Thread: Edge Deterioration

I've had a J. Rodgers wedge sitting idle for 9 months, and it shave great when it went out of rotation, it just recently got back into the rotation, the shave was okish, and it improved with a trip back to the UF, but it's quite possible it's the improvement in honing skills that causes the "detoriation" on this one.

I've seen the same thing with the knives and planes in my shop, and have attributed it to the steel itself, mainly due to lack of any other reason being that my sharpening technique is the same for all knives as a group and all planes as a group. I've some plane blades that have remained extremely sharp with years of use, and one that I've had to sharpen twice in less than 18 months with no more use than any other plane.

This thread here talks about corrosion being one cause of edge deterioration. That's why I always hit mine a dozen or so licks on the horse after I shave and before I lubricate it. I can't say I have been at it long enough to judge how mine behave after they have been sitting awhile but I will try and notice in the future.