Sharpening Process

Intake

During the intake process we’ll ask you questions. How long you’ve had the tool? How do you normally sharpen? How often? What do you normally use it for? We ask these questions to make sure we gauge our approach on the next best steps to sharpen. Most of us have never brought our tools to get them professionally sharpened and the standard practice is to run the knife through an electric sharpener or grab a whetstone and start filing away. While these methods work, you cannot precisely sharpen using these methods without years of practice.

Round 1

We examine your tool to look at the current condition. We look for dull portions and bring those underneath a microscope. During this process we may find chips or really dull edges. We examine the whole edge to look for areas that might need special attention. At this point, we start to mark down the locations that need special attention.

After examining the edge under a microscope, we determine the next best steps for you. In general, we recommend the manufacturer’s recommendations on the angle of the edge.

The Methods

We have a variety of methods to get the sharp edge. We’ll start it off on our water cooled sharpening stone. Manufacturers go a tougher route. Our standard is to start with a 250 grit and end on a 1000 grit stone. We’ll also customize your order to better suit your needs. For example, Shun knives should be sharpened at 16 degrees while Global knives should be sharpened between 10 and 15 degrees. We can also make double bevels if you want to take that route.

Finishing

If you like the polished look and feel, we’ll finish off the blade at 2000, 5000, and 10000 grit. While not necessary, these extra steps create an edge that lasts longer. After finishing, we run a paper test and make sure the blade does not stick at any point. We do not test the edge by shaving hair off our arms.
We’ll definitely take a look at it closer to make sure the edge is really clean and smooth.

Discovery

During intake, we’ll examine your tool and let you know what we find. Most of the problems we find are fixed during sharpening. Some imperfections may come out depending on the quality of the steel. At this point, we’ll give you a call to figure out how you want to proceed. In general, most people leave the imperfection knowing that it’s there since the rest of the edge is perfect. The other option is to grind away a little more to make a uniform edge. But we’ll let you decide.