Knife sharpening by mail

[Guy in Paradise]

Years ago I bought a good set of Wusthof knives for the kitchen. They are still fairly sharp, but I notice the paring knife and the next longer one, which get used all of the time, are not as sharp as they used to be. They were razor sharp when first purchased. I looked for a sharpening place here in Japan and found a couple. Of course, they are 30 miles away, don't speak a lick of English, but I did find that the charge is a minimum of 3000 Yen (about $37) per knife, or 500 Yen per centimeter, which means my two knifes would run about 12,000 Yen, or about $150. Consequently, I am looking for a mail-in alternative.

Does anyone know about the quality of service by this sharpening place near Richmond? http://www.mrleonardknifesharpener.com/ or any others?

Thank-you in advance.

 

[DWSmith]

Contact Dave Martell at www.JapaneseKnifeSharpening.com. He doesn't have a 2 day turn-around time, doesn't use a diamond wheel (read grinder) and will get the edges scary sharp. Unlike Mr. Leonard, Martell does use traditional wet stones and sharpenes by hand to produce the scary sharp edges. According to Mr. Leonard, those natural stones are cheap and easy to use. Both statements are incorrect.

 

[Tarhead]

How about a DIY option that is cheaper and takes 2 minutes? I've used a Chef's Choice #110 motorized diamond sharpener (http://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Choice-110-Professional-Sharpener/dp/B00004S1B9/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hg_5 ) for the past 20 years and it gets my knives very, very, very sharp. It works in 3 stages. The first time you use it, it grinds an inital bevel of ~1/128". Then a microbevel. Then a hone/polishing stage. For subsequent sharpenings you use just the microbevel and honing stages. Restaurant supply shops should have these if you can't use Amazon.

How about checking w/your local Sushi place? They usually have very sharp, expensive knives and sharpen their own.

 

[merrill77]

This may or may not be helpful: I sharpen my kitchen knives with the attachment for my Worksharp 3000. It works pretty well. .. I never had much luck with other methods.

 

[Mike Davis]

Wow!

We really need to have another sharpening workshop.

 

[Tarhead]

Wow!

We really need to have another sharpening workshop.

The commute would be kinda rough for Guy:wsmile:

 

[Mark Gottesman]

A quick simple and adequate solution for kitchen knives is the Spyderco sharpmaker. I do not suggest using these if your knives are very hard like Japanese Sushi knifes. It may chip them.

If I had more money I would go to one of the EdgePro systems.
You can do a great job by hand with either Stones (Japanese waterstones or Shaptons) or sandpaper (ore expensive in the long run). I am in the process of making a set of sharpening/honing blocks for sandpaper and mouse pads.

Sharpening is muscle memory and observation. Get a cheap knife and learn on that. You can get them amazingly sharp but they often will not retain it very long.

The first two are quick with no muss or fuss, but limited in what they will sharpen.

PS: I also use diamond stones (DMT grids) I like them, but I don't have them above 600 grit. The caorser ones are great for removing a bad nick.

 

[Mike Davis]

Guy comes home in the Summer.

 

[zapdafish]

Any reason something like this won't work? I use one of these all the time and it seems to work well.

 

[Mark Gottesman]

Any reason something like this won't work? I use one of these all the time and it seems to work well.

View attachment 6777

I use one to maintain an edge, but if your knife is dull they are not really suited for reestablishing the bevels and putting a proper edge on it.

Edit: There are diamond coated rods that look like this but are aggressive metal removers. I have problems with them in that when I use them it is hard to maintain an even pressure along the whole stroke and end up creating a hollow in the blad near the handle. YMMV

 

[USMCSergeant]

I sharpen knives on the side for people. I convex every edge I get my hands on, besides chisels. Nothing cuts better. I sand to 2000 grit and then strop on leather with 2 different compounds. The edge will shave your face.

 

[Tarhead]

Any reason something like this won't work? I use one of these all the time and it seems to work well.

View attachment 6777

A traditional honing Steel is not a sharpener. It works more like a burnishing rod to straighten/align the edge. Your knife feels like it is sharper(and it is) but nothing is being removed from the edge like when it is sharpened with an abrasive.