Knife Sharpening
Menu
- * Knife Sharpening Service
- * Knife Sharpening Classes
- * Online Sharpening Seminars
- * About Knife Sharpening
- * Knife Rehandling Service
Knife Sharpening Service
Japanese Knife Imports is now offering a knife sharpening service. For those of you in the Los Angeles area, you are more than welcome to stop by our shop and have your knives sharpened. For those of you who live a little further away, we may also be able to help you though a mail order service (please contact us if you are interested in taking advantage of this mail order option).
Each knife is sharpened entirely by hand using Japanese water stones. I tailor the edge to each customer, based on his/her needs and personal preferences. We utilize a mix of synthetic and natural stones, from 60 grit to over 20,000 grit, as necessary to achielve the edge our customers are looking for.
Pricing
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Double Bevel Knives- $15 (though we may charge more for very large knives)
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Single Bevel Knives- $25-35 (depending on size)
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Honbazduke (finish sharpening for new knives)- from $5 (depending on the knife)
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Chip repair- from $5
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Broken tip - from $10
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Surface refinish- from $10
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Thinning- from $10
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Major repairs- price is assessed on a knife to knife basis
*Chip repair, broken tips, surface refinishes, thinning, and other repair/refinishing work must be combined with a sharpening service
**Additional charges may apply for difficult to sharpen blades such as Honyaki knives
Knife Sharpening Classes
We teach knife sharpening classes in our store near Venice Beach (1501 Main St. #105, Venice, CA 90291). All knife sharpening classes are held as 1-on-1 classes to allow me to most effectively utilize my time with the student. In 1-on-1 classes, I can adjust each class to suit the skill level of each student. Classes can range from very basic to advanced sharpening techniques, and I am always more than happy to focus on specific areas if that is required. We provide sharpening equipment and a knife to sharpen on for use during the class. However, often times, it is better if you are able to bring your own knives and stones to learn on. This way they will be more comfortable for you to use when you return home or to work. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about our classes or if you would like to schedule a class - Jon@JapaneseKnifeImports.com
All classes are split into 2 hour sessions. For first time sharpeners, we recommend putting two classes together for a 4 hour session. We have found an initial class of 4 hours gives us enough time to get you sharpening effectively, so that you can put functional edges on your knives when you return home or to work.
Pricing
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2 Hour Sharpening Class During Store Hours- $150
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2 Hour Sharpening Class Outside of Normal Operating Hours- $250 (Subject to Availability)
Online Sharpening Seminars
Our Online Sharpening Seminars are aimed at providing a more interactive method of learning knife sharpening than our youtube videos offer. We realize not everyone is close enough to our store to stop by for a sharpening class, so we decided to make this avaliable online. The goal is that we can cover various topics and then allow for some Q&A with immediate and direct feedback. In addition, participants can ask questions anywhere along the way as we demonstrate sharpening techniques. So now, when you see something that doesnt quite make sense or you wish someone could explain, you can ask in realtime and get an asnwer.
Click Here to read more about our Online Sharpening Seminars
About Knife Sharpening
Do you sharpen your own knives? I do. In fact, I’m kind of obsessed with it. After first learning how to sharpen on Japanese waterstones many years ago from my chef in Japan, I have continued to practice and learn more about sharpening, sharpening stones, and sharpening techniques over the years. I have trained in Japan with sharpening professionals and craftsmen (the guys who actually make some of the knives we sell here) to better hone my sharpening skills. I firmly believe that everyone should learn how to sharpen their own knives. You can’t really get the best out of your knives until you really understand sharpening. Once you have it down, you can change your knives to better suit your style (or even just the task at hand). If you are rough with knives, you can increase the angle of your bevel to create a more robust edge. If you have a delicate touch and like the feeling of your knife literally falling through food, you can decrease that angle. You can thin your knife, change asymmetrical bevels, or put on micro-bevels. Learning how to really sharpen is the ONLY way you will get the most out of your knives in the long run. You can find a number of videos on knife sharpening on Japanese Knife Imports' YouTube channel.
A basic knife sharpening setup should include the following things- a coarse stone (between 60-700 grit), a medium stone (between 800-3000 girt), a fine stone (4000+ grit), and some kind of stone flattening device. With these basic tools, you should be able to put amazing edges on all of your knives. I personally use a wide variety of stones (I think my collection is currently in the 40+ stone range), and am always testing new products in order to make sure we offer the best quality products for your sharpening needs.
There are a wide variety of stones out there… soft and hard, slow cutting and fast, deep scratching and shallow, stones that need to be soaked and splash-and-go stones. Depending on your knives and personal preferences, certain stones may be a better fit for you than others. We are more than happy to assist you in finding the right stone or stones for your needs. We have tested and used all of the types of stones we carry so as to be able to offer you the best advise possible.
In addition to stones, there are a variety of additional sharpening products that you may choose to use in your sharpening setup. These can be various strops or pads, sprays or pastes, cork, wood, and so on. Many of these can be very helpful products and can help you achieve very sharp edges, however, we urge you to not go overboard with these. We believe developing good sharpening skill is far more important. For many of these products, we recommend Dave Martell of Japanese Knife Sharpening. He carries high quality strops, felt pads, and diamond sprays that work well with many of the knives we carry.
Knife Rehandling Service
We are officially beginning our knife rehandling services for japanese kitchen knives. We will be replacing/upgrading wa handles on a variety of knives, including the more traditional types- yanagiba, deba, usuba, etc.- and most of the western shaped wa-handled knives- wa-gyuto, wa-petty, wa-sujihiki, etc. Knife rehandles are done in the traditional japanese method. Jonathan has trained with a number of craftsmen in Japan perparing for this. He has rehandled with variety of woods including ho wood, iichi, ebony. For the time being, we will only be offering ho, iichi, and burnt chestnut octagonal handles. Later on, we will add other types of wood. The handles are imported from Japan and we perform strict quality checks on all of them. When we install the handles, we will seal the area where the handle meets the tang so as to protect the tang from water, rust, food, etc.