Can a knife loose an edge sitting in a drawer?

[photodog]

I was rummaging around the garage last night and found an old hunting knife I had spend a good deal of time bringing it to a razor edge before I put it away a couple of years ago. I tried it out on a scrap piece of wood and it wouldn't cut worth 2 cents.
No one has used it, it's just been sitting in the drawer and was well oiled. So how did it lose its edge?
I'm starting to wonder if I'm loosing my edge or have the first stages of Alzheimer's.

[Clifford_Parker]

My guess is that though the edge was, and still is, "hair popping sharp" the bevel is, and was, incorrect for woodcarving.

A hunting knife usually has what I call a "working bevel" and is more chisel shaped than a carving knife which has a thin bevel. While both can be sharpened and honed to "razor sharpness" the hunting knife will stay sharp longer during "regular use" due to the thicker backing on the bevel while the carving knife will require stropping but glides through wood easier due to it's thinness.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

I know that if I spend too much time in front of the TV I seem to lose my edge a little so the same thing is probably true for a knife. Guess it's the old use it or lose it principle.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I am convinced that something about our atmosphere does dull the edge of tools when they just sit......not sure why, but if I have a very sharp just stropped tool and put it away, its not sharp and has to be restropped when I get it out again? This takes more that just a few days its seems, but happens?Cowboy

[FK]

I have read this statement for many years, the theory is that on carbon steel edges, the steel oxidizes and becomes dull with exposure to the atmosphere. Personally I have never experienced this,,,,,my tools always are wiped down with a silicone cloth or light oil when put away.

Regards,
Fred Krow

[Kenny_S]

Just a short and sweet answer, YES!

[squbrigg]

Gotta disagree ........ I have hunting knife in my drawer that is still as sharp as the day I last touched it up, must be 20 years ago. Shaved hair off my forearm with it last month when we bought new furnature, just to see if it was still sharp. Not that I'd use it for wood carving though, the bevel's all wrong, but she's a great skinning and boneing knife. Swedish steel.

Bob

[rick-in-seattle]

My experience is that the edge can degrade with time and exposure.
I sharpen most of the tools I take to shows. Months later a customer might order one of those tools and when I recheck the edge, it is less than perfectly sharp.

Also when I carve, I sharpen my knives; but the next time I carve they have lost the fine edge.
Of course that may be months later.Red Face

[MDWine]

I have taught hunter education for 25 years.

We do a demonstration with a 1 year old broadhead (arrowhead) and some rubberbands. After 1 year of just sitting around, the old broadhead does not cut a "semi-stretched" rubberband very well at all, and a new one, as you would expect, slices right through.

My guess is the thinner the edge, the easier it is to degrade (rust?)!

The lesson we teach is to maintain the edges on a broadhead and replace the razors every season!

[AlArchie]

Hmmmmmm.........seems to have differing opinions from several good carvers and "keepers-of-the-blades".

Photodog, I'd suggest that to answer your particular question about your particular blade, you get a good quality high power magnifier (30x or more) and take a good look at that edge. First wipe off any residual oil, and under good light, inspect the edge. Are there pitted areas? Is the surface dull, where it was once polished?

I don't have any idea exactly how thick the actual cutting edge of a sharpened blade is, but even though it has SOME thickness, it is very minute, and even a few microscopic oxidation points could effect the edge. Look it over closely and let us know what you find!

Al