Sharpening Obsessive Can No Longer Touch Dull Objects Without Involuntary Flinching

Woodworker and self-described 'edge geometry enthusiast' Craig Stonemason has developed what his therapist terms 'acute dullness aversion' — a conditioned response that causes him to involuntarily flinch when encountering objects he perceives as inadequately sharp. 'It started with kitchen knives,' Stonemason said, seated beside a sharpening station that occupies roughly 40 percent of his workshop. 'My wife was cutting a tomato with a knife that couldn't hold a zero-radius apex, and I had to leave the room. My body just rejected it.' The condition has expanded beyond knives. Stonemason reports physiological distress in the presence of butter knives ('a deliberate affront to metallurgy'), school scissors ('criminal'), credit cards ('acceptable geometry but poor steel'), and his seven-year-old daughter's crayons ('wax doesn't hold an edge and I know that intellectually, but my nervous system doesn't care'). Stonemason's sharpening regimen involves a progression through six waterstones, from 220 grit to 12,000 grit, followed by stropping on chromium oxide-loaded leather. He sharpens his workshop chisels 'every session,' his hand planes 'every thirty minutes of use,' and his pocket knife 'whenever it fails to shave arm hair,' which he tests approximately once per hour. 'A sharp tool is a safe tool,' Stonemason said, repeating what his therapist describes as 'his mantra, his identity, and the root of his presenting complaint.' His wife has noted that dinner preparation has become 'tense,' as Stonemason insists on sharpening every kitchen knife to workshop standards before cooking begins, a process that adds approximately 45 minutes to meal preparation. 'He sharpened a pizza cutter last week,' she said. 'It now cuts through the box, the counter, and my patience.' Stonemason is exploring treatment options but has declined medication, noting that 'the side effects might affect my fine motor control, and then where would my edges be?'