A guy in a garage
I love sharpening. It’s not a hobby. It’s not something I do after I finish my “regular job”. It’s my full time occupation. When you support Honed By Jones, you support our family. ⚡️🔪⚡️
How often should I get my kitchen knives sharpened?
That’s a difficult question to answer. Every person uses, stores, and washes their knives differently. This means that one person’s knife can become dull quicker than another person’s knife even if the two people are using the exact same knife.
My recommendations?
Do not use your knife as a scraper on your cutting board. Knives edges are designed to slice and cut, not scrape. If you have to scrape food off your cutting board, turn your knife over and use the spine of the knife instead of the edge. Another option? Use a bench scraper. Click HERE to see an example if you’re not sure what a bench scraper is.
Store your knives on a knife magnet or use edge guards or sheaths or sayas. Use anything other than a knife block. Knife blocks are typically filthy inside. Also, if you look at the slots of almost every wooden knife block you can see where the edge of each knife has been hitting the slots over and over. This dulls the knife with every pull from the block and every return to the block.
Hand wash and immediately dry your knives. The harsh chemicals and abrasives in dishwasher soaps can dull the super thin edge of a knife over time. Also the water jets cause your knives to bang around and bump into other utensils and into dishwasher racks. And finally, the very hot and moist environment can wear down and warp your handles, cause rust spots on your blades, and prematurely weaken the adhesive holding your knife handles in place.
Buy a ceramic honing rod from me for maintaining your sharpened edge. I have them in stock but not on my website yet. It’s what we use in our home kitchen. Contact me if you’d like to pick one up.
Having said all that, I usually recommend every 3-6 months.
Do I sharpen serrated knives?
Quick answer: YES. Years ago most sharpeners didn’t do serrated knives but times have changed and just like most industries sharpening has evolved. Now it’s common for most sharpeners to have the skills, techniques, and machines necessary to sharpen serrated knives properly. And most importantly, to sharpen those serrated knives without damaging the serrations. So if you’ve got a bread knife or other serrated knife, don’t leave it at home when you bring in your items for sharpening! - Warren
A new farmers market for Honed By Jones! ⚡️🔪⚡️
A new farmers market is coming to Reno and I’m excited to be a part of it! It’s called the Fall Harvest Market and it’s located at The Village at Rancharrah. The market starts Saturday, October 3rd and it goes from 9am - 1pm. So if you can’t make it to the Riverside farmers market on Sundays in Idlewild, you can catch me on Saturday mornings instead. Of course you can always contact me to drop off items at my home workshop. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Can I fix a knife with a broken tip?
You’d be surprised how often I do this! Knives are meant to be used as knives but unfortunately they often get used as pry bars in the kitchen. See pics. If you’ve got a knife with a broken tip don’t throw it away. Get in touch and I’ll fix the tip and sharpen the knife as well.
Yes. I sharpen Japanese knives!
Not only do I sharpen Japanese knives, I use them every day in our home kitchen and I sell them as well. Here’s a picture of a Japanese knife I sharpened yesterday. The customer was so happy with the sharpening that he went home and brought back 2 more. ⚡️🔪⚡️
Setting up my booth at the Carson City Farmers Market
It’s another beautiful Saturday morning at Mills Park in Carson City and I’m setting up my booth for another morning of sharpening. The market goes from 8:30 AM to 1 PM. Bring your knives! ⚡️🔪⚡️
Where have my customers come from?
Good afternoon and welcome to my shop. Most of my customers are local and from the Carson City, Reno, and Lake Tahoe area but I’ve also had many customers from smaller towns like Genoa, Silver City, Markleeville, Dayton, Fallon, Minden, and Gardnerville. I also receive mail in sharpening and I’ve had customers mail in items for sharpening from as far away as Texas, Washington, and California. (Update: I had a new customer from Georgia and a new customer from North Carolina contact me this week.) Wherever you’re located I hope you’ve got quality sharpening nearby. I also happen to know many sharpeners around the country so feel free to reach out if you’re not local or contact me if you’d like to mail something in. - Warren