I’m thinking about buying this. (I’m not planning to, but someone may.) They’ll pay for sharpening for the next 20 years, and I’m interested in what all that involves, as well as a typical operating regime for the blade and the rate it will dull.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time on knife boards with steel/carbon breakdowns, FWIW.
Not to mention that a company which is relying on Kickstarter to fund its production run is unlikely to be around to honor its promise of 20 years of free blades and servicing.
For 1/10th the price, I could get a decent old-school metal Lathe. I’d have to make a metal holding clamp to secure the handle (possibly lined with a soft material to limit scratching the work).
Once I get a bit hard enough to work with sapphire (I’m thinking carbon), its just a simple matter bringing the blade material slowly to zero on the X axis and then sliding the work along the Z axis to ensure an even edge.
Tell Ya What I’m Gonna Do: You buy me that Lathe, have it set up in my basement, and I’ll sharpen every one of your blades for free anytime you want. Deal?
Also according to them the blade is only 80 atoms wide or about 1/5000 the width of a human hair. That lathe (mill… whatever) had better come with an electron microscope.