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Sharpening My Bosses Knife

duke762

Rose to the occasion
My boss is an engineer and is in charge of all the engineers and skilled trades departments. Some body showed him an edge I put on their knife and he decided he want one of his sharpened that way.

So he hands me this 7" no name, stainless steel bowie with a brass guard, stacked leather handle and aluminum pommel. The guard is black with verdigris, the pommel is loose and falling off and beat to heck and the leather looks like garbage. Parts were even missing from the handle allowing !/4" of threads from the tang to hang out the end. Geez.... I was shocked an engineer would own a knife in this state of neglect. It appears the factory never put any bevels on the blade instead opting for a quickly done belt sanded edge of questionable geometry. I decided a minor restore was in order. Well, maybe it's an engineer thing to let your knife get that way but he's getting back an example of an OCD tool makers work

This is a labor of love for me. I adore getting a piece of junk from some one and surprising them with a razor sharp edge and cosmetic touch ups. Give the dude back something he can be proud of and brag to his friends about. Usually my edges are the sharpest thing they have ever handled.

I polished up the guard and pommel, resurfaced the leather and made a universal language translator (skull crusher) to cover the extra tang. Hope he likes it... In turning my attention to the edge I started with a medium India to laboriously grind some proper bevels on this beast. That took forever by the way. I proceeded with my usual knife type progression ending on a black Ark where I'm going for maximum hair pop.

Around about lap 8 or 900 on the black Ark I was questioning my sanity and OCD realizing I've probably put 50+ hours into this edge alone. I think I could have done 2 or 3 carbon steel knives in the time it's taking to baby this stainless into shape.

That made me realize something profound.... I really love doing this!

My boss has been with us for about a year and is the first guy in his position in my 45 years of experience, that I've ever had a lick of respect or admiration for. If you are asking the question... No I am not a suck up. We finally got a good one and he's top notch.

Well, a few more laps on the Ark and I'm calling this one done. Good playlist, an adult beverage or 3 and something to sharpen. It's the most fun I can have with my cloths on.
 

lasta

Blade Biter
I also find sharpening therapeutic! Though, I do hope the 50 hours was the whole knife and not just the blade! 50 minutes would have me tossing the thing in the sink.

BTW, pictures? Eager to see what you did on the restoration end.
 

duke762

Rose to the occasion
Yup, 50hrs on the blades edge. I didn't do any real upgrades on the blades finish. Just sharpened it.
 

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I'm a little surprised that a boss would ask this type of favor from an employee. The boss is responsible for written performance evaluations of his subordinates, and I see a clear issue of potential conflict of interest at evaluation time.

The boss should take the high road. He should buy a new knife, or have it privately professionally-sharpened off site.
 
I'm a little surprised that a boss would ask this type of favor from an employee. The boss is responsible for written performance evaluations of his subordinates, and I see a clear issue of potential conflict of interest at evaluation time.

The boss should take the high road. He should buy a new knife, or have it privately professionally-sharpened off site.

I tend to agree that the boss should know better than to ask an employee for such a "favor". On the other hand, I see no harm in compensating (paying) for the work with his own funds. If his expectation is a "freebie", he's putting himself and the employee in a tough spot. You know: quid pro quo and all that.

But...maybe the work was done "on the clock", and the "boss" owns the shop. Lots of possibilities, and too little info, so rather than worry or judge, I'll just admire the result.

The knife looks fantastic. Very nice work. 🙂👍

I would love to have seen the "before" pictures.
 

Legion

Staff member
I'm a little surprised that a boss would ask this type of favor from an employee. The boss is responsible for written performance evaluations of his subordinates, and I see a clear issue of potential conflict of interest at evaluation time.

The boss should take the high road. He should buy a new knife, or have it privately professionally-sharpened off site.
Some people get along with their bosses.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Some people get along with their bosses.
I used to do favors for my boss all the time, and the favor was returned.
There was no conflict of interest at all because we were adult enough to keep our personal and professional lives separate and distinct.
We had many heated disagreements about work related issues, but that never affected us outside the workplace.
 
Nicely done! You need an Atoma 140 if you get many more edges like that. A synthetic 150-200 would speed it along nicely!

I've been voluntold to sharpen members' knives at the club. Some of them were never meant to have an edge... Anyways, if you love sharpening and restoring, stay away from flea markets and junk shops. There are too many projects to be found there! You're reminding me I have a 12" Sabatier I need to finish restoring if I ever find the gumption to work on it after the little one falls asleep and stays asleep.
 

duke762

Rose to the occasion
Yes, potential conflict of interest if one was so inclined to go down that road. No work performed on the clock. Boss is not the owner, it's a huge fortune 500 conglomerate with factories around the world. I try to take care of the "good guys" I come across. I refused any offers of pay in advance and after delivery. The big eyes and the big smile were payment enough........
 
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