What's a good price for knife sharpening?

Jaskew82

Jaskew82

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I have a local farmers market and at the event is a knife sharpener. I spoke with him and he showed off a cheap $1 knife he claims to have sharpened over a year ago and only uses a steel on it since. Seemed extremely sharp and he demonstrated it cutting a paper think slice on a tomato with ease.

I was impressed and thought that my home knives could use a good sharpening. His price is $1 per inch. I have around 35 inches worth of knives to sharpen and seems like a reasonable price to me.

what do you guys think?
 
Seems reasonable; but it really doesn't matter how long ago he sharpened it - it'll hold an edge forever if you're not using it.

If I'm going to have my knives professionally sharpened - I better be able to shave with them when they're done.

What type of steel are your knives? If they are cheap stainless or a softer metal - I wouldn't bother. I'd only pay to have more expensive knives with good steel professionally sharpened. Generally knives that hold an edge longer means it's harder to sharpen.
 
Buy a Lansky or "lansky type" (Gatco) sharpener for that kind of money, and your set for life. But that isn't a bad price for sharpening.
 
I had some kitchen knives sharpened locally for $0.50 per inch (60 for serrated) last summer. But they did a piss poor job :roll: But my knives aren't real high quality either
 
lance0623 said:
Generally knives that hold an edge longer means it's harder to sharpen.
Click to expand...

Other way around in my expierence. I have a set of wusthof classic that hold an edge you can shave with and keep that on a steel as needed (easy).

Also if you learn to do it you can change the angle to your preference.
 
One of our local chain Supermarkets does them for free, and you get what you pay for.

There is a cutlery shop near my work that charges a flat rate of $3. He did a great job on my 8" chefs knife(one of the ones that the market "sharpened"), and my Dexter scimitar.

Matt
 
$1.00 an inch for quality sharpening is a pretty standard rate.
 
If you want a sharp knife, assuming it's quality steel, get a set of waterstones and finish with leather and polish to remove the burr (critical step for true razor quality that is even slightly durable). Not promoting one business over another (you can google and price shop easily), but here's a place that has everything and is really good about advice over the phone: http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/sharpening-tools.aspx
 
To the question at hand. 1.00 seems to be about right, in your area I would think there are a few good sharpeners who will do a good job. I would learn to do them myself, it really is not so hard. Or have this guy work on one of your knives and give it a try.

If these are inexpensive knives I would not bother to have them professionally sharpened, unless they have been really abused and lost their profile.

Cheaper steal is easier too sharpen and therefor easier to keep an edge with more frequent use of a steal. Better quality knives are a bit more difficult to put an edge on but will hold a better edge longer, again with regular uses of a steal.

I recommend buying a good steal and a leather stoup, no matter what the quality of your knives or if you have them sharpened, they will still need to be touched up between use.

A lot of people here use the gato or lansky, type, I recommend something different for personal preference reasons.
Dave
 
Coldholler said:
If you want a sharp knife, assuming it's quality steel, get a set of waterstones and finish with leather and polish to remove the burr (critical step for true razor quality that is even slightly durable).
Click to expand...

Amen! This is all I need to shave with:

DSC00270.jpg


Start left finish on right :wink:
 
I just recently purchased an edge pro system. They are pricey but with what I was spending on sharpening it will pay for itself in about 2 years or less. I love it and it is really easy to use.
 
The Edge Pro is awesome. I think I did 9 knives on Sunday in about an hour, all with varying degrees of work to be done, and they are all silly sharp right now. I took several knives to 3000 grit and slicing a sheet of paper is like running it through warm butter.
 
This is sort of what the topic is about. I had my pocket knife shapened at Bass Pro Shop, ONCE! I was 2-3 dollars. The old guy took too much off of 1 side of the blade. He used some type of belt grit sander. It almost ruined the dang knife. Took forever to fix. Like they said, You get what you pay for.
 
Caution! If you're going to have a 'pro' sharpen your knives look at some he has already done. I had a very good chef's knife ruined by a 'pro' because he changed the curve of the blade. Be very specific about how you want the blade to look like.
 
Depends on what quality of knife your sharpening . I started buying those black handle restaurant depot knives that are $8. They getnme through at least 2 contests and then I chuck them. CheAper than sharpenng
 
dataz722 said:
I just recently purchased an edge pro system. They are pricey but with what I was spending on sharpening it will pay for itself in about 2 years or less. I love it and it is really easy to use.
Click to expand...

I have some obsessive issues with my knife edges. That being said there is sharp and then there is scary sharp.

Not everyone is interested in sharpening their own knives. The EdgePro is the best jig system out there. It's pricey but less expensive than the high end Japanese Waterstones I've purchased after getting an EdgePro so I could learn freehand sharpening. After purchasing an inexpensive carbon Japanese knife I lowered the angle and sharpened it so that it passed the fall through test. Place the knife on a tomato and see if it will fall through on it's own weight.

To the OP, look at the work this guy does. If it meets your approval then the price is okay
 

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I wish I could sharpen knives worth a crap. I've tried many times with limited success :doh:
 
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