Cheaper knives to practice on?

So I'm enjoying this journey for the past few months, but I want to practice on cheaper knives.

There are ton's of cheap used carbon kitchen knives on Ebay for under $20.

Any recommendations solely for the purposes of practicing? I'm talking cheap here.

The recommendations on this forum have basically been practice on your good knives. I appreciate that, but I have already sharpened my more expensive knives!

I'm eager to continuing working on sharpening skills and want more knives to practice on.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Sounds like a good plan to me. Old carbon, e.g. classic Sabatier, are often held up as good steel worth restoring. Some of the profiles & grinds are probably different than your J-Knives though.

Maybe you can also find beat low-end knives you could restore for practice. (E.g. Tojiro DP is often suggested as a beginners knife because, even new, it's pretty cheap & has good'ish steel. But I think, at best, it is a project from the manufacturer with it's crude finish, but that's the sort of thing that would give you lots of practice. Ease the spine & choil, fix a chip or two, reshape or replace it's clunky handle, before long you're a master.... )

What you don't want is some of the cheap soft mushy junk that's out there, especially the mass market stainless. The Sharpening sub-forum is full of discussions on how to successfully sharpen this class of knife (for friends & family, of course ) and it seems to require special stones & technique to do well efficiently.

jIf you pick out a couple Forgecraft in styles that you like - chef, butcher knife, boning knife, cleaver - you can pick up some sub $20 blades that will actually be useful knives when they've been shown some love.

Great. i just purchased a forgecraft on ebay for $15. i look forward to practicing on it!

Ask friends and family if you can sharpen their blades for them

You guys think something like a Tojiro is a project from the factory then check out the recently brought back Old Hickory Cooks knife. It is almost as thick behind the edge as it is at the spine and the tip is 3mm thick. It is not a project knife, it is a knife blank.

To me the issue with Tojiro isn't so much the thick grind but the unacceptable handles and the super sharp choil edges

Those are simple fixes and issues found on much more expensive knives too.

StonedEdge said:

the super sharp choil edges

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If only there was a way to deal with this...

StonedEdge said:

To me the issue with Tojiro isn't so much the thick grind but the unacceptable handles and the super sharp choil edges

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Yeah, even the much thinner ground HSPS versions have this problem.

To the point of the OP, learning to dull and sharpen go hand in hand.
Having more edges to work maybe helps get over the stage-fright.

HRC_64 said:

If only there was a way to deal with this...

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Love it! Haha

Very true tho those are easy fixes although I can't say I've ever tried to do a re-handle

Old carbons are a lot of fun but you should expect very serious issues that require much work -- like a reverse belly and a protruding heel -- or are making it just unusable -- like serious overgrinds. Hard to see from a photo.

A guy brought me a couple Forgecraft chef knives that belonged to his grandfather. They were a project. The Hickory handles needed work but came out nice in the end. I thinned both knives on my Kalamazoo 1x42 sander & bucket of water. After thinning and sharpening they cut well. I had fun fixing them up.

I read that the hoz. lines on the top of blade are a what the large band saw blades had in the Timber mills so they would run cooler with less friction. The worn out saw blades were cheap steel for knife makers. I believe these are from the 1950's.

You do not have to limit your sharpening to knives. Wood Chisels, Garden tools, Machete :viking:

What happened to the knives you have before. Just practice on your old knives.

Razor said:

What happened to the knives you have before. Just practice on your old knives.

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I did this and it was OK but they were Western stainless and the sharpening is a little different in angle, ease of sharpening, sharpness of the final edge, ease of deburring and sharpening feel. Also, the stones required are different. It's by no means a useless thing to do but it's not exactly the same. And it is kinda fun fixing other people's neglected knives.

However, I sometimes wonder whether the better option is to start with a cheapish knife made from a basic carbon steel.

Nemo said:

I did this and it was OK but they were Western stainless and the sharpening is a little different in angle, ease of sharpening, sharpness of the final edge, ease of deburring and sharpening feel. Also, the stones required are different. It's by no means a useless thing to do but it's not exactly the same. And it is kinda fun fixing other people's neglected knives.

However, I sometimes wonder whether the better option is to start with a cheapish knife made from a basic carbon steel.

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You are still rubbing steel on a rock. Sounds like you already have knowledge, feel and experience. You are ready for the mound. Batter up.

Nemo said:

....Also, the stones required are different.

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Would not want to give a new reader the impression that more than a basic stone set-up is required to sharpen with. Sure most of us are rock junkies and have more than a few but "required"? Nah.

daveb said:

Would not want to give a new reader the impression that more than a basic stone set-up is required to sharpen with. Sure most of us are rock junkies and have more than a few but "required"? Nah.

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Yeah, good point.

I guess I was trying to explain that they sharpen differently.

basic Old Hickory knives are good to practice on, the 1095 steel they use can be made shaving sharp with not much work.

scott.livesey said:

basic Old Hickory knives are good to practice on, the 1095 steel they use can be made shaving sharp with not much work.

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I agree, mostly, but if you buy the cooks knife be prepared for at least 3 hours of thinning. Sure, you can make it cut paper with ease the way it is out of the box but good luck getting it to move through food as it is as thick behind the edge and at the tip as it is at the spine. Better suited for splitting logs...The steel is easy to sharpen, though. That model is 1074 rather than 1095. Interestingly it seems to be much less reactive for whatever reason. (I use one as my lobster/chocolate/nuts knife.) A good total project to practice thinning, sharpening, rounding choil/spine and even trying your hand at a home re-handle.

K813zra said:

I agree, mostly, but if you buy the cooks knife be prepared for at least 3 hours of thinning. Sure, you can make it cut paper with ease the way it is out of the box but good luck getting it to move through food as it is as thick behind the edge and at the tip as it is at the spine. Better suited for splitting logs...The steel is easy to sharpen, though. That model is 1074 rather than 1095. Interestingly it seems to be much less reactive for whatever reason. (I use one as my lobster/chocolate/nuts knife.) A good total project to practice thinning, sharpening, rounding choil/spine and even trying your hand at a home re-handle.

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and you can find new ones on sale for less than $15. another option would be https://hydestore.com/hyde-tools-50450-regular-square-point-knife-5-wood-handle.html blades are 80CrV2 at Rc58-59(ones I tested) and are easy to take to a full flat grind with microbevel only. use them in my shop and when fishing

Agree about thin carbons to start with. In Europe I advise a basic Robert Herder, e.g. a Buckel breakfast knife for some €17.

Chinese cleavers are great.

I love to bring old carbon steel knives back to life, I would personally focus on those. Some, not all, older stainless can leave a lot to be desired. I used to run craigslist ads looking for old carbon kitchen knives and had luck. I specifically stated "no stainless steel knives including stainless carving sets"

I do love old carbons, but most come with serious issues asking for lost of work. Severe need of thinning, tip correction, protruding heel, reverse belly.
Better get a cheap but thin new carbon knife for little money.

Ask your friends and family if they want their knives sharpened

... and expect ages of thinning soft stainless, which is highly abrasion resistant, with an uncertain result. No good idea if you want to get the basics: raising and chasing a burr, and getting rid of it.

Benuser said:

... and expect ages of thinning soft stainless, which is highly abrasion resistant, with an uncertain result. No good idea if you want to get the basics: raising and chasing a burr, and getting rid of it.

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That is a good way to blow through your plate and coarse grit stone quickly...Been there! Unless you have family members that have okay knives but I didn't. I do now as I pass out FKMs as gifts every season. It has been well received and it does not pain me as much when family and friends need some sharpening.