Cheap is expensive applies quite well when it comes to knives. When you use a cheap dull knife in your kitchen, you are more likely to injure yourself. That seemingly cheap $1 knife can lead to injuries that can set you back a couple of hundred dollars. It’s just not worth it. That said, if you have strong knife sharpening skills, you should be in a position to make even a cheap knife cut like a top-class one worth hundreds of dollars.
Low-cost blades are frequently manufactured of good-quality steel. They are machine carved to keep production costs down and never receive the labor-intensive finishing touch that would turn them into superb knives. This is where hand sharpening with whetstones comes in. It can turn a $1 knife into a sharp knife if the steel is of adequate quality.
However, this really shouldn’t be a motivation to start buying up cheap knives hoping to transform them into sharp ones. One thing you need to understand is that it takes time to master such sharpening skills. The opportunity cost is simply too high. You would be better off buying a quality knife and spend that time engaging in other productive activities. You can even use that time perfecting your cooking skills. The list of better things to do is limitless.
Besides, cheap knives are not long-lasting. You may sharpen it to perfection today, but in a few days, it will have lost its edge again. Over time, you will realize that you spend more time trying to sharpen such a knife than you do cooking. That beats the whole purpose of sharpening it in the first place. Then there is the issue of long-term cost. If the knife keeps losing its edge every time you use it, then it means you will have bought $1 knives that cost more than you would have spent on one good knife in a year.