What is your sharpening process?

I sharpen entirely by hand using a progression of natural & synthetic Japanese whetstones and diamond plates. Each knife receives a treatment on stones and plates that is custom-tailored to the type of knife, condition of the blade, and level of dullness. A common progression may include an initial pass on a 400-grit diamond plate, followed by a 1000-grit synthetic stone and finished on a 6000-grit stone. A leather strop is used as the final step to remove any remaining micro-materials on the apex of the edge.

Can you do repairs?

I can do minor chip or tip repairs (less than 1/16 inch for chips and less than 1/8 inch for tip repair). All of my work is done by hand, without the use of machines or grinders, so I do not offer larger repairs.

Can you sharpen Japanese knives?

Yes, I sharpen both Western and Japanese knives.

Can you sharpen serrated knives?

Typically, yes! I can sharpen bread knives and knives with concave serrations.

The serrations I can’t tackle are:

• Micro-serrations, seen here.

• Cutco serrated knives like the kind here.

• Convex serrations (as opposed to more common concave) like the kind here.

My knives are cheap and/or old! Can you still sharpen them?

Of course! There is a caveat with older knives that I like people to know about, however; sometimes when a knife has been sharpened many times in its lifetime, the edge migrates farther and farther up towards the spine of the knife as material is removed during sharpening. In this case, the knife becomes thicker behind the edge and may not cut or slice well even if I sharpen it. I do my best to let folks know if this is the case. If so, it is either time to thin the knife, replace it, or simply to know that its performance may not be as good as it was when it was new.

Do you sharpen other things?

While my specialty and passion is kitchen knives, I also sharpen small gardening implements, scissors, and folders & fixed blades. The only thing I do not sharpen is barber shears, as they have geometry that I can’t address on my whetstones.

Can I book you to do sharpening at my business?

Yes - I love doing sharpening events! I typically do events for 5-10 hours with my setup consisting of my table and whestones. I’ve hosted events at grocery stores, cafes, breweries, and outdoor markets. Contact me for more details and to schedule a sharpening event.

Where can I find you?

I accept drop-offs at my home in Southeast Portland, and you can find my up-to-date list of scheduled sharpening pop-up events here.

Contacting me through my website or texting me at (425) 449-6144 is the best way to arrange a drop-off.

How do I know when your next pop-up event will be?

Sign up for my mailing list here.

What’s your favorite 80s sci-fi horror film?

Aliens, followed closely by The Thing.