Knife Sharpening
Knife Sharpening Services
Dull knives don't just make cooking a chore - they're dangerous! At Zest, we believe in having the right tool for the job in the kitchen and that also means having your tools in good working order. We offer in-house knife sharpening services to make sure your knives make the cut. See below for details.
Free Hand Whetstone Sharpening |
Electric Sharpening | Serrated Knives |
$5/inch with a $10 minimum (measured along the spine of the blade) |
Chef's, Santoku, and Large Slicing Knives $8/knife |
$25/knife |
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Paring, Utility, and Other Small Knives $4/knife |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What type of knife sharpening do you offer?
A: We offer both machine sharpening and whetstone sharpening.
Machine sharpening is done on a TruHone Commercial sharpener, the same one used by Wusthof in their commercial sharpening operation.
Whetstone sharpening is done freehand on stones ranging from 400 to 8000 grit.
All serrated knives will be sharpened using DMT Diafold Serrated Knife Sharpeners. These conical sharpening rods allow us to sharpen just one side of the knife, maintaining the knife's original bevel.
Q: Which knife sharpening service is right for my knives?
A: That depends! Machine sharpening is fast, inexpensive and delivers a quality result, but it removes more material than whetstone sharpening. This is especially relevant for knives with bolsters, which cannot be passed through the Tru-Hone machine. Repeated machine sharpening of knives with bolsters on the Tru-Hone can result in a swale in bolstered knives, pictured below.
If your knives are extremely dull, or have small dents, chips, etc in the blade, then machine sharpening is preferred as it will be able to remove enough material to reshape the blade and repair small dings. Please note, if blade damage is extensive, we may not be able to repair it with either method.
Whetstone sharpening will remove less material, extending the life of your knife, and is preferred for knives that just need a slight tune up and don't need any reshaping. This is the best method for all hard steel knives (i.e. Japanese knives, carbon steel knives, Rockwell > 60).
Q: Do I need an appointment?
A: No! You can drop your knives off at Zest at any time for sharpening. Turn-around time varies based on the service you select, and we caution that before big cooking holidays, like Thanksgiving, the turnaround time may be longer.
Q: When will my knives be finished?
A: We have a standard 7 day turnaround time for all whetstone sharpening. Electric sharpening may be able to be completed sooner. You will receive a phone call when your knives are ready for pick up.
Q: Are you able to remove chips from my knife?
A: Yes! It may take us a little longer to sharpen knives with chips, and for knives with significant damage the sharpening process may affect the shape / length of the knife. We will discuss these possibilities with you when you drop off your knives. If you have a knife in this condition, it's best if you call or email us a picture before you come in to make sure that our sharpening pros will be on hand to review and advise. You can certainly drop them off without contacting us first, and we will have our sharpening pros take a look. We just want to spare you the trip in case it's something that we can't fix!
Q: Are you able to re-profile broken tips?
A: At this time, we are not able to re-profile broken tips. We hope to add this service in the future.
Q: What don’t you sharpen?
A: At this time we do not sharpen double or 'micro' serrated knives, beautician’s shears, pruners, loppers, axes/hatchets/mauls, lawn mower blades, chainsaw blades, or food processor blades. Please check back later to see if we’ve added any of these services!
Q: Can I specify a blade angle?
A: Yes, we are able to sharpen to specific blade angles. Please be aware that changing the angle of the cutting edge from the factory angle may result in the removal of more material.
Q: What angle do you sharpen to?
A: Our 'default' machine sharpening angle is 15 degrees per side. For 'Asian' Wusthof blades (e.g. Santokus and Nakiris), we sharpen to the factory 10 degrees per side. Please note that older Wusthofs and many German steel knives are factory sharpened to 20 degrees. We can accommodate this or re-angle your knife if desired.
Unless otherwise requested, whetstone sharpening is done to 15 degrees, the angle on our Shun blades.
Q: Can you sharpen single bevel (e.g. sushi) knives?
A: Yes! Single bevel knives can only be sharpened via our whetstone sharpening service since machine sharpening works both sides at the same time, and is therefore a double bevel only service.