On The Edge Knife Sharpening
I’m very particular about my knives. I hone them with a steel them any time I cook and when the steel won’t work anymore I have them professionally sharpened (generally every year or so). So it was with some trepidation that I took a couple of paring knives for a test sharpening to Patti Small of On The Edge Knife Sharpening at the Lexington Farmers Market. I say “with trepidation” because I’ve taken knives to some supposed professionals who have, well how to I say, botched the job. My regular sharpener is about 25 minutes away so the temptation of having someone local to do a competent job was just too much to resist.
I asked her about how she handle’s Japanese knives and she answered correctly (you use a smaller angle to sharpen them than with European knives). $5 per paring knife seemed reasonable enough ($10 for knives longer than 6”). When I got them home and tested them, they definitely met my expectations.
Fast forward a week later when I brought the rest of our knives to her (3 Chef’s knives, a boning knife, and a 6” utility knife). I asked her to test them and she told me not to bother getting them sharpened since, although she could get them sharper, they passed the paper test. Nice. That saved me some coin, and some time too, since there was a big line of knives in front of me.
I especially like the sharpening frame she uses since it lets her set and maintain the angle precisely during sharpening, rather than just doing it by eyeball or “feel” as most sharpeners do.
