Santa Monica knife sharpening is a blog about hand sharpening quality knives,
shears, scissors, tweezers and razors.

Why you should spend a little more and have your good knife hand sharpened

Never take your expensive knife to a so called “professional” knife sharpener, that doesn’t use water stones to sharpening it by hand or at least use water cooled rotary stones. Most often they will sharpen your knife on a machine that looks like a belt sander or on a grinder, and sparks will fly. These machines are very abrasive and will apply excessive heat to you knife, and ruin the tempering. This over heating of the
edge while sharpening it will actually “de temper” the steel of the edge and
make it softer, and the knife will go blunt very quickly.

Also avoid kitchen supply stores, mall shops and so on that use machines like “chefs choice to sharpen their knives. These machines also over heating the edge, and they seldom have the correct edge angles. Please don’t use these machines at home either, because you are ruining your knives! Anyone who has ever tried to put a decent edge on a kitchen knife with an electric grinder can attest to this, a grinder is the quickest way to ruin an expensive knife.

I have been fixing knives from people who have taken their global’s, mac’s, shun’s and other really expensive high quality knives to places that use these kind of machines. The only way for me to fix them is to grind the knives down past the “de tempered” and damage steel, until I get back to the hard steel.

Machines have a few advantages like; Perfect angles, uniformity, and speed. But the downside is that; it could over heat the edge, it can’t adjust for minor variations and imperfection and grid down way more material than needed, wish shortens the life of your knife. If the blade doesn’t need it, grinding off excessive material is just throwing
money away.

I hand sharpening all knives on Japanese water stones, because I think a good hand sharpened edge beats a machines sharpened edge. The blade bevels come out smooth polished without rough grinding marks, and the hand sharpening also allows just the right amount to be taken off to provide a superior edge. Blades with sweeping curves, such as kitchen or restaurant knives, really shine with a good hand sharpening job. The edge is certainly less mechanically precise, but the sharper edge and polished bevels more than compensate, requiring less effort to get through the same material.

Why you need a sharp knife:

1. A sharp knife is important in order to
preserve the true flavors and beauty of fresh ingredients. Cutting with a dull
knife will damage food on a cellular level and alter its taste and appearance.

2. A sharp knife is also important for
safety. A dull knife is more prone to slip on food and may result in bodily
injury.

3. A Sharp knives are also important for
kitchen efficiency. It will take more time and effort to cut with a dull knife
than a sharp knife.

4. Using a sharp knife is also undoubtedly
much more enjoyable to work with.

Santa Monica knife sharpening recommend

If you like your knives sharp, I recommend you buy a few water stones and learn how to sharpen your knives yourself. If you are not able to or not having the time to sharpen your knives yourself let a professional hand sharpener sharpen your knives for you.

Magnus Pettersson hand sharpener, now serving the whole Westside with free pickup and delivery: Santa Monica, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Venice, Marina Del Rey, Culver City and West LA.

For free pickup and delivery on the Westside, call/txt 310-486-6068 or email.