What Does Knife Sharpening Cost? Part 3

Is my knife (or scissors, axe, or tool) worth sharpening? Well, it depends on what YOU think its worth.

In the previous posts we discussed what it costs to sharpen blades. Then we covered how the blades are sharpened in my professional shop. Now we have reached the decision point: is it worth having my knife or scissors sharpened?

There are two parts to this question. First, when I sharpen your knife it will have a cutting edge that is equal to or better than new. This resharpened edge will cut with less effort and last longer than the new knife.

How is this possible? Knives - except for knives that are custom-made, one at a time – are either sharpened on an automatic machine or given a few passes by hand on a belt grinder. That’s all that is possible in mass production. There is even a theory that many manufacturers AVOID sharpening new knives to their full potential as some sort of safety mechanism.

In reality, this is false and a less-than-sharp knife can cause injury. You must put more pressure on the blade. Your muscles are tense. The blade sticks, then slips – and may cut your fingers or even glance off and cut you in the leg or torso. Experienced butchers know that the most serious cuts are the result of dull knives.

Only a sharp knife is a safe knife. You can bring a brand-new knife to me and I can vastly improve the cutting edge. Is this worth $7.00? It’s like adding a turbo charger to your car. You will immediately FEEL the difference! The more you use the knife, the more you will appreciate the super sharp cutting edge. Tests in commercial meat processing plants have shown that sharp knives increase production by as much as 8 percent!

The second part of the question is obviously the value of the knife – or axe, scissors or another blade. I can take a knife from the Dollar Store and hone it to a wicked sharp edge. I HAVE done it – and I can make these knives shave hair! Are you willing to pay me $7.00 to sharpen a $1.00 knife? I doubt it.

But I can also take a knife that you picked up at a thrift store for $2.00 and make it into a treasured cooking instrument. I’ve done that, too! You can often buy good quality knives at Goodwill and local thrift stores. These knives were discarded because they got dull, or because someone tried and failed to sharpen them correctly. I have also taken $1.00 used steak knives and removed the serrations to produce excellent paring knives.

Obviously, a quality $50.00 or $100.00 knife is designed to be sharpened many times and should last a lifetime. But even a nice $20.00 knife is worth sharpening IF you really like it. If you have a matching set of knives you probably use a few of these most of the time. So have these few knives sharpened when they get dull and keep the set together.

Sharpening is much cheaper than continually replacing knives – and besides, your re-sharpened knife will still be better than any new knife.

The same thinking applies to your scissors. Do I sharpen any Dollar Store scissors? No. Do people pay me $6.00 to sharpen $10.00 generic scissors? Yes, especially when they are comfortable and you like them.

Finally, there are knives, scissors, hatchets, and tools that have been handed down. Your cost is exactly ZERO. Are they worth sharpening? YES! These blades remind us of the person every time they are USED. To use them correctly, they must be sharp. If they are not sharp they will not be efficient or safe to use. So have these old – and often high quality, craftsman tools restored and sharpened.