My Mobile Knife Sharpening Business's 'IN' Box

My mobile knife sharpening business uses plastic trays to hold knives for sharpening. This system works well as the trays keeps a customers knives together, and also reduces any 'stabbing' as I encourage the customer to place any unwrapped knives directly into the tray.

I took pictures of a few of the customer's knives in the 'In Box' for this blog post, all during my stop last Monday at Lunardi's San Bruno.

A Very Large Bundle of Knives to be Sharpened!

This tray is overflowing with knives. A customer has carrying a brown paper shopping bag and said she had a lot of knives. She wasn't kidding, I would this is a big bag of knives!

Old and New Style Knives

These knives also came in at Lunardi's San Bruno. The guy that brought them in said that they were his grandfather's knives. I pointed out the small pink chef's knife, kind of with a raised eyebrow — and he said "Well except that one." I took picture of these knives as I liked the new little painted pinkie chef's knife associated with the giant vintage carbon steel cleaver of his grandfather's.

Shun Knives to be Sharpened

This tray of Shun knives to be sharpened came in the same day, same place. I have to say that I wish these Shun knives were packed a bit better for travel. Actually all these knives in this blog post were pretty much dumped into a bag or box and brought in. That is not the best way to transport the knives — but is a bit forgivable when the knives are brought in for sharpening. Once I sharpen the knives I wrap them up nice and tight!

Kitchen Knives Sharpened and Wrapped

Here is a bundle of knives that I sharpened and wrapped for the customer. I use multiple layers of newspaper and rubber bands, always with the handles exposed so that it is easier to unwrap.

Japanese Garden Trimmer to be Sharpened

I don't offen see these Japanese garden trimmers brought in for sharpening so that's why I took this picture.

Giant Handmade Carbon Steel Knife

And there is this guy. This must be a homemade knife, it has a giant blade that is maybe made from a car leaf spring or such.

Vintage Carbon Steel Knife Handle

The wooden handle is held together by threaded brass.

Handmade Carbon Steel Knife

Here is another view of the knife.

I think the knife was made pretty well. In this picture you can see the shape of the blade drifts more towards the freeform than is is desired — but overall I say good job!

Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel Knives

I get asked about the steel in knives all the time. Today I want to talk about stainless steel and carbon steel knives.

The market is almost entirely stainless steel now — stainless steel having replaced carbon steel.

Carbon Steel Knife,  Stainless Steel Knives, Garden Tools

Here is a picture of some knives. The two chef's knives are stainless steel, the small knife is a cannery knife made of carbon steel.

Vintage Carbon Steel Slicing Knife, New Carbon Steel Slicing Knife

Here is a vintage Old Hickory carbon steel slicing knife pictured above a brand spanking new Old Hickory slicer. I struggled to get a picture that accurately captures the finish — this picture is the best I could get. A carbon steel knife when new has a shiny even finish, with use a carbon steel knife gets a gray mottled finish — we call it a patina.

We want a patina — and it is not practical to prevent it — on a carbon steel knife. The gray color is the patina, rust is red and we want to prevent rust. 

Vintage Butcher Knives

Here is a picture of two large carbon steel butcher knives. If you enlarge the picture (by clicking on it) you will notice rust spots on the bottom knife.

Stainless Steel F. Dick Utility Knife

Here is a forged stainless steel F. Dick utility knife. Stainless steel will start out nice and shiny and pretty much stay that way. That is the main reason that almost all knives made today are stainless steel. Sometimes you might get a few rust spots on a stainless knife — these can be polished off with steel wool.

Quality stainless steel knives sold today have carbon in the steel — which makes stainless easier to sharpen and allows the knife to hold a edge.

Large Vintage Carbon Steel Dexter Chef's Knife

Here is a large carbon steel chef's knife. I guess that using carbon steel knives is maybe just a hobby — perhaps like listening to vinyl records or driving a classic car — it's just kind of fun to use a tool that takes a bit more care than more modern knives.

The differences in using carbon steel knives is that it must be kept dry by being wiped dry between uses, the knife gets a patina which some might not like, and a carbon steel can leave a metallic taste when cutting acidic foods. An advantage of carbon steel knives is that they are easier to sharpen, also they are usually less expensive.

I sell Mundial forged high carbon stainless steel kitchen, I sell stamped carbon steel Old Hickory knives, and I usually have a selection of vintage forged and stamped carbon steel knives on my tables.

Do You Want Your Knife Bevel Angle More Obtuse? More Acute?

All knives have a sharpened edge — that's what makes a knife sharp. When a knife is put on a stone and ground — that is called a bevel angle. The knife is usually ground equally on both sides, and this is called the bevel angle.

Looking at a cross section of the knife the bevel angle will look like the letter V, and how wide the V is is what I am trying to describe.

The bevel angle can be more 'acute' or more 'obtuse,' with a more acute angle cutting better, and a more obtuse angle lasting longer. Knives all have a bevel angle selected that gives the best compromise between good cutting and long life.

All of this has pretty much been standardized with a bevel angle decided depending on how the knife is expected to be used.

Kitchen Knives Sharpened with Acute Bevel Angles

A customer brought me these knives — a chef's knife and a santoku — and asked for special bevels ground on each knife.

He asked for a 17° angle on the chef's knife and a 14° on the santoku.

That's what we did! They are now quite sharp — with edges that need to be used and stored with care so as to preserve the sharpness.

Using the Kitchen Knife Steel (Some Call it a Sharpening Steel)

Everybody asks about the kitchen knife steel. The steel is the steel rod that you most likely got with the set of knives that you bought.

Vintage Knife Steel Displayed with Kitchen Knives

This picture shows a vintage knife steel that I bought at an estate sale. A steel can vary in length, and it can have a smooth or ribbed rod. A steel that is ribbed increases the pressure on the edge of the knife as the knife is being honed. Don't press too hard while using the steel!

Large Dexter Knife Steel Displayed with Knives

This Dexter knife steel is a large one designed for the professional market. A larger steel is easier to use it gives you more room as you slide the knife down the rod — ensuring that you contact the entire edge of the knife.

For ease of use I recommend that the knife steel is at least a  few inches longer than the knife that you will be honing on the steel.

A steel aligns or hones the edge of the knife. It does not sharpen the knife. The edge of a knife can roll over during use, using the steel will realign the edge of the knife. A knife with a rolled edge will seem dull, after the edge has been properly reconditioned with the steel it will cut like it's sharp.

It's important to understand that the steel just returns the knife to as sharp as it just was — not to as sharp as it was when it was last sharpened! As unbelievable as it seems, each time a knife is used a tiny portion of the steel is worn off. The steel keeps the knife edge properly aligned so the knife cuts as well as possible as the blade wears, but at a certain point the edge is so worn that sharpening is again needed.

My opinion is that a knife does not need to be steeled before each use, every day or as often as you see a professional cook do in the media. I say once a week or so for the average kitchen knife that sees light to moderate use.

Properly done a knife can't be harmed by frequent steeling so feel free to steel when and as much as you want. Also I think it would be a good idea to remember to steel a knife anytime it suffers abuse — such as if you hit a bone, drop the knife, or let the knife rattle around in the sink.

To properly steel a knife, hold the knife at a 20° angle to the steel, and using moderate pressure rub the cutting edge along the steel, starting with the heel of the knife, and finishing off at the point. Alternate each side in turn, and do maybe four or five passes on each side.

I like to explain using the steel as pretending that the steel is coated with chocolate, and holding the knife as I described above, pretend you are scraping the chocolate off.

I have embedded a link below — produced by knife maker Mundial — on how to use the steel.

I always have a steel or two at my mobile knife sharpening setup, and I gladly demonstrate how to use the steel — just come by and ask!

I Hit Another Estate Sale

Picked up some mrs knives at an estate sale in Campbell today.

Fish Filet Knives

The estate sale was at a boat repair business so I picked up a handful of fish filet knives. The top one is Nor Mark made in Sweden, next is a white handled Dexter Russell filet knife with a 9" blade, then a very vintage looking Fiskars. This Fiskars is made in Finland, a stainless steel blade, copper bolster and copper end cap. It is in a leather sheath. The yellow handled knife is rather new, made in USA, but no brand markings.

Estate Sale Knives

Here are the other knives I bought, bought these these just to round up the purchase, to allow me to haggle the purchase price better.

Another Box of Knives at the Door

An order of  knives was received today.

Boker Ceramic Paring Knife Boker Ceramic Santoku Knives

I received these three Boker ceramic knives. One the little guy is a paring knife, and there are two santoku knives, all with a sheath.

Ceramic knives are great for staying sharp, the main fault with a ceramic knife is that it is brittle — you need to use a ceramic knife carefully!

I sharpen ceramic knives.

Old Hickory 7" Butcher Knives

Received two sets of Old Hickory knives and these two butcher knives. A set includes two paring knives, a utility knife, a butcher knife, a slicing knife. I sell them singly so I usually need more butcher knives.

Boker Bushcraft Knife and Leather Sheath

Boker Bushcraft knife. A very nicely finished stocky knife. Complete with a leather sheath.

Boker Bushcraft Knife

The handle is black micarta, the blade is a thick 440c blade 3 3/4" long.

Not Just a Knife Sharpener!

My mobile sharpening business sharpens knives mostly — but definitely not limited to just knives!

Just Sharpened Paper Cutter

I sharpen paper cutters, garden tools, scissors, shovels and hoes — pretty much anything with a straight edge — and a few non straight edged items, I sharpen serrated knives and chain saws.

Just Sharpened Hand Pruners

Hand pruners are taken apart, cleaned, sharpened, reassembled, adjusted and oiled. Bring in your hand pruners, loppers, and hedge clippers.