Is This Knife Worth Sharpening? — or — Can This Knife Be Sharpened?

I get these two questions a lot:
        Is This Knife Worth Sharpening?
        Can This Knife Be Sharpened?

Can This Knife Be Sharpened?

It seems a lot of people think that as a knife gets old it can't be sharpened. I don't know where that idea comes from, but any knife can be sharpened.

That is it can be sharpened as long as the blade still exists. Each sharpening removes material from the blade. Over time the blade gets skinnier and skinnier.

As the years roll by — or even as the generations roll by — eventually the knife blade is so small that it is past its life span. But assuming that the blade is good, then the knife can be sharpened.

The reasons that you may not wish to keep a knife is if the handle is falling apart, or the knife is just not what you like anymore.

My metaphor is a pencil. A pencil can always be sharpened until it gets too short — but you may not want to sharpen the pencil and keep it — if the eraser is worn off or it's too chewed up for example.

Old Knives to be Sharpened

I sharpened these knives for a customer at Lunardi's San Bruno the other day. As you can see the Chicago Cutlery paring knife is a bit worse for wear (it was in a battle with the garbage grinder) and the Dexter (third from top) has been sharpened so much that the blade is just a small bar. This Dexter knife is the favorite knife of my customer's mother, she's 96. She likes the knife and wants it sharp. I sharpened it.

The point is if you like the knife and want to use it, then use it sharp. If you feel the knife is beyond its serviceable life — or are tired of it — then replace it.

PS: I always have a nice selection of knives for sale...

Giant Old F. Dick Chef's Knife

Here is another knife to talk about. This is a giant, old F. Dick chef's knife. This was brought to me also at Lunardi's San Bruno to be sharpened. The customer said he found it buried in his backyard.

He wanted it sharpened — but I suspect not to use it, but just to have it a way a knife should be, sharp and ready to go.

I get some pretty inexpensive knives brought to me to be sharpened, many which I think would be best if they were replaced — but usually the customer likes the knife and wants to keep it. I'm sure once the customer took a nice well made knife on a test drive they would fall in love with it.

Thinking about it, I guess once a customer approaches me with a knife, then they have already made the decision.