Why have your knives sharpened professionally?

Why sharpen knives at all? It may seem counterintuitive, but sharp knives are safer than dull knives. Why? Because most knife injuries are caused by too much force being applied to cut through the food or other material - so much so that the knife slips and the person loses control, resulting in injury. A sharp knife glides through food - even hard foods like carrot and potato - with no need to apply much pressure. A dull knife crushes its way through food or other materials since the edge won’t slice. Besides, sharp knives are more fun to use!

Why not sharpen your knives yourself? Honing a knife to its sharpest potential requires years of experience. Professionals have the skill and tools to achieve phenomenally sharp edges in a relatively short amount of time. Creating sharp knives and tools requires an understanding of bevel angles (the angles of the edge of the knife). Different kinds of knives and tools require different bevels in order to be their sharpest while also being durable to perform their particular functions. 

For example, a kitchen knife is usually sharpened to 17-20 degrees. A pocket knife is sharpened to 25-30 degrees. If you were to sharpen a pocket knife to 17 degrees, it would be very sharp, but using the blade to whittle wood would dull it very quickly because wood is hard and 17 degrees doesn’t provide enough steel behind the edge to be durable. Sharpening to 25-30 degrees creates a more durable, but less sharp knife. It sacrifices some keenness to achieve a balance of sharpness vs durability that’s appropriate for the uses of a pocket knife.

Likewise, sharpening a kitchen knife to 30 degrees results in a very durable edge that is not as sharp as it could be. Food is generally soft and therefore doesn’t cause much stress to the edge as a material like wood does. Sharpening it to a more acute angle of 17-20 degrees creates a sharper edge with acceptable durability. Again, the balance between sharpness vs. durability that is best for the type of knife and its intended uses. Professionals know what angles work best for what types and uses of knives and apply that knowledge to provide you with the sharpest knives with the best durability.

A professional can also repair damage to your knives, avoiding the need to throw a damaged knife away and buying a new one. At GrandDad’s, we don’t even charge for repairing the most common types of damage.

Achieving optimal sharpness also requires the right tools and equipment. To get this kind of edge at home would require a minimum of four stones of different grits, plus a leather strop. Oh, and did we mention how much time and work it would require for each knife?

What about those home sharpener gadgets? Home sharpeners can only sharpen to one single angle, which, as we’ve seen, is not appropriate for all knives/tools. They generally use an angle like 25 degrees that creates a usable edge for any use, but not the best edge for most uses. Like most one-size-fits-all solutions, it fails to deliver the best of anything.