

 

[NickZac]

Just to let you know. When you polish Damascus you remove the patina that both protects the steel and shows the fold lines between the different steels used. If it is deburred and smoothed on the flats the Damascus lines will vanish. An acid etchant will have to be reapplied to bring the pattern back into view. Then the edge sharpened. That's why you don't really see high polish Damascus steel. It must carry a patina. The secondary edge bevel will be the only polished portion of the blade.

This. Great info BTW!

Any soft of chemical/cleaner/polish will alter the appearance of damascus, and often in visibly dramatic ways users find themselves unhappy with. Any time an abrasive is used, the risk of rust between the forged fold lines become a possible issue and the final pattern will either be weaker, different, or both. Sometimes even certain preservatives/protectants can alter the appearance of damascus...

Consequently, the price of working on damascus quickly adds up if it means having work done that will remove the original pattern which necessitates enhancement of the visible pattern that makes damascus so popular. But going with someone who specializes in working with damascus is worth using...even though it will be more expensive.

I once had one guy wreck an older damascus blade of mine when I hadn't been into knives very long. He removed the original pattern, used such a heavy abrasive that it exposed fold lines to rust by removing so much metal, and the forced acid etching he attempted to give it looked absolutely terrible...and he even did a terrible job sharpening by getting sharpening marks on the patterned blade. While those experiences are rare, it shows damascus to be a whole different beast from standard steel...

 

[gunrunner]

This. Great info BTW!

Any soft of chemical/cleaner/polish will alter the appearance of damascus, and often in visibly dramatic ways users find themselves unhappy with. Any time an abrasive is used, the risk of rust between the forged fold lines become a possible issue and the final pattern will either be weaker, different, or both. Sometimes even certain preservatives/protectants can alter the appearance of damascus...

Consequently, the price of working on damascus quickly adds up if it means having work done that will remove the original pattern which necessitates enhancement of the visible pattern that makes damascus so popular. But going with someone who specializes in working with damascus is worth using...even though it will be more expensive.

I once had one guy wreck an older damascus blade of mine when I hadn't been into knives very long. He removed the original pattern, used such a heavy abrasive that it exposed fold lines to rust by removing so much metal, and the forced acid etching he attempted to give it looked absolutely terrible...and he even did a terrible job sharpening by getting sharpening marks on the patterned blade. While those experiences are rare, it shows damascus to be a whole different beast from standard steel...

Thanks nick. Your post was quite full of useful info as well. I don't have any more Damascus blades. As all my blades are working knives. No show pieces here.

 

[NickZac]

Thanks nick. Your post was quite full of useful info as well. I don't have any more Damascus blades. As all my blades are working knives. No show pieces here.

Thanks! That experience kind of left a bad taste in my mouth with damascus. I've got a few damascus items in my case, but it was such a bad experience that I never really got over it. Plus, the last damascus blade I had (properly) refinished cost me as much as a case of 9mm...

And since then, we've seen a lot of new steels that really excel across the board and to some degree eliminates the need for folded steels. With newer steels like Carpenter CTS-XHP, 20V, Bohler M390, Crucible CPM-S35VN, S110V, M4, 3V, 10V and ELMAX (among others), I've really not been able to find a utility purpose of some of the more traditional steels given how capable and (for most) easy to maintain they are.

 

[gunrunner]

Thanks! That experience kind of left a bad taste in my mouth with damascus. I've got a few damascus items in my case, but it was such a bad experience that I never really got over it. Plus, the last damascus blade I had (properly) refinished cost me as much as a case of 9mm...

And since then, we've seen a lot of new steels that really excel across the board and to some degree eliminates the need for folded steels. With newer steels like Carpenter CTS-XHP, 20V, Bohler M390, Crucible CPM-S35VN, S110V, M4, 3V, 10V and ELMAX (among others), I've really not been able to find a utility purpose of some of the more traditional steels given how capable and (for most) easy to maintain they are.

Once again, you've pretty much said it all right there. It's very interesting to me though. Using and of course sharpening these different steels teaches you a lot about them. Plus it's fun to test all parts of these knives from the sheath to the sharpening. Working different edge angles and profiles on differing materials, it's an endless hobby really. Good stuff, knives.

 

[NickZac]

Once again, you've pretty much said it all right there. It's very interesting to me though. Using and of course sharpening these different steels teaches you a lot about them. Plus it's fun to test all parts of these knives from the sheath to the sharpening. Working different edge angles and profiles on differing materials, it's an endless hobby really. Good stuff, knives.

I generally enjoy sharpening and agree with you 100% on how steels can really vary. Especially Carpenter CTS-XHP/20C and Bohler M390, these are very bizarre steels because they are so easy to sharpen, yet are incredibly good at holding an edge and without brittleness.

There is one steel I despise sharpening...ZDP-189 pushed to it's upper limits. I have a few knives in it, but rarely use them as they take so long to touch up. Even on my EdgePro it takes forever. The 200 grain corse stone can barely remove metal on the ZDP-189 from early Spyderco solid ZDP blades. I have to use a 120 grit super-corse or a diamond rod to remove metal...and it wears the diamond rod like nothing else I have ever seen. Hardness on the initial sprint run Delica is 68-69+ HRC, with reports of measured levels exceeding 70-72 HRC. With an EdgePro, it's a few hour job. With anything else, it could be measured with a calendar. Awesome steel but it's own hardness is an inherent limitation. I've read individual reports of small makers getting ZDP-189 to the mid-70s...that would put me over the deep end.




I was thinking about our discussion on damascus last night and something dawned on me...let's say the OP decided to do the restoration by hand... As a general rule, one can purchase the tools to restore 10, 20, 50 or more knives for the cost of one high-end restoration. But would this hold true for damascus?

A Spyderco SharpMaker can bring the edge to where it needs to be easily...worst case with the purchase of the diamond stones to expedite setting the reprofiled edge (chances are the medium stones will be fine for this but just take a lot longer). So we reset the edge of the knife completely to, let's say, about 20 degrees a side...or something typical like that. Getting the edge there wouldn't be hard. Add a polishing tape or compound to bring the edge to a high-polish, and something like Eezox that is safe for delicate metal finishes. Would there be any other steps here?

For the handle, if it's wood that's an easy sanding/sealing DIY job, maybe add coloration for cosmetics and seal it with an enamel coat...couple of bucks for all the tools here, maybe an hour of work and a few of waiting. If the handle contains other items, most likely an abrasive can clean them and some sort of coating seal.

For the actual refinishing, is that something plausible for a DIY job? It would be the hardest part for sure. I've done acid etching and forced mustard patinas on a few high carbon steels (most notably 52100)...so the OP spends a little time on Google in get an idea how it works. For a standard carbon steel blade, it's pretty simple. So clean, polish to remove previous blade markings, seal?, etch/force the patina, and treat with a protectant that doesn't harm damascus like many products do?

With damascus...especially due to blades with tons of fold lines, I assume it is harder and must be done more carefully? What would be the next steps?...or would there have to be a step before? I assume the biggest difference from a cast carbon steel blade is a need to seal the fold lines to stop rust. But getting the pattern to follow the fold lines may not be easy either? Since it is a display knife, a working seal likely is less important but ensuring there is no oxidation inside these lines would have to be critical given the rust inside the fold will ultimately oxidize the knife and ruin the blade (possibly meaning different chemicals than what I use on carbon steels?).

 

[gunrunner]

As far as I know a PCB acid etchant is used to bring the pattern out between the fold lines. Then baking soda wash is used to neutralize the acid effect. Water will not remove the acid. It will continue to etch until neutralized. There are certain natural stones that will raise the pattern between the layers. All Japanese Damascus blades are done on natural water stones to bring up the pattern. It has to do with the varying grits present in certain natural stones. It puts a high polish on the edge and hard steel layers and a duller finish on the softer layers. Of course a nagura stone is also needed with the stone. If you try this with anything else it will blend the pattern together and sometimes make it invisible.

 

[Devil Dog]

Has anyone used Sean for sharpening and polishing? I was in his store a few years ago (great place) and IIRC he told me he didn't do sharpening. I could be remembering wrong though.

 

[Sam Salvati]

I do sharpening and minor restoration and repair, located in ellicott city.

 

[inkd]

Has anyone used Sean for sharpening and polishing? I was in his store a few years ago (great place) and IIRC he told me he didn't do sharpening. I could be remembering wrong though.

I sent a half dozen or so knives in to Burrbenders last week. A couple of my EDC carry knives and some cheap kitchen knives that my grandfather has had for years and loves.

Those kitchen knives were in rough shape, broken tip on one and just as dull as you could ever imagine.

Every one came back wicked sharp and the one with the broken tip was re-profiled.

More then happy with the service, just a couple day turn around time.

 

[Shamr0ck]

Has anyone used Sean for sharpening and polishing? I was in his store a few years ago (great place) and IIRC he told me he didn't do sharpening. I could be remembering wrong though.

Sean sharpened some of our cutco kitchen knives (paring and chef) about 4 months back. Reasonable charge and just a day or two. Chose to pay for it rather than ship back to CUTCO.

Best part about the CUTCO knives are the handles. Can't stand the steel - brittle and edge chips easily - but Sean got them sharp again


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Shamr0ck

 

[Qbeam]

I sent a half dozen or so knives in to Burrbenders last week. A couple of my EDC carry knives and some cheap kitchen knives that my grandfather has had for years and loves.

Those kitchen knives were in rough shape, broken tip on one and just as dull as you could ever imagine.

Every one came back wicked sharp and the one with the broken tip was re-profiled.

More then happy with the service, just a couple day turn around time.

Went to the mobile trailer at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville. Did my EDC and pocket knife while I was there. $5 per blade, price varies on the blade type. Good work, and would recommend them. They are there at Homestead on the weekends.

www.burrbenders.com

They have a mail in facility in Millersville.

Q

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

Second or third speaking up for Burrbenders. Great guy. Great work. I've had over a dozen knives sharpened there.

I can also recommend SamSalvati. He's a man of character. Damn good 'smith too. I've seen his work.

 

[Qbeam]

Does Sam make custom blade profiles?

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

Ask Sam...