SHARPENED by LEIGH

Leigh removing chips and sharpening a Deba, September 2022.

Japanese Whetstone

Hand Sharpening

ABOUT US & JAPANESE WHETSTONE
HAND SHARPENING

Leigh testing a Benchmade pocket knife he just sharpened, March 2023.

THE ART & SCIENCE OF WHETSTONE SHARPENING
Our business is based upon the art and science of sharpening knives and tools on Japanese whetstones, which is a practice many thousands of years old refined by many cultures throughout the world including the Japanese, who are most famous for it.OUR TOOLS OF THE TRADE
All the whetstones we use are 100% made in Japan and sourced from small local businesses. We have no secrets and there is no mystery to our work. We invite all our customers to watch while Leigh sharpens your knives by hand.”We do not take shortcuts and cheat by secretly putting your knife on a belt sander, a Tormek or a large Japanese water wheel after you leave. This is our promise and our guarantee and it is the core of our methodology as sharpeners.” LeighWe take great pride in our work and offering this unique service so you can experience the difference in your knives.OUR PROCESS
We appraise each knife and tool individually and assess its requirements for sharpening, repair or restoration and discuss the exact process and expected costs with you.”Our process is meticulous. Occasionally we may need to re-assess the progress of a job if unexpected issues present themselves in a knife or tool. We re-assess the work required and communicate with customers the options so they can make an informed decision. Our aim is that customers get the absolute best outcome and we do not compromise on the standard of our work.” CarmenQUALITY OF WORK ASSURANCE
We assure all our customers that their knives will be sharpened exclusively by hand on Japanese whetstones. We provide advice on ensuring the correct care and maintenance of your knife based on the steel type and/or previous damage or mis-sharpening your knife has endured.If you have any questions or issues with a job we have done please don’t hesitate to contact us so we can work out a solution.We are here to support you and the ongoing care, maintenance and preservation of your knives.LIFE OF YOUR KNIFE
We know that a good knife should last many years and can even be passed down to the next generation.
Hand sharpening is the best way to ensure the maximum life of your knife.Here are incentives for you to bring your knives back to us:- Damaged knives may need to return sooner than average (less than 12 weeks) for an additional sharpening service, if so it will be 30% less than the normal Category of steel fee it’s in (excludes Category A+-S Knives).- 20% Off the Sharpening fee on ANY of the same knives you have had sharpened by us the next time they come in for service. (Excludes thinning & re-profiling fees or repairs for any damage and mis-sharpening endured between services & any Category A+S knives).

SUPPORT A LOCAL LOW CARBON FOOTPRINT BUSINESS
We are a micro business operating out of our 1950s caravan rebuilt from repurposed materials in the Inner South Eastern suburbs. We specialise in Japanese whetstone sharpening and knife restoration which has a low carbon footprint and helps reduce demand for new knives.A SERVICE FOR EVERYBODY
We aim to provide a premium hand sharpening service for knife enthusiasts, home cooks, chefs, gardeners, horticulturalists and tradespeople.ITEMS WE SHARPEN
Our primary focus is on sharpening straight edge knives but we also sharpen bread knives, manual gardening tools, professional scissors, axes, hatchets and chisels.We have also been known to sharpen less common items such as guillotine blades, plane blades, cut throat razors and carving tools.WE DO NOT SHARPEN:
- motorised garden tool blades
- power saw blades
- drill bits
- clipper blades
- non-professional scissors
- hand sawsA NOTE ON “PULL-THROUGH SHARPENERS”
We do not advise maintaining your knives on “pull-through knife sharpeners” no matter the brand or the price you paid for it.”They are a sales gimmick and a form of forced obsolescence designed to reduce the life of your knife by knife companies. They go against our philosophy and our methodology.” LeighIf your knives have been used on a pull-through there will usually be an extra fee to repair them and sometimes the steel will be damaged long term.

Leigh sharpening a pair of Japanese shears for a local horticulturalist, March 2023.

LEIGH, OWNER, LEAD SHARPENER
SHARPENS STRAIGHT EDGE, SPECIALITY KNIVES & TOOLS
OVERSEES & ASSESSES ALL JOBS IN & OUT
Leigh has extensive knowledge of knives, steel types, manufacturing processes, sharpening methods and specialises in sharpening high carbon, super steel and niche knives correctly and thoroughly by hand to ensure they work for you at their optimum.He applies the same rigour to everything he sharpens and believes the value of a tool is not in how much it cost to buy but in how well it performs it’s function for you.CARMEN, MANAGER
SHARPENS CHISELS, GARDEN TOOLS & SERRATED KNIVES
OVERSEES KNIFE RESTORATIONS
Carmen manages operations and sharpens serrated knives, garden tools and scissors. She uses her knowledge in jewellery making, fine timber work and vintage objects to restore heirloom, rare and fragile knives and scissors.She understands the emotional and familial significance that certain objects hold in our lives and treats heirloom, vintage and sentimental knives and scissors with the same care she treats her own with.

Carmen hand sharpening chisels at Peter’s Mitre 10, Caulfield, June 2023.

KNIFE CATEGORIES

Leigh sharpening a Category S-A+ Yanagiba, October 2023.

SEVEN KNIFE STEEL CATEGORIES: S-A+, A+, A, B, C, D & R
AN EXPLANATION OF OUR KNIFE STEEL METHODOLOGYOver the last three years and after sharpening and restoring thousands of different knives made of different steels with different heat treatments and with different sharpening histories, we have developed
Seven Knife Steel Categories: S-A+, A+, B, C, D.Four of these Categories we will sharpen and will also guarantee our edges on.They are Categories:
S-A+ - Specialised Blade A+ Steel
$2.20 per cm + Time where requiredSPECIALISED KNIVES MADE OF A+ STEEL
Category S-A+ covers Single Bevel Japanese Knives made of High Carbon steel start at a minimum fee of $2.20 per cm.
All blades are assessed individually according to the blade & steel type.PLEASE NOTE: We have found that some Yanagiba are not made of A+ steel, if we find this on assessment of your knife steel we will advise you what your options are.CATEGORY A+
PREMIUM KNIVES MADE OF HIGH CARBON STEEL
Our A+ Category knives are all priced individually according to knife and steel type.
A+ - High Carbon Steel
(Commercial or Handmade, High quality heat treatment) - $1.80 per cm + Time where requiredCATEGORIES A & B
REGULAR & COMMERCIAL KITCHEN KNIVES
We categorise the most common kitchen knife brands into three categories A, B & C. The prices are set according to steel type and length of time to sharpen. See category lists below for pricing on these knives.A - Commercial Japanese (High Carbon or Similar, Consistent Heat treatment)
$1.50 per cm + Time where requiredB - Commercial European (Sandvic or Similar, Consistent Heat Treatment)
$1.35 per cm + Time where requiredCATEGORY C & D
DEAD KNIVES
There are some knives that we categorise as "Dead Knives" due to errors in the manufacturing process or due to severe damage or extensive wear and tear. If your knife is in Category D we will let you know what the best knife options are for you to purchase.We still sharpen some Category C knives but do not guarantee our edges on these as the heat treatment on certain brands is extremely poor so we sharpen these with a note to each customer before we take them on.PLEASE NOTE: We NO LONGER sharpen Mundial, Scanpan, StaySharp or other extremely low quality or poorly heat treated knives.
We apologise in advance to you but we are happy to offer honest, unbiased advice on knives that we recommend if you need new knives to replace them.If you are not sure about the quality of your knives we will assess them when you bring them in and explain to you what kind of steel they are in person. You may be surprised that they are better or worse than you think!The lowest Category of knife is D.
This category applies to knives that we reject to sharpen for some or all of the following reasons:
- extremely poor heat treatment on the steel
- severely mis-sharpened by previous "sharpener"
- severely damaged beyond repair from mis-use, accident or mis-sharpening
- worn out, over-used and no longer a functional knife due to age*The final Category is:
*R - Restoration of Heirloom, Antique & Vintage KnivesSometimes you or your family may have a knife in the family that is very precious. Not because it is a high quality knife but because it was your mother's or grandmother's main cooking knife, your dad's butchering knife that he used for 60 years or was found in a shed after a family member has passed and you just can't bring yourself to throw it away. And fair enough! We completely understand the need to keep objects in teh family for continuity, sentimentality and respect for the labour of those who came before us and the tools they used to help nurture, raise and earn a living from.And this is where we come into the picture to help you keep that item and restore it so it can be either used occasionally or maybe just restored in order to be part of a family heirloom display or put away carefully in respect of its fragility.For Restoration work the quality of the steel, the heat treatment and the damage or wear and tear is not considered. What is relevant is its importance to you and whether you would like us to help you preserve it. If this is the case we ask you bring in the item for a Restoration Assessment and we work out a strategy for restoring it. Sometimes it is straightforward and just involves some cleaning, other times it is more complex and involved.We charge $130 per hour for all Restoration Works. All work is timed to the minute. There may be additional fees for more specialised materials, which we will discuss in the consultation.If you are not sure which Category your knives are in or if your knife needs Restoration please contact us.

A set of Japanese chisels sharpened by Carmen, March 2023.

KNIFE SHARPENING PRICES

CATEGORY A+S
SPECIALISED KNIFE IN PREMIUM STEEL & EXCELLENT HEAT TREAT
SINGLE BEVEL, HAND-FORGED JAPANESE, HIGH CARBON & POWDER STEEL KNIVESEg, Yanagiba, Deba, Sobakiri, Premium & Hand-Forged Folding & Hunting Knives

CATEGORY A+
PREMIUM STEEL & EXCELLENT HEAT TREAT
COMMERCIAL & HAND-FORGED JAPANESE, HIGH CARBON, FOLDED & POWDER STEELSEg, Commercial brands: Kasumi, Yaxell, Mcusta Zanmai, Miyabi, Tojiro, Kai

CATEGORY A+-CW
COMPLEX WORKS ON CATEGORY A+ KNIVES
COVERS DAMAGE, CHIPPING, MIS-SHARPENING OR THICK BEHIND EDGE

CATEGORY A
HIGH QUALITY JAPANESE STEEL & GOOD HEAT TREATEg, Global, Shun, Jikko, Mac, Mcusta VG10

CATEGORY A-CW
COMPLEX WORKS ON CATEGORY A KNIVES
COVERS DAMAGE, CHIPPING, MIS-SHARPENING OR THICK BEHIND EDGE

CATEGORY B
CONSISTENT STEEL & HEAT TREAT
COMMERCIAL/PROFESSIONAL BRANDSEg, Wusthof, Victorinox, F. Dick, Sabatier, Zwilling,
Furi, Baccarat, Masterchef

CATEGORY C
LOW QUALITY STEEL
MIXED QUALITY BRANDS
Eg, Messermeister, Brazilia, Cutco

CATEGORY D
DEAD KNIVES
Eg, Mundial, Scanpan, Wiltshire, StaySharp.
We will not sharpen knife brands due to their inability to hold an edge due to poor heat treatment/low quality. We also may inform you that your knives are Category D and not worry sharpening if they are severely damaged, mis-sharpening or heavily worn out.

Types of Damage & Repair Fees

NOTE REGARDING WESTERN KNIFE RESTORATION
Damage to knives varies widely in terms of type and severity. This can influence the cost of edge restoration. The prices above are a guide only.Types of restorations we do are: re-tipping, chip removal, re-profiling, butt re-shaping, scratch removal, tarnish and rust removal, timber handle repairs and restorations.Cleaning often involves removing built up grime and debris off the handle and blade and is done using soft brass brushes and eucalyptus oil.

*Pitting, mis-sharpen or pull-through sharpener damage is the result of a variety of factors. In the case of pitting it can be over-exposure to variations in heat, moisture and acid and in the case of mis-sharpening or pull-through damage there may be disintegration of the steel beneath the surface. These types of damage means the knife may continue splintering and fraying while it is being sharpened.

Close up of a Global knife with severe pitting (small black spots on a knife from extensive rust damage) and mis-sharpened by a previous sharpener, August 2022.

A Global knife set that came in with overheating from being put on a grinder so severe the metal folded over itself. Furthermore, the edge was so damaged it had cracks, discolouration and was not very sharp in the end for the customer who paid for them to be damaged. Possibly some of the worst mis-sharpening we have seen by a previous sharpener, October 2022.

Knife Categories
A+, A, B & C

A chef’s set of Wusthof knives. Straight edge knives sharpened by Leigh, bread knives sharpened by Carmen, March 2023.

Leigh sharpening a set of Wusthof knives, March 2023.

Knife Category A+: Japanese, High Carbon & Super Steel

A Mcusta that needed a fine edge before a road trip, sharpened August 2022.

Four knives from two different customers, two were complete restorations, two just sharpens. August 2022.

NOTE REGARDING JAPANESE KNIFE RESTORATION
Japanese knives vary in the thickness of the steel depending on the type of knife. This can influence the cost of edge restoration. The prices above are a guide only.Types of restorations we do are: re-tipping, chip removal, re-profiling, scratch removal, edge thinning (POR), tarnish and rust removal, timber handle repairs and restorations.Cleaning often involves removing built up grime and debris off the handle and blade and is done using brushes and natural solvents.