I have a dull old Ginsu knife. Is there anything I can do with it
Do you have a sharpening service where you live?
There are major supermarkets with meat depts, and a butcher stores, but I expect that would cost more than the knife itself.
I don’t think those are the kind of places that would offer such a service. Maybe try a kitchenware store (not big box).
I’ve never paid more than $5 to have any of my knives sharpened
their site offers a partnership with knifeaid.com
https://ginsu.com/pages/care-use
the scallop edge is not commonly accepted for sharpening -
if the scallops have finer serrations, , , , not at all.
typically you send it in for ‘sharpening’ and they send you a new knife.
Depends on how you feel about the knife. I’d be tempted to buy a couple of whetstones in a couple of grits (say, 600-800 and 1200-1500) and go to school. Watch some YT videos on knife sharpening and give it a try. At worst you’ll ruin a knife that, let’s face it, wasn’t that great to begin with. At best, the knife will be serviceably sharp and you’ll have acquired a new skill. Keep the knife to practice your sharpening stroke until you’ve got some muscle memory.
I have whetstones, but I feel the odds of me messing it up are not in my favor.
Thanks, I’ll check that out, but if I recall correctly, the one thing that sticks in my mind from the time years ago when I purchased is their replacement warranty does not include the shipping fee. Customer pays.
With respect to the other advice you’re getting, no, there’s really nothing you can or should even try to do.
This is a finely-serrated blade, and the serrations extend a good way above the edge. I guarantee no one but Ginsu has the grinding apparatus to recut/resharpen that same pattern. What that means is, to salvage this knife, the serrations must be ground completely away, and a new edge put on. This may or may not involve reprofiling the entire blade (See where the serrations end before the heel? All that has to go, too.)
Any competent knife sharpener would charge you FAR more than this knife is worth, and what you’d get back would be a fundamentally different blade. If there’s some hidden sentimental attachment here, I leave that to you.
If you liked this Ginsu when it was new, find a new one. That’s my advice.
You could get a nice but not too expensive stone and give it a whirl. I am partial to the house brand from Sharpening Supplies. It might improve it. If not, at least you have a stone to show for it. I would not try a traditional straight sharpening stroke. I would lay the blade on the stone at a natural angle and use an oval motion.
The first few hours would be best spent with a mill bastard file…
Buy a new knife.
For these kind of serrated knives, a professional or you can simply grind out the teeth and start a straight edge. The Ginsu probably wasn’t too expensive, right? Maybe it is best to spend your time and money on a new knife in this case.
That sucker will go through a beer can, then a tomato. Buy a new one.
ISTR it’ll also hack tree branches!
Then, cut right through a tomato. The photoshows it’s single bevel. I didn’t know that about the Ginsus. Should have gotten them when I could.