Can a tool get dull just sitting there?

[Robert Engel]

Hey all you sharpening gurus, several times I pick up a plane or chisel that I know was freshly sharpened when I put it away.

I start using it and I know its not optimum, a quick refresh brings it back.

Am I crazy thinking there is such a thing as "micro corrosion"?

All my hand tools are kept in a climate controlled room but, where I live the lowest I can get the humidity is about 60%.

Thoughts?

[Andrew Seemann]

I don't notice a loss in sharpness over time in my commonly used tools. However the humidity in my shop during woodworking season tends to be between 5% and 40% although not sure if that matters as long as there isn't condensation on them. For less used tools, I don't remember how sharp they were last time I used them

[Jim Koepke]

Hey all you sharpening gurus, several times I pick up a plane or chisel that I know was freshly sharpened when I put it away.

When it was put away, was the blade in contact with the surface where it was resting?

With such high humidity it might be micro rusting.

jtk

[mike holden]

Another possibility is that your perception of what is sharp has changed. The more you sharpen, the better you get. The tool may have been "sharp" by your perception when it was sharpened, but with your latest feeling of what "sharp" is, it is no longer sharp. That is, YOU changed, not the tool.
This is a good thing.
Mike

[Bill Houghton]

In the night, woodworker's elves steal into your shop and make things. Unlike cobbler's elves, who are devoted to the cobblers in whose shops they live, woodworker's elves sell their stuff on the elf market, so they clean up after themselves, and you never realize they were there, until you try to find that really sweet piece of figured maple you remember getting, only to discover it gone.

[James Pallas]

I don’t think the edge is less sharp, it is dirty however. Once I got in the habit of wiping the tool down with my oily rag before using that felling of less sharp went away. I found that feeling especially with waxed tools. I think the wax hardens or something that makes the tool feel sticky. A quick wipe usually cures the issue. This is not scientific of course. I am guilty of not putting a tool away sharp sometimes. If you asked me I would probably say I sharpened it because I try to remember.
Jim

[Simon MacGowen]

In a knife forum, I came across someone reporting knife getting dull sitting in pocket, and the consensus was that edge corrosion/edge oxidation could be the cause if it really happened. Sometimes, it could be the in-the-head thing, you know.

Your room is climate-controlled, but it may not rule out corrosion as there is still moisture in the air. Do you treat your tools for rust prevention? I find Moovit oil the best rust prevention solution after trying various types of media, including the Camelia oil which was not as effective as I was led to believe.

Simon

[Richard Jones]

^^^ I've had the same thing happen with an AS Spyderco, but not my AS kitchen knives. I also think Camellia oil is overrated.

To respond to the OP, yes, they get dull when you don't use them. They must, because most of mine are dull every time I want to use them......

[Tyler Bancroft]

If it's something that's happening often, you could try storing some tools with a heavy oil coat to see if it prevents it. Also, humidity isn't the only thing that can cause corrosion - if you use bleach in the vicinity of your shop, the fumes do a real number on iron and steel.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

No, I have never noticed that (never have claimed to be a guru though, so keep that in mind).

[Vincent Tai]

Robert,

The owner of Tools for Woodworking (Joel M) wrote about this briefly in a blog post. I can't remember the specifics but I'm sure its there. Perhaps worth a search. It's too dry where I live and I don't go long enough without sharpening for any micro corrosion to happen. It certainly sounds possible. I once was shaving a patch on my leg with a freshly sharpened knife and there was some hydrogen peroxide on the skin (I was shaving off the area around a very deep cut) and the rusting was almost instantaneous. I have made rusting solution for some other tasks and a minute in it can do some real work. An overnight or couple days of a tool sitting in somewhat humid air; perhaps the very leading edge can be affected enough where you feel that change.

[Tom M King]

Not in my airtight, waterproof toolboxes, wrapped in a cloth, with a desiccant cannister in the box with the tools. I don't even retract the blades. It's ready to work when I take a tool out of a box.

[Simon MacGowen]

I don't even retract the blades.

Neither do I, as I often need the same setting when I resume my work, the next day or some other time. I do not lay my plane on its side, either. Some people like to preach theories; I prefer going by what works in my shop.

Simon

[James Pallas]

Neither do I, as I often need the same setting when I resume my work, the next day or some other time. I do not lay my plane on its side, either. Some people like to preach theories; I prefer going by what works in my shop.

Simon

i don't lay planes on the side either but I do keep a kick board on the bench to set them on. Not because I worry about dulling, I just don't like all the little digs in the bench if I happen to scoot them a bit when picking them up.
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

i don't lay planes on the side either but I do keep a kick board on the bench to set them on. Not because I worry about dulling, I just don't like all the little digs in the bench if I happen to scoot them a bit when picking them up.
Jim

This is mostly why mine rest on their sides. When they don't there is usually a scrap of wood under the toe.

Even with these precautions my bench does lose an occasional shaving.

jtk