# My name is Chico, a dealer in crappy knives.



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

As most of you know, I am a recent refugee from another forum, and gracious and thankful Denton let's me call myself a "prepper member."

I have been an armed bill collector, a member of a bike club, and now technically a "knife sharpener." More accurately, I am one of the known five who are "polishers." Dwade Hawley, a Canadian resident, is perhaps the best polisher in the world, better than most Japanese craftsmen. The close second is one of my best friends, Rob Babcock, who has forgotten more about knives than Jim Bowie himself. I'm proud to take the hind "third."

Anyone can polish a 3,000 dollar Hattori hammered and folded kitchen knife--if you can find one, and my wife has three of them, calling them her 'vegetable knives.' Within twenty minutes, and with only three expensive stones, I could teach Annie how to polish an Hattori. Ahhh, but polishing crap is the true art form, most people cannot afford the best. That's how I make a living.

Below is what a polisher's work station looks like, and that small pile of dirty polishing stones is worth several thousand dollars. Only one man in America can get real-deal polishing stones, and that's Ken Schwartz. He made the brave move to garner two Japanese businessmen who sell him real rocks. Ken cuts them down to 1x6 stones with a "water saw," then fits them to the best and sturdiest polishing fixture, the Edge Pro. _We cannot work without these items_.

To dramatize my point, I took the crappiest knife on the planet--a CRKT Monashee folder, and polished it--see the picture. To give you some idea of that finish, a doctor's scalpel is about 15K to 25K. The edge of a properly polished knife is roughly 3 million grit, with a folded steel knife clocking in at 5.4 million grit.

I show all the edges as they are processed. It is my policy to place the edge of a freshly polished knife on The Queen of Heart's eye, who now has been working for me for about twenty years. If I lose that girl, I'll have to retire. It's easy to find all the knives on that Queen.

To conclude, I'm happy to be here, I'll help anyone when I can, I'm grateful to Denton and Annie, and I'd like to be a good member here. I wanted you to know who I was, warts and all.

_Click on to enlarge pictures_.


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Not only are you one of us but you are also our go-to Knife Man.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Well, I'm flattered, but it's the "edge" that's my bailiwick. I know lots of other blade-heads who help me with repairs. The two knives I'm packing right now are shown below. Yes, the blades are copper plated--and worth the price.

_Click on picture to enlarge_.


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