What is your sharpening process?

I offer two tiers of Sharpening: Standard Sharpening and Traditional Whetstone sharpening.

My Standard sharpening method utilizes a custom-built low-speed, water-cooled belt system that was specifically designed for precision sharpening with a light touch. All knives are hand-finished by hand on stones and strops.

For my Traditional Whetstone service, I sharpen entirely by hand using a progression of natural & synthetic Japanese whetstones and diamond plates. Each knife receives a treatment that is custom-tailored to the type of knife, condition of the blade, specific bevels, and level of dullness. All Japanese knives are treated with natural whestones and finished on a leather strop to remove any remaining micro-materials on the apex of the edge.

Do you sharpen items other than kitchen knives?

Yes, I sharpen scissors, pocket knives, garden tools, and other items.

What does it cost?

Standard Sharpening is $12 per item, and Traditional Whetstone sharpening is $20 per item. Other services (single bevel knives, larger tools, specialty tools, etc) have higher costs.

What’s your turnaround time?

I try to maintain a turnaround time of 24 hours or less, and I am even often able to sharpen while you wait.

Can you do repairs?

Yes, I can do chip and tip repair - see Services for details.

Can you sharpen Japanese knives?

Yes, I sharpen both Western and Japanese knives including single bevels and custom angles.

Can you sharpen serrated knives?

Typically, yes. I can sharpen bread knives and knives with large-ish 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.

Can I book you to do sharpening at my business?

Absolutely. I regularly host pop-up events at grocery stores, cafes, breweries, and markets. Contact me for more details and to schedule a sharpening event.

Do you do house calls?

Yes! Contact me to book a house call. My van is entirely self-sufficient and I can park outside your home or business.

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?

Check out my Calendar, and sign up for my Mailing List to get email updates on my local pop-up events.

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

Aliens, followed closely by The Thing.