View Full Version : Durable work knives
I'm just wondering about knives for work and being knowledgable chaps I thought I'd put it to you. At work we use knives a lot, mainly to cut insulation type of materials, threads and other fibrous based mats, pads or sheets. The trouble is we seem to go through them very quickly. By quickly I mean with sharpening they go from a kitchen carving knife to a paring or fillet knife in a monthy or two. I admit they aren't the most expensive knives we use but I doubt general kitchen knives such as found in supermarkets are a particularly bad steel.
Two criteria, cheap and cheap. :D
Seriously can any knife be found that is suitable for rough use and cutting glass fibre or mineral fibre be suggested? I just got thinking having just received a clipper courtesy of 'Royal Mail and remembered some forest school knives not too disimilar to Clippers. Got me thinking that a cheap and chearful bushcraft knife might last longer. What do you think?
Just so you know by rough use I mean the guys sharpen it themselves on grinding wheels and They don't exactly use it to get a nice edge then work down the grits to hone it like someone who knows what they're doing. They grind it until it looks sharp then carry on working. Some of their knives have developed a narro bit near the handle with a widening towards the point before it tapers to the point like a fillet knife. They also sometimes sharpen the back of the knife too.
Any suggestions would be most helpful. The budget isn't as high as Fallkniven knives BTW, more like a clipper or cheaper, but if something does last it is likely that we'll end up buying quite a few.
John Fenna
03-03-2010, 14:49
It sounds like the problem is more in the sharpening system than in the knives!
Little and often on a butchers steel should keep the knives sharp without removing too much steel....
defiantly over sharpening is the problem no knife is going to last long on a grinder every day etc
ATB
Duncan
I guessed that. Wishful thinking that there was a fancy knife out there for a few quid that could last a few heavy hands and a grinding wheel. BTW I edited that before posting to be more polite.
I guess the trouble now is how to tell people when they think they know better. Just to give you an idea how bad the knives get they only throw them away when the blade becomes too flexible to apply pressure to cut anything. Then they get used on the stitchers to cut thread until the 9-10" blade ends up about 3/4" LONG!
I think we'll just have to raid the pound shop for kitchen knives every month. If we're going to grind them away might as well just use the cheapest ones available.
Thanks guys.
Chris the Cat
03-03-2010, 15:20
Mora make a carpet/roofing felt/leather knife.
The 175,any good!?
C da C.
Mora Viking £2.49 from Clas Ohlson But still not gonna last long on a grinder. Better with a bit of 2"x1" with some light emery cloth glued to it for sharpening
Don't know how thick the various materials are, or how long a blade you need. For that kind of rough work, I use box cutters with replaceable blades. Some models retract the blade into the handle when not in use, others fold like a regular folder. Takes a couple of seconds to swap out the old blade for a razor sharp new one.
I guessed that. Wishful thinking that there was a fancy knife out there for a few quid that could last a few heavy hands and a grinding wheel. BTW I edited that before posting to be more polite.
I guess the trouble now is how to tell people when they think they know better. Just to give you an idea how bad the knives get they only throw them away when the blade becomes too flexible to apply pressure to cut anything. Then they get used on the stitchers to cut thread until the 9-10" blade ends up about 3/4" LONG!
I think we'll just have to raid the pound shop for kitchen knives every month. If we're going to grind them away might as well just use the cheapest ones available.
Thanks guys.
only think i cant think of is to not let them sharpens but gather them up and get one or 2 people trained to do it as a bulk job
trouble is that will probebly cost more than you save :rolleyes:
same with training every body :rolleyes:
ATB
Duncan
Actually serrations would work i think. I use an old saw for cutting rock silk type stuff
HillBill
03-03-2010, 18:08
Get a wetstone grinder with a jig, They will struggle to over do it then, sounds like the knives will have lost their tempers too with all that metal on stone action. You can get one cheap on ebay
Failing that, introduce them to a mousemat some wet and dry, and a convex edge.
robin wood
03-03-2010, 19:30
Whip the stone off their grinder and replace with a hard felt wheel and buffing compound, they will love it, their knives will be infinitely sharper and also last infinitely longer. The grinder will really be doing a very crap job of sharpening which is why they keep going back to it in the hopes it might get sharp. Tell them it is the way professional Sheffield knifemakers finish a blade.
HillBill
03-03-2010, 21:39
Whip the stone off their grinder and replace with a hard felt wheel and buffing compound, they will love it, their knives will be infinitely sharper and also last infinitely longer. The grinder will really be doing a very crap job of sharpening which is why they keep going back to it in the hopes it might get sharp. Tell them it is the way professional Sheffield knifemakers finish a blade.
Best idea yet.:)
Bardster
03-03-2010, 22:00
What Robin says, and have a look at the Mora craftline series of knives, excellent value.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/category-Utility-Knives-and-Blades-813571.htm
http://www.heinnie.com/prodtype.asp?strPageHistory=ca tegory&numSearchStartRecord=0&strParents=92,304&CAT_ID=304
but only if sharpened on the felt wheel, they will be detroyed on a grinder just like any other blade.
+1 for the hard felt wheel and meduim buffing soap
i have used that to bring up a pitted rusted blade to usable sharpness in a few minutes
FreddyFish
09-03-2010, 22:03
http://brushbros.co.uk/buffingwheels.aspx
Well, I've just seen the knives the company has got. All I can say is it will take a long time for them to grind these knives down. The knives are what I would call a machete. The widest part of the blade is towards the point. The blade is about a foot long and it has some weight to it. It does have me more than a little worried consifering who will be using them. All I can say their little eys lit up like they'd been given a new toy and not in the same way that people on this forum would as a well-made bushy neither. Seriously disturbing. Still it meets company tick list of requirements, that is it must be cheap. They cost £1.99 each!!!! Now is that right? People go on about ease of obtaining knives, everything else in this place goes missing I wonder how long these will stay here. Must admit to having an eye on one myself.