Why should I have my knives professionally sharpened?

Although we don’t think about it we use our knives everyday to open packages, food prep, and miscellaneous tasks. A properly sharpened knife will make all of those jobs a breeze. Most people lack the time and equipment to properly sharpen a knife. Sharpening is also a messy process that you might not want to do in your kitchen or living room. Some people use electric sharpeners that can provide a good result but produce hazardous dust that you don’t want in your home. In our shop we use proper dust collection and water cooled systems to keep us safe.

We primarily sharpen on the Tormek T8 Water cooled grinder. The relatively slow speed of 90rpm does not heat the steel and removes minimal material . The water also captures the fine metal particles making it very safe ; no respirator or hearing protection is required. The Tormek uses a clamp and guide rod to help keep the knife at a consistant angle or “Fixed Angle” which is important to achieve maximum sharpness. The Tormek is safe, effective , and versatile so we find it the most enjoyable way to sharpen. There is a larger learning curve with this system so we don’t recommend it for home use. Tormek does have smaller more user friendly models that we do recommend like the T1.

The Edge Pro Apex is another sharpening system we use on pocket/edc knives. It is a manual fixed angle system. It takes us more time to use but provides a very consistent edge. It does this by holding the abrasive stone on a sliding/pivoting arm that can be set to the appropriate angle for each knife. This is the easiest and most consistant method we use, for this reason we highly recommend it for those wanting to sharpen their own knives. There are many fixed angle sharpening systems on the market so you can find one that fits your budget . We prefer the edge pro because the knife is not clamped in place so you have more options on how you can use the system.

The Work Sharp Ken Onion Elite is the third method we use. It is a variable speed belt grinder similar to what knife manufactures use but in a small convenient package. We also think this is a good choice for someone that wants to get in to sharpening with one major consideration , the dust . Fine metal dust is thrown into the air when using this system ,if one wants to work safely a respirator is required and the use of a dust extractor/shop vac with a HEPPA filter is highly recommended. The Ken Onion Elite is the most versital of the sharpening systems because if its 1” wide belts that can conform to most blade shapes , when the other systems don’t work the Ken Onion is usually the answer.

BESS Certified Sharp Tester- We use this in addition to other tests to be sure we return to you an incredibly sharp knife. The tester mesures the weight required to cut a piece of monofilament line. The lower the test number the better. A dull knife will typically test 500g-1500g after sharpening 90g-175g depending on blade thickness.