What is your sharpening process?

I sharpen entirely by hand using a progression of natural & synthetic Japanese whetstones and diamond plates. Each knife receives a treatment on stones and plates that is custom-tailored to the type of knife, condition of the blade, and level of dullness. A common progression may include an initial pass on a 400-grit diamond plate, followed by a 1000-grit synthetic stone and finished on a 6000-grit stone. A leather strop is used as the final step to remove any remaining micro-materials on the apex of the edge.

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.

Do you sharpen other things?

Kneighborhood Knives is a specialty sharpening service that focuses on kitchen knives. My passion and expertise has been developed with the intricacies of kitchen knives in mind, and for this reason I focus on kitchen knives exclusively.

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’ve hosted pop-up events at grocery stores, cafes, breweries, and markets. Contact me for more details and to schedule a sharpening event.

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. For drop-offs at my home, I request a $30 minimum for sharpening services.

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.