Peter Nowlan and Sharpening

Where and when did I learn to sharpen knives, another question I love to get asked:

I have memories of my father first teaching me on an oilstone about forty years ago, and while that instruction may not have been the best, it was the best at the time.  Those moments with my father were enough to ignite a flame inside of me, a passion for knife sharpening. So my journey began over 40 years ago.

Keep in mind that there were not You Tube videos, no computers, all I had were dull knives and some pretty crappy stones.  That flame never died and now I have had the pleasure of lessons from a Japanese gentleman, and I've met, on line, some exceptional people and knife sharpeners.

The leap to Japanese Water Stones changed my life and some amazing mentoring by a few folks in person and via Skype and just by emails.

However, there is one individual that has taught me more than anyone else, I consider his videos and on line mentoring through emails to be second to none.

Jon Broida of Japanese Knife Imports:
Jon Broida and Japanese Knife Imports

Jon has created what is undoubtedly the best knife sharpening videos on the Internet, they are very professionally made, they often include a theory and practical. So not only does he give us a demonstration of the many different facets of free hand sharpening but he explains everything first.  Very cool and extremely easy to follow. Although Jon sells Japanese Water Stones and exquisite Japanese hand made knives, there is never a sense of him "pushing" his products. In fact, you almost have to pull the information out of him regarding his line of stones.

One of things Jon taught me was about sharpness, I was able to get a kitchen knife extremely sharp a long time ago, that just came with practice and patience and passion. However, I have learned that it's not good enough for the knife to just be sharp, in fact,I  found out that in some cases, my knives were too sharp.

A chef needs to be able to feel the blade slicing through a tomato, it isn't good enough just to have it "run" through whatever he/she is cutting, there needs to be a sense, a tactile feel from the chef when using the knife. So I had to cut back a little and stop sharpening every single knife to such a high level that it left the chef not getting that certain touch that should accompany a well sharpened blade.

Having said that, I have not had any complaints but it is certainly a confidence booster to know that, through Jon, I now know that.

I hope to meet him some day in person, I need to thank him for what he has taught me.

I have already linked his videos, just go to is site, drool over the incredible knives he has and learn from him as I did.

Now do I look like a person who would lie to you?

I just put this picture of myself here because some folks probably are curious about the guy that sharpens their knives.

Take care friends.

The BEST knives

I am often asked "What is really good knife" or "What are the best knives you can buy?"

The best knife is a sharp knife and before I attempt to answer this,  keep in mind that even the best knives get dull, there are knives that cost thousands of dollars and even they need regular sharpening.

Believe it or not Cutco knives are not the best, I am sorry to dishearten the loyal Cutco owners that may be reading this.

Here in the Halifax area, the best knives we can buy, i.e. walk into a store like Paderno or Cucina Moderna the familiar brands like Wusthof, Henckels, Grohmann, and then there are the Global, Shun and MAC knives which are made in Japan.

Now out of those mentioned here, I would purchase one of the Japanese made knives but with care and maintenance, i.e. regular sharpening, any of the knives mentioned here will serve you well for many, many years. Grohmann knives, a favourite here in Nova Scotia are made in Pictou so for that reason alone, they are very popular. Easy to sharpen, priced well and a pretty good knife.

However, none of these are in the "best knives in the world" bracket. For these beauties, we need to venture online, unless living in Calgary or in the Toronto area.

I'm talking about hand made Japanese knives, the kind of very beautiful and exceptionally well crafted knives sold in places like TOSHO KNIFE ARTs and KNIFEWEAR and PAUL's FINEST. These are Canadian owned and operated and are very unique stores.

The difference when you purchase a knife from Tosho Knife Arts or Knifewear for example is that the owners, the folks you are buying from are very passionate and knowledgeable about their products. When you go in and ask questions about a knife at one of these places, it isn't like going into a hardware store and asking the sales person about the best barbecue to buy. You should know that the people showing you the knife that interests you have been to Japan, they have seen and talked to the artisans who made the knife. They are world class sharpeners as well, I can only dream of walking into one of these places and buying a knife.  On line purchasing however is the way to go if you can't visit in person.

So what knives am I talking about, what brands. Well the knives are named after the artisan who designed and made the knives, and that name alone could represent generations of knife makers.

Here are some of the brands of knives that would thrill you if you owned one:

Konosuke, Takeda, Tojiro, Masakage, Kikuichi, Moritaka, Misono.

Not all the best knives come from Japan, there is of course the fabulous knives made by Bob Kramer (have sold for $50,000), Murray Carter, Devin Thomas, Pierre Rodrique (from Canada).

You just to need do a little searching and I do recommend the Canadian based stores, these folks are very nice to deal with their knowledge of knifes and of knife sharpening will astound you.

What makes these knives so good you ask?

Well I think if you had one in your kitchen and took one for a test drive you would immediately realize that these knives are truly special. A blend of factors make that so, the artisan who hand made the knife, the steel is the critical component and reason they are what they are. Your average Wusthof or Henckels is sharpened about 20-22 degrees (sometimes more), these high carbon Japanese knives can take an edge at 11 degrees and hold it. Imagine the cutting power by a blade sharpened at such an acute angle.

The prices of the knives range anywhere from $135.00 to $7, 000 and more. You can get one of these very special knives for $200.00 though, the same you could pay for some of the knives here in our local stores.

Something to think about, but when you decide to jump in, think Canadian when buying Japanese hand made knives.

Now about sharpening these knives, you may think it is difficult.

Definitely not the case, in fact I find them quite easy to sharpen, just another benefit of owning one.

There is nothing wrong with the knives we buy here in Atlantic Canada, they are really quite fine and take a great edge. The purpose of this Blog entry is simply to talk about what I consider the "best knives" not to put down any other knives. I personally own Wusthof, Global, Shun and Grohmann knives and I've been happy with them for years.

However, having a passion for knives and of course sharpening them means I am going to always want one of the knives I have listed here.  I have sharpened many of them and I'm truly impressed by them.

I just need one and it is comforting to know that I don't have to go far.

Tosho Knife Arts

Knifewear

More on pricing

People may find it helpful if I posted some pictures of typical knife bundles that I get and the cost of sharpening. 

That would give folks a really quick cost estimate, the brand of knives makes no difference, it is the length of the blade that determines cost.

Chef - 9" - $11.25

Left to Right:
Ulu - $15.00 (unique),
Veggie-7"- $8.75,
Chef-8"- $10.00,
 Paring-4 - $5.00
Chef - 9" - $11.25
TOTAL: $50.00

Left to Right
4" Paring - $5.00
8" Chef - $10.00

Total - $15.00

Keep in mind that you are paying for a knife sharpening which is quite possibly going to result in the sharpest knives you have seen before. You will soon forget the cost of the knives once you get them home.

Heck....because it is Christmas, I'm going to give everyone a 25% discount on my Hidden Fees :)

Seasons Greetings.

(You know that there are no hidden fees right)

Common Issues

I get asked all sorts of questions about knife sharpening, often by people with a block of dull knives who are not quite ready to hand them over to a stranger.
So they ask me questions, to test the waters, see what I know about knives and whether or not I'm going to ruin their knives. One wrong answer (wrong in their minds that is) will mean that they are faced with dull knives forever.

Most of time, the lingering doubts are from people who own nice knives, they have spent a good deal of money on them, in their mind they are the best knives around and they are worried about their knives.
I completely get that, no issues there for me.

HOWEVER...what people need to understand is that I'm not a big business with my priorities not in order. My priority is taking care of your knife, whether it is a $6.95 paring knife that is 8 years old or a new Global or MAC. (Believe me folks, there are better knives out there than this, you just can't pick them up in the stores here but I get them every now and then to sharpen)

I had a person with some dull Globals drill me on the sharpening angle. "What angle are you going to sharpen it at" I believe I said 16 degrees and the person walked away.  I wonder how many people in the area (CANADA) can actually sharpen a knife by hand at exactly 16 deg or 15 degrees?

So instead of letting me sharpen the knives at 16 deg or 15 if that was the preference, that person will continue the quest for the individual who can answer the riddle correctly.  In fact however, I can actually sharpen a knife at exactly 15 of 15.9 degrees if desired. I have the Edge Pro Professional, a precision guided system that enables very precise angles.  So that person missed out.

The issue is that people, I think, are so used to getting screwed over somewhere, they have been ripped off in the past that they don't understand that they are dealing with an individual who has an incredibly strong passion for knife sharpening.

I have a full time military career, so I'm not surviving off of this business, this is something that I love to do and I'm good at it, it has taken me many years to feel comfortable with other peoples knives but I am now.

Get over the fear, you are dealing with a person who has an obsession with sharpening and water stones. I have never ruined a knife in 35 years. (I wonder how many other people can say that who have used a gadget, electric grinder to sharpen their knives)?

It is not about exact angles, it is consistency, if I sharpen your Global at 17 degrees are you going to know that by looking at it? Certainly not, your just going to feel an edge that you didn't believe was possible. If you think that Global was sharp the day you bought it, you are in for a treat.

Get of the fence people, stop hindering yourselves by using dull knives. You are creating a negative impact on the taste of your food by using a dull knife, it is tearing at the cells of the food at a molecular level. Why do you think Japanese Chefs sharpen their knives daily?

Have a fantastic Holiday Season and thanks so much for being here.

Pricing

As is normal when having work done on something, you need to know what it will cost.
Pricing is something that I have given a lot of thought too, researched, asked folks who are knowledgeable about such things and so on. I just didn't pick numbers out of my head and think, "well this seems fair to me"

Finding a balance between what is fair to you and fair to me has not been as easy as I thought it would be.  Over time however I have to come to realize that I just can't please everyone.

90% of the time, there is no problem with the pricing, people just seem to appreciate the work that goes into making knives sharp. Sometimes however, people who have knives that they paid 8 dollars for and are only 3 inches long will hesitate at paying 7 dollars to have it sharpened.

In fact, it is these less expensive knives that are more of a challenge to sharpen and it is not my fault that some paid less than 10 dollars for a knife. Just throw it away and get a new one if that is the case.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I cannot charge less because it is a cheap knife, my time is important and you are paying for that. I can sharpen a $180.00 Shun in half that time it takes me to sharpen a $6.95 no name paring knife.  However, I will ensure that the knife is sharp, I don't care how inexpensive it is, if I get it in my  hands, I know it is important to you so I will do my best.

Many knives that I get looked like they have been dragged behind a car for a few miles, I don't have machine that I pop the knife into to repair the damage. I do it all by hand and  the products that I use to do this (Japanese Water Stones) wear out, they need to be replaced. So getting that knife back to a place where I can even begin to sharpen it, is very hard on the stones.  So I cannot charge less just because you don't think the knife is worth it.

If you think that $1.25 per inch of blade is too much to spend, you are entitled to your opinion.
Perhaps you can find someone else to sharpen for less.

Remember, you may know someone who says they know how to sharpen knives.
BUT, do they have dreams about knife sharpening, do they think about it every day, do they spend absurd amounts of time reading about knives, different brands of stones. Does Scratch Pattern or Nanocloth come up in  dinner conversation ?

I can say "yes" to all these questions :)

I'm here for you, don't blame me because your knives are dull and you have to pay someone to get them back in shape for you.  If it bothers you, don't bring to me.

I am extremely particular about my work, I am constantly learning new things and I can make your knives sharper, in most cases than you've ever seen. If that is important to you, than I think the cost issue (if there is an issue) will vanish once you have your hands on the knife and you are cutting food. You will realize how nice it is to have a sharp knife, you will save time too because it is so sharp.

Your stress level will decrease because you are no longer frustrated that the knife is dull and you were on the fence for so long about getting it sharpened. You took the plunge and now all you can think of is how sharp the knife is.......you can't even remember how much it cost you.

Happy Holidays friends.

Testing my knives

I'm somewhat meticulous when it comes to testing my knives, I test each blade for sharpness as I sharpen and then when I am all done. Normally I use the softest paper I can find and that is the telephone book. I go through a lot of those and it is a good test for sharpness. I used to use photocopy paper but that is quite thick and not a great test in my opinion. So the thinner the better, Reader's Digest are good to cut up as well :)

This time I chose some food, peppers and as you can see, the knife could do a fine on those little red and orange slices of pepper. 

This knife was sharpened to 8,000 grit and has a nice mirror polish. Today I also tested a knife that I had done for Executive Chef,  Craig Flinn. I asked him to test his newly sharpened knife on a tomato, and it was nice and soft, very ripe. The knife was sharpened to 16,000 grit and stropped on Nanocloth with 1/8 Micron diamond spray. The knife went through the tomato beautifully, it did not slide over it, it dug in and he was able to slice extremely thin pieces off of the tomato. 

There is a reason I wanted to test this in this type of scenario and I will get into that a little later on.

The knife passed the test so I was happy.

Gift Certificates

 A few days ago I got an email from a nice lady asking if I had Gift Certificates.
I thought,  now that is  a great idea.

So I will create Gift Certificates for knife sharpening that will be available immediately.

My Certificates will be for a specific number of knives to be sharpened rather than a dollar amount.

So you can purchase a certificate for your loved one, friend, partner, (loved ones like I said) based on how many knives that they have. I can create the certificates based on your individual needs.

If you want to give someone a certificate to get his/her three knives sharpened, you just let me know if they are small or large or a mix and I'll make it happen and charge accordingly. No left over money this way.

How cool is that.

Even my cat thinks it is a great idea.

Does Size Matter

Hell yeah.


While sharpening a cleaver of this size free-hand is a little different than sharpening a paring knife, the principles remain the same.
Raise a burr on both sides and then remove the burr. All the heavy lifting was done on my Shapton Glass 500 stone, from there, the refinement process on a 1k Chosera, 2K Shapton Glass, 3K Sigma, 4K Imanishi and finally an 8K Imanishi. 
A little overkill yes..........we love overkill.

The Big Kahuna
Leave it to Cleaver

Let's Talk Sharpening

Some Basics

I wish I had known some of the things I will mention here when I got started.  First of all, one does NOT need all the stones in the picture below. I need them, and this is not all of them, but I need them because of my obsession with sharpening knives, I don't need them all to get a sharp knife though. A golfer could play a round of golf with 3 or 4 clubs but over time he/she gathers more. (You get the picture)

You should have 3 stones, Coarse, Medium and Fine.  

A Coarse stone, anywhere from 30 grit up to about 800 is excellent for setting the bevels, removing nicks and just getting started on a very dull knife. Now if you are starting with relatively sharp knives, or knives that are new you can get by without a coarse stone.

( I get knives that are so dull, if I closed my eyes and felt the edge, it would sometimes be difficult to differentiate between the cutting edge and the spine of the knife)

A Medium stone, 800-2000 is essential, you could get buy with just one stone, a 1200 King Deluxe for example and with that one stone you could get your knives sharper than when new. However, if the knife you are sharpening is dull, it will be a long road ahead of you, i.e. a lot of grinding on that stone. 

A Fine stone, (Finishing Stone) 3,000 - 30,000 is also important to have for refining your edges/bevels. So if you have  a choice and only get one finishing stone, a 4k stone, such as the Imanishi stone at Lee Valley is a good choice or a King 4k as well. There are many many different brands of stones, don't get hung up on the brand name. 

Naturally, there are different qualities of stones just like everything else, just because I have Naniwa Chosera or Shapton stones, does not mean you have to. I started with a King 800 when I first entered the world of Japanese Water Stones. TECHNIQUE is the key, not the brand of stones you have.

OK......you have a stone or two, let's say you have an 800 King stone and a 4,000 Imanishi and you have a dull knife or two or 24. Get yourself situated with some good light, a few drying rags to wipe off the blades and some water to soak the stones. You need to soak your whetstones until the bubbles stop. Then you can just keep them lubricated with water as you proceed. I use those bottles that you see on cooking shows that people put olive oil in or something. 

Japanese Water Stones

Basics Only here to get you started, the videos in the blog entries below by Jon Broida are really excellent and better than any video I can make. These are just a few tricks and essentials. So watch the videos as well.

STEP ONE:

 Put your coarse stone on rag or stone holder on the table so that it doesn't slip and put a little water on it, the water should remain on the surface and not be absorbed into the stone by this stage.

Use the sharpie trick to mark the edge and to guide you towards that edge when you start sharpening. Now as seen in the videos.

Double bevel sharpening by Jon

You need to raise a BURR, the formation of the burr on both sides of the blade is essential, it is the key element to successful sharpening. You also need to remove the burr.

Understand that the creation of the burr on both sides of the edge, along the entire edge is your goal. If you have done this, you have a sharp knife. You have removed all the dull metal and now have a fresh clean start. Picture an avalanche of metal sliding down the bevel of your knife, this is the metal that you are moving to the edge with that Coarse Stone. It means you have reached the edge correctly, now flip the blade and repeat. DO NOT keep grinding on one side of the knife until you have created the burr. It could take a while depending on how dull the knife is and how coarse the stone is. Be patient here, flip often if necessary. The burr will come eventually and when it does, you just remove it by decreasing the pressure on the stone and eventually just using the weight of the knife to keep the knife on the stone.
Do not mindlessly grind away metal, this is surgery folks, knife surgery, take care and focus. 

Remember-Technique is what will help  you reach your goal, don't sweat the angle, maintain the angle you started with throughout the process that's all. If your knife came from the factory with a 20 degree angle, you don't need to resharpen that knife at exactly 20 degrees, without a guided system or one of those hideous knife grinders that you can by, how the hell are you going to keep it at exactly 20 degrees anyway. Nobody can do that, but you CAN maintain the same angle by practising and focusing.  It could be 18 degrees or 21 degrees.

 Don't worry the ANGLE POLICE are not about to break your door down.

Here is something important.....stay with me with me here.

Once you have achieved and subsequently removed the burr with your first stone, you have sharpened the knife. So now your goal IS NOT TO RAISE ADDITIONAL BURRS but to refine the edge, your are removing the scratches created by your first stone from this point on.  You don't need to grind away to create a  burr because by doing so, you are just removing metal needlessly. You already did that, you reached your goal with the first stone.

STEP TWO:
With your next lubricated (water) stone, you repeat the process. Now you will create burrs and that is fine, over time, i.e. a hundred knives down the road, you will learn to make those burrs smaller and smaller. Think of the the burr at this stage as removed metal,  but as long as  you remove any burrs that have formed, you are golden. I still form additional burrs, it just happens as your refine the edge, it's OK, in fact when moving from a 240 grit stone in my case to a 400 stone, it is quite difficult not to form a Burr, I do it every time.

MY point to you is that you know that YOU DON'T NEED to raise the burrs on your other stones, it just happens, it is a result of the process and further confirmation that you are hitting the edge correctly. I am not saying these burrs are harmful at all, I just want you to understand that removing them is the goal as you refine your edge.

When you have used your 4,000 grit stone, or 10,000 grit stone, those burrs are very hard to feel, so don't think you are not sharpening correctly if you cannot feel them. Just go through the motion of removing them anyway though.

If you only have the one finishing stone, just lightly go over the edge on both sides, evenly and just  monitor your progress.

Now that you have a sharp knife, keep it sharp, do this weekly and use the 4K stone only, i.e. you don't need to always go back to the coarse stone.

Don't be disappointed if your knife isn't razor sharp, remember to be patient on that first stone. You need to remove the burr, you can run the edge through a cork to do this as well. I guarantee that if you keep practising you can get your knife sharper than it was when you first got it. You will get better, keep at it and don't be discouraged.

PRACTICE/PATIENCE/PERSISTENCE.

COMMENCE SHARPENING 

Always available for some tutoring folks.

WATCH THOSE VIDEOS

Remember LEE VALLEY - you can pick everything you need to have the sharpest knives that you have ever seen from Lee Valley. They have a very selection of Japanese Water Stones.
Do an Item Search for Sigma, Bester, and King.

BEHOLD-NANIWA CHOSERA

Friends, it is not everyday a man gets hold of Japanese Water Stones of this calibre.

I ordered these from Paul's Finest on Saturday evening. He replied to me in 10 minutes and told me he would get them ready for shipping immediately and they would go out on Monday. They were Halifax on Wednesday and in my arms Thursday.

Now that is exceptional service.

As they first arrived.

Note the Nagura (cleaning stone) that came with each of them, this is first time I've received those with the stones. 

Now you can tell they are Naniwa Chosera, it says so right here:

So what does this mean to you,?

 If you are reading this Blog you probably can appreciate what it means for me to have these stones in my possession. Just give me your dull knives, it would be like bringing them  a very exclusive spa. 

I strongly  recommend Paul's Finest if you are interested in Japanese Water Stones, and Kitchen Knives and, it is right here in Canada too.

Here is a link:

http://www.paulsfinest.ca

Japanese Knives

For a truly exceptional edge, you need to use a Japanese hand made knife. I am not aware of anywhere in Nova Scotia where you can walk into a store and buy one. However, there are some really great, trustworthy online sites.

Knifewear in Calgary is one such place, take a look at the knives that Kevin has there for sale and you will see a wide variety. I have sharpened these knives and in terms of sharpness, they can achieve a very sharp edge at quite an acute angle. These knives are much sharper than our Henckels and Wusthof  and even Globals and Shun knives. However, many of them,  the ones I like are high carbon content and require a little extra care. Basically, you need to make sure that they are dry, completely dried off after use of rust will form on the blade. 

One of the knives from Knifewear will definitely be on my Christmas list.

Awesome knives

Chef knives to go is another great spot, however, Knifewear is Canadian so you won't be dealing with any customs issues, however, I have ordered from CKtG and there has never been an issue with customs. Mark Richmond, owner of Chef Knives to Go is great to deal with.

Chef Knives to Go

Another Canadian online store is Paul's Finest, I have shared emails with Paul, his reputation is well known and it's another good spot. 

Paul's Finest

Just use the table on left side to find a great assortment of knives and Paul is very quick to respond to questions. I am going there next for any of my Japanese Water Stones. 

You can buy one of these great knives for a couple hundred knives and I guarantee you that you will be startled by the sharpness. ALSO.....they are very easy to sharpen.

Peter

Great Sharpening Videos

Sharpening Videos by Jon

I often thought of making some videos on how to sharpen knives and then fortunately I found these.

Folks, this is about the best videos that I have seen on sharpening, and I have seen many.
These are created by the owner of Japanese Knife Imports and are just great.

This is how I sharpen your knives, I use different brands of Japanese Water Stones for the most part but the technique is the same. You can see for yourself that it is not rocket science and Jon does a fantastic job of showing us.

Although these videos are made sharpening traditional Japanese knives, it is applicable to all knives that I sharpen, except for serrated.

Enjoy.

The OTHER GUY

The other sharpening service


Folks, if you are hesitant about letting me sharpen your kitchen knives you can always bring them to a different sharpener. I know you will pay a little more than I charge but at least you won't have to wait very long.

I will admit freely that I do not own any of the machines shown in the video.


Good luck friends.


( It is hard to watch isn't it?)

MAGIC - SHARPIE TRICK

Folks, are you tired of being left out of the water cooler conversation and being ignored by the cool people because you are not aware of the SHARPIE TRICK.  I know, it gets tiring when all people talk about is knife sharpening, water stones, steels, ceramic rods, PETER NOWLAN, and the most mysterious topic of all, the one spoken in hushed tones, the Sharpie Trick. It is spoken of quietly because only a few know of it.  You know the type, the beautiful, high achievers that look down on everyone else.

Well this is your chance, this is like a magician revealing his final act.  I've had my share of sand kicked in my face too,  so here we go.

Focus, this is extremely technical, there's a reason you're not part of that cool group, here is your chance to blow them away. Knowledge is power, you will be the king. 

Here is what you need. (Besides a knife of course)

CERAMIC or STEEL ROD

SHARPIE....yes here it is, like seeing a freaking rare bird or something isn'  it.

Now here is the really technical stuff....you take the cap off the Sharpie and you mark the cutting edge of your knife with the sharpie. Get as close as possible to the edge, the sharpie will run along it beautifully.  (Don't go cheap on the sharpie either, get the one with the Chisel Tip....some of the cool people don't know this)

See how close to the edge the sharpie black mark is

NOW here is the magic part. this is the part that is going to elevate you to the top. You run the edge of the knife along the rod, the goal, your job is to remove that black mark from the Sharpie. If you have done that, you have just achieved the perfect angle for Steeling.............very people can do this but it is very easy. Like most magical tricks, it is just simple LODGEIK.

So if you are not removing the black mark, just adjust the angle of the knife until you do. When you are on the sweet spot, the entire mark can be removed in just a few sweeps. There you have it, now you can always get the right angle to steel and maintain your knife.

CONGRATULATIONS..

It isn't over yet.....one more secret. Now that you have the knowledge and you are ready to push the jocks aside and tell them you are quite familiar with the Sharpie Trick, in fact, it is old news. 

You can absolutely stun them by showing them this:

YES the RED SHARPIE works too..Very few people have this, it actually is easier to see the mark on the knife edge. GO FOR IT.

I'M PROUD OF YOU.

Why get a 12 knife sharpened for $10.00?

I sometimes get the unasked question by people who give me a 12 dollar, very dull knife to sharpen and when I say 8 or 10 dollars I know that they are surprised. Undoubtedly they are thinking, "I only spent 12 dollars on the knife, why pay 10 dollars to get it sharpened, I could go buy a new one for 12 dollars?"

I don't always get this but it is common and not just for 12 dollar knives but for anything under 40 dollars, some/many folks would prefer just to put that one away and go buy a new one.

I understand the though process behind this and I have given it a lot of thought myself.

My basic prices are between 6-10 dollars per knife, it depends on length, not quality.

If I were to charge less for a 12 dollar knife, conversely I should be charging more for a 150 dollar knife. What about the 400 dollar knives or handmade Japanese knives that run in the 500-2000 dollar range?

For educational purposes, the products I use are expensive, and they wear out, each knife that I sharpen removes material from the water stones, that is how they work. I purchase the highest quality of water stones for two reasons:
1. I know that they deliver knives sharper than most people have ever seen and they work quickly
2. I am obsessed with sharpening knives and I want the best stones there is, that's just the way it is and you should be thankful for that :)

So you are faced with a choice, pay 10 dollars to sharpen that knife you own or just go out and get another one, heck, go nuts and go out and get a 75 dollar knife. Here is what I can guarantee will happen:
In a month, that new knife is going to start getting dull, (a month is a conservative amount of time), in 3 months that new knife will be very dull and not much better than that 12 dollar one sitting in the drawer. Now you have 2 dull knives and every time you use them you get frustrated and you start losing some of the joy of cooking as a result. So now what do you do, go out and get a better knife,  now you go out and buy your dream knife for 300 dollars. Guess what folks, in a few months those two dull knives in the drawer are going to have some company.

This is just a fact of properties of steel and knives, you use them and they get dull.

So instead of going down that road, give that 12 dollar knife to me, I'll return it and you won't believe how sharp it is.

The fact of the matter is that those inexpensive knives are harder to sharpen most of time than the 300 dollar knives. The steel is not a good quality, the bevels and edge are in bad shape and I have to deal with that. Remember those expensive stones, I wear those out more quickly on this type of knife.

I cannot charge less to sharpen a 12 or 20 dollar knife just because it is only worth that much. If I drop the price down to $7.00 for example, than the next person with the dull $200.00 Shun or Global  should be charged 15 dollars instead of 10. It doesn't make sense, nor is it fair,  and sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and take a chance.

REMEMBER, if  you don't agree that the knife I give back to you is sharp, you just don't pay me. (This has never happened by the way)

I take great pride in my work, I don't care if the knife only costs 10 dollars and is 20 years old, if you are good enough to trust me with that knife, I promise you that you will be pleased with the result.


I love sharpening knives, it costs a lot of money to sharpen knives with the products that I use. Stop wasting money on new knives, not unless you intend to maintain the edges either by sharpening them yourself or by giving them to me.

Also,  you do know that those sharpening steels do not sharpen knives right? They are extremely important tools but they won't get a dull knife sharp. You must remove metal to do that, the steel will not remove metal, it will keep a sharp knife sharp for a long time though.

Thanks, please just talk to me if you don't believe me or if you refuse to get your dull, old, good for nothing knife sharpened.  

Suzie the foodie blog article

Check this nice Blog post from a very special lady:

lhttp://suziethefoodie.blogspot.ca/2012/10/new-edge-sharpening-and-my-born-again.html

Stones - Gotta love them

There is no feeling like I get from taking a dull knife to sharp one using my water stones.
The Edge Pro stones that I don't talk about much are in fact the most important ones in my collection. They do an amazing job and their longetivity is absolutely outstanding.
These particular stones are designed specifically for my Edge Pro Professional, I use them every single day. So if you get a knife back from me and you're pleased, which you will be. Please know that the majority of work on the edges was with these stones.
For Freehanding, I use Shapton Glass Stones,  absolutely incredible water stones. I highly recommend them to anyone interested in sharpening their own knives. I am always available to teach you how as well.
Peter

New Life

Hi there knife sharpeners. I thought I would share some information on how I repair knives because lately, I have had some real doozies to work on.
So I will attempt to go through the process here. Keep in mind that this work always needs to be followed by a sometimes very lengthy sharpening process. The factory edge is often in extremely bad shape or just completely gone after a repair job.
This particular knife was an 8 inch Henckels Chef knife.

The first thing I do when I have such severe damage is take the knife to a very coarse belt on a belt sander. These are special sharpening belts that I use for deep repair work only.

1 X 30 Inch belt sander for really deep repair work

I work from the spine of the knife only, never the edge, the tricky part and sometimes painfully long is to re-shape the spine/blade back to it's original form. The actual edge has not been touched yet. This knife is extremely dull at this stage. 

Starting to take shape but not finished yet.

Still more work needed

After I have done the majority of heavy grinding I switch to a different belt sander, this is a upgrade in both machine and belt. Now we are getting into the more delicate work and fun has begun.

1 X 42 inch belt sander with Trizact diamond belts. 

Sweet

Now here are some beautiful knives. Love to sharpen these ones

Globals in all their glory

I've had some experience lately with Global knife owners who are reluctant to let me sharpen their knives. This is something that I deal with often and I really don't blame people for being protective.

People spend a lot of money on good knives and they don't me, so they fear that I will ruin the edge and they will be ripped off basically.

After all, it's not like taking your Honda to the Honda dealer where you are pretty sure certified Honda mechanics will take care of your car, there is no fear of the car coming back all scratched up or not running properly.

So some folks would instead prefer to just have a set of dull Global knives, I really don't get it myself. If I were in that predicament, i.e. a bunch of very nice knives but all of them dull, I would give the sharpener (me) one knife to see how it goes. I get that a lot actually, a person will give one knife to me to sharpen, get it back and then bring in 8 more knives when they have seen what I can do and gained some trust. I can appreciate that totally.

Global knives come pretty sharp out of the box but get dull just like any other knife. If you are one of those people with a set of dull knives and just can't bring yourself to letting me get my hands on them, then I feel bad for you but you should trust me.
You know how some guys think about golf, cars, bars, women, watches, fancy clothes?

Well I think of ways to get your knives sharper than you can believe, you just need to trust me. If I ruined a knife (has never happened yet), I would simply replace it.

If you want your Globals brought to level of sharpness that will bring you sheer delight bring them to me. As you can see below these knives are just itching to get back into the kitchen. 

Give those poor knives a treat.

Thank you for being here.

Folder

This took some time but the results are worth it in my opinion.

Relief Face applied at 15 deg and micro bevel at 21

Global Screwdriver

Here is a poor little Global that has seen some better days.

All it takes to repair this work is some time, technique and patience. These knives, even as severely damaged as this can be brought back from the dead. Hopefully the owner will use it in the kitchen instead of the workshop now.

This is very rewarding work. Once repaired, I started the re-profile work to get the micro-bevel back to a normal state and then I sharpened it with Shapton Glass Stones up to 16,000 grit.

Thanks for being here.

They are coming - The ultimate Water Stones

Folks,   I am extremely excited to tell you that it won't be long before I will have the exquisite Shapton Glass Japanese Water Stones for sale. Now we all know by now that there is a overwhelming variety of Japanese Water Stones on the market. You can pick up the King Water Stones at Lee Valley and they are decent for sure, nothing wrong with those particular stones. However.......there is only a few brands of stones out of Japan that really stand out above the others. Shapton and Chosera have been for a long time the premium stones.  Now, there is one that is considered by many to be a touch above even those and they are the Shapton Glass stones as seen above. (They are actually mounted on glass.)

Feel free to Google them and see for yourself. The really cool thing about this is that I have been sharpening your knives with them now for quite some time.   You know me well enough now I hope to know that I also use the incredible Edge Pro Professional often to sharpen knives. When I need absolute precision or I am creating compound bevels the Edge Pro cannot be beat. Well now, Shapton realizes this as well and these same stones are now available to me to fit my Edge Pro, so I can actually sharpen a knife with absolute precision using the EP Pro and these glass stones. YIKES.......the results are astonishing.

I will let  you know more about the stones when I have them in stock...I will also make myself available to teach anyone who buys them from me how to use them, if desired that is. 

It doesn't get much better than this my friends........

Well except for this maybe

Stay Sharp!


(Believe it or not, 10 minutes after this shot was taken I had a 12 inch Victorionox chefs knife in my hands from one of the cooks on the beach, he heard I could sharpen knives but I didn't have my beloved Shaptons with me. Next time though)