Where to get knives sharpened in Seattle?

[little ms foodie]

So we had two of our knives sharpened on Sat at the UDist Market. It cost $8 and took about 45 mins.

They are very sharp! She put new edges on them that GLEAM! But what else should I look for as I use them to determine if this is a good sharpener person or not?

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I had Kitchen Song do two knives a couple days ago, but will be sticking with Bob Kramer from here on out. I've been hesitant about saying anything for a variety of reasons, and Bob has done my knives before so I knew his work, but I was curious about KS, so...

My knives are sharp enough, but unevenly so. In the case of my paring knife, the grinded edge doesn't follow the curve of the blade. Granted, part of the belly on this paring knife had been worn away long ago so it is never going to look pretty, but the edge was turned into a wide angled uneven V. The grind on my chef's knife is also uneven, between the both sides, and just going along one side it changes too.

Basically the difference between KS and Bob Kramer (or Daniel O'Malley at Epicurean Edge) is that with the latter two's work, you don't see a grind. The entire edge is polished down into a mirror tapered curve, no corners anywhere, and the belly of the knife literally melts into the edge.

KS is probably fine for home cooks, and they are by far the least expensive option (my cost was 6$ total for my paring knife and 8" chef's knife, whereas Daniel or Bob would charge more than that for one knife alone) as well as most convenient (45 minute wait while you shop at the market, as opposed to mailing knives to Ferndale or going to Kirkland and waiting 24 hours), but I'm in culinary school and it's important for me to be able to do cuts that are perfectly smooth, ie. slice a potato and the surface should feel like glass. Bob and Daniel's sharpening technique not only allows for this, but IMO their edges will last a lot longer too. No corners = no friction, and more support for the edge of the blade over time.

As with most things, it comes down to cost, convenience, what people want to do in the kitchen, and how often they will do it. Routine for me is dicing a 200 lbs. box of raw sweet potatoes, so a long lasting edge with minimal friction matters a lot.

Pat

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this is great information and I appreciate it! We are home cooks but I'd still like to have a better understanding of what a good sharpened knife should entail. Thank you so much for posting this!

[Sleepy_Dragon]

You're welcome, and no problem. I'm not an expert either, otherwise I'd be doing it myself instead of paying someone to do it.

If I'd never experienced Bob Kramer's work before, I'd probably be fine with Kitchen Song, and the owner did put a sharp edge on my chef's knife, but the paring knife was a different story, unfortunately. I know it is not the easiest knife to sharpen due to how I'd worn away so much of the belly with my own botched sharpening attempts, but Bob could follow the blade evenly as well as turn it to something almost frictionless, so his is the kind of experience I want to continue.

Pat

[Really Nice!]

I have now had knives sharpened by both Bob Kramer and Epicurean Edge. Without a doubt Bob Kramer does such a better job that it can't be compared to Epicurean Edge. It's worth the $20 shipping ($10 each way) to Bob.

Bob sharpens the knife at a smaller angle, and with the shaprening he applies a polish so you really can't see where his sharpening ends. I've had knives sharpened by him for more than a year with nothing more than a couple of swips on a steel every week to maintain the edge.

A few weeks ago I had some knives sharpened by Epicurean Edge. They had a clear, definitive, sharpening edge of less than 1/8 of an inch up the blade. The knives needed some light sharpening on a stone within 2 weeks of my receiving them.

Actual price for sharpening the knives was about the same.

Edited for grammar.

Edited August 20, 2005 by Really Nice! (log)

[SeaGal]

I have now had knives sharpened by both Bob Kramer and Epicurean Edge. Without a doubt Bob Kramer does such a better job that it can't be compared to Epicurean Edge. It's worth the $20 shipping ($10 each way) to Bob.

Bob sharpens the knife at a smaller angle, and with the shaprening he applies a polish so you really can't see where his sharpening ends. I've had knives sharpened by him for more than a year with nothing more than a couple of swips on a steel every week to maintain the edge.

I few weeks ago I had some knives sharpened by Epicurean Edge. They had a clear, definitive, sharpening edge of less than 1/8 of an inch up the blade. The knives needed some light sharpening on a stone within 2 weeks of my receiving them.

Actual price for sharpening the knives was about the same.

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Thank you so much for this info. I've had such a hard time getting good, sharp knives. I'm definitely going to give Bob a try.

Jan

[Placebo]

I get my knives sharpened by Antonio Knoy who runs Seattle Sharpening. He totes his sharpening rig around town to do work for restaraunts and will, I believe, make housecalls. Last I knew he charged $3/blade and will also do scissors and the like. He's been handling my knives for a couple of years. I've also had him put new tips on a couple that were mishandled by people and taper the heel of my Wusthof Chef's knife to more smoothly meld into the blade edge.

http://www.seattlesharpening.com/

The street address listed there no longer applies but the email address and phone number are still correct.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

I have now had knives sharpened by both Bob Kramer and Epicurean Edge. Without a doubt Bob Kramer does such a better job that it can't be compared to Epicurean Edge. It's worth the $20 shipping ($10 each way) to Bob.

Bob sharpens the knife at a smaller angle, and with the shaprening he applies a polish so you really can't see where his sharpening ends. I've had knives sharpened by him for more than a year with nothing more than a couple of swips on a steel every week to maintain the edge.

A few weeks ago I had some knives sharpened by Epicurean Edge. They had a clear, definitive, sharpening edge of less than 1/8 of an inch up the blade. The knives needed some light sharpening on a stone within 2 weeks of my receiving them.

Actual price for sharpening the knives was about the same.

Edited for grammar.

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Interesting. When I examined their work via the knives ScorchedPalette and seacrotty showed me several months ago, compared to my Kramer sharpened knives the work seemed nearly identical, so much so we all thought it was the same sharpener.

Do you know who specifically sharpened your knives at EE?

Pat

[RandyB]

I was up at Bob Kramer's in Bellingham two weeks ago. He said he's moving to Olympia in two months. So if you need some sharpening done, don't wait. I'm guessing (although I didn't ask) that his shop will be down for a while.

[chefturnedbum]

OK guys I just saw my knives made by Elliot Wakefield in between Skykomish and Leavenworth at rockway. They are quite awesome. I had pearl handles put on but you can have anything from micarta to giraffe bone. He also sharpens and has classes. Worth the trip if you need new knives or want to make your own. You would be surprised how little and cheap the euipment it takes to make them. Some of these guys are charging like $500 bucks per. Damn I loves cool knives.

[tamiam]

I just had three knives sharpened at Epicurean Edge in Kirkland. The store is like a knife wonderland, the staff extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and my knives....so sharp that I could take up a side gig doing elective surgery.

[chefturnedbum]

at chef revival.com they have a service to send in knives to be sharpened plus a slew of fun toys for sale.

[pgtips]

Does anyone where to go to get knives sharpened in Tacoma?

My mom needs her knives sharpened (desperately!), but won't send them anywhere or travel far.