And "no" means no.

[tanto]

Prying is the most common and as a screwdriver is the second most common.

Exactly - I wonder why they do not ask for screwdriver...

[gt0915]

I sharpened an ax for a guy and warned him it was VERY, VERY, sharp [and would shave] he walked over to a friend and said "lets see how sharp", then he ran his thumb down the blade - 4 or 5 stiches

I had the same thing happen with my mother in-laws kitchen knives, i repaired (wooden handles in the dish washer!!!), shaped (cutting for years on a fancy marble slab) and sharpened [truly shaving sharp] all her knives, she was so use to her knives being as blunt as bricks, well she almost took the end of her finger off with one of the knives, 4 stitches and 3 visits to the plastic surgeon, she's now a lot more careful and now cut on a wooden board, and it's true not many people know what a truly sharp knife is like.

[catavengercaptain]

Yep I agree with Tanto I keep a cheapo to loan out. I also have to admit that I am guilty of prying with a knife & using one for a screwdriver but it's MY knife so I will do with it what I wish.

[sandbar]

I don't loan an edge to anyone and if they were to get upset, I easily find out they aren't a friend, so it doesn't matter, if I say no.

I certainly won't lend an edge to a stranger. What if they need my tool to rob me? Worse yet, what if they are a mass murder looking for an edge to cut with? LOL

I am lucky at the end of this thought, because all of my friends have their own knives, so I don't have to worry about it much. I can say this with a great degree of certainty. Nobody handles my blade like I do, simply because, I had to pay for it.

I also like the idea of having a china knife on stand by. This would be a great way to skate right through a sticky situation, if need be.

[Jeff]

I sharpened an ax for a guy and warned him it was VERY, VERY, sharp [and would shave] he walked over to a friend and said "lets see how sharp", then he ran his thumb down the blade - 4 or 5 stiches

My hands have scars that date back years and years from work around sharp things. To me it's part of the deal. Glass got 2 of my tendons in my left hand in 99' ( real fun one ) but when I received some stuff from cowboy Rich................... The blade on a brass Italian leverlock he gave me can split hairs He sharpened it so well that simply a touch almost split my hand open from the lightest touch (and I'm careful). It may be the sharpest knife I have.

[13blades]

I have two main knives I carry on a day to day basis. One is a tiny bone handled sheffield with a stainless blade that I inherited from a grand aunt, and the other is a cheap thing that I use at work, a $10 smith and wesson piece of junk that I can punish mercilessly. But I wouldn't loan out either.
I was showing a friend of mine the most recent butterfly knife I had made a couple of weeks ago. He opened it, laughed, called it a butter knife, and immediately cut himself with it.

On another note, I am EXCITED! And sorry to take this thread in a different direction but I would feel bad starting a new one for this. I have been reading this forum on and off for almost nine years. About the same amount of time I have been drooling over italian stilettos on SKM. And now I am about to receive my first ever shipment from SKM. Two do it your self nines, one black and one white acrylic. Why such boring handles you ask? Because I am sort of testing the waters with importing them and didn't want to risk an expensive seizure just yet. Why wait so long you ask? I was worried they would be seized and so I have been managing the switch addiction by importing leverletto and mikov kits on top of the butterfly knives I make. I do have two Italian stilettos. One is a 9 Frank Beltrame switch model, black, and the other is a 13 frank beltrame. Both are broken. I need replacements. Lots, and lots, and lots, of replacements.
And I now know they got here because DHL shipping called me today and said they couldn't find my address to deliver them DAMN IT! Ah well. I'll have them tomorrow.
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please excuse this diversion from the topic, and the ranting and raving etc.

[sandbar]

If you are worried about importing, then buy them from a dealer within the usa or is there a reason you don't?

[Phil Elmore]

I sharpened an ax for a guy and warned him it was VERY, VERY, sharp [and would shave] he walked over to a friend and said "lets see how sharp", then he ran his thumb down the blade - 4 or 5 stiches

My hands have scars that date back years and years from work around sharp things. To me it's part of the deal. Glass got 2 of my tendons in my left hand in 99' ( real fun one ) but when I received some stuff from cowboy Rich................... The blade on a brass Italian leverlock he gave me can split hairs He sharpened it so well that simply a touch almost split my hand open from the lightest touch (and I'm careful). It may be the sharpest knife I have.

Recently, while meeting a couple of friends, I took the time to sharpen up their much-abused or neglected knives. (The edge geometry on the folding CRKT Hissatsu is a real pain.) My friend's girlfriend had an old Byrd folder that sharpened up very nicely thanks to its thin blade, and I even managed to get a razor edge on an old Gerber airweight that looked like it had been seeing duty as a butter knife. Whenever I put an edge on somebody's knife for them, I do warn them that now they have something that cuts. Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don't.

[13blades]

Sandbar, to my knowledge there are no dealers here in New Zealand. It is a small place. Population only four million. I have been to every knife show and now go to every gun show and have met only one person who had a few for sale at an insane cost. $300 NZD minimum for the bottom of the line Italian stiletto. I'm the closest to a dealer so far that I am aware of. And I only do mikovs and leverlettos at the moment. It would be great to find someone though.

[Rogue]

I tend to keep a Victorinox fixed blade utility knife on me at all times. Their sharp and at $7 a piece their expendable. (though I'm so cheap I'll still re-sharpen and regrind them)

I feel free to loan them out (I always have five or six other nice knives on me for my own use) Then when someone abuses my little $7 knife I give them hell about it. My co worker even said "what's the big deal the company orders them by the box" to which I replied "True but that one is mine if you want to abuse one get your own!!"

I'll still loan it to him (cause arguing would make my job slower) but it's the only one I'll loan to him!

[thatoneguy]

I have always wondered what peoples obsession with touching the blade is? Even my brother, after i sharpen a knife the first thing he does is ru it over his thumb to see if it is REALLY sharp. Of course, knowing me all of this time, he can do it without getting hurt, but still! I like the "fingernail method" to test the blade, Just run it over you're fingenail, the more it catches, the sharper it is.