Frequently Asked Questions

We recommend starting with a full size bath towel (this will, of course, be returned to you). Fold the towel once long ways, you'll be left with a strip of towel roughly 18" wide by 4 feet long. Start with the largest knife you have to ship, lay it across the towel and fold over so it is wrapped with one layer. Take the next largest blade and lay it the opposite way (point facing the other direction) so the handle of this knife is resting near the point of the previous one. Make another fold, now having two knives secured in the wrapping.  Continue this until all the knives are secured in the wrapping. You'll be left with a tidy if not weighty roll. At this point, for extra protection against a knife slipping out and cutting the box in shipping, it is recommended to put a piece of packing tape over each end. This will now fit conveniently in either a medium or large (depending on your knife sizes) USPS Flat Rate box if you choose to use that service. 

This is easily the most popular question we get asked. It is always recommended to use a honing steel either before or after each use. This will ensure most knives will stay sharp for 3-6 months between services, depending on usage. Honing steels will do an adequate job of keeping your edge up between services without doing any damage in the process. 

This is another very popular question. There are 4 basic types of honing "steels": Smooth steel, ribbed steel, ceramic and diamond. They are listed there in order of aggressiveness from least to most. The smooth steel will remove almost no metal from your edge, while the diamond steel can remove quite a bit if used heavily. Any of these will work wonderfully and it is largely personal preference as to which to use. Feel free to reach out if you would like some suggestions. 

Excellent question, as I see far more otherwise fantastic knives damaged, sometimes severely, by improper sharpening methods than by actual use. The most common and worst offender here is the pull-through style sharpeners with tiny carbide V-shape teeth that strip away metal to attempt a functional edge. The next one is simply anything you plug into the wall. With almost no exceptions these will be hard on your edge and will very likely cause scratching as well. 

The best way to store knives is in a knife block or on a magnetic strip. Avoid dumping knives in a "knife drawer" as this is both very hard on the knives themselves and dangerous to the users. 

A soft cloth or sponge and soap is ideal for cleaning. Dry immediately. Never under any circumstances put your knives in the dish washer, this is the worst thing you can do to them and will cause premature edge degradation and sometimes outright failure. 

While it would make sense that whatever you are cutting is what dulls your knife, with rare exception it's typically what you are cutting ON that does the most damage. End grain wooden cutting boards are the gold standard for edge retention. Plastic and poly cutting boards are next down the line, though these can be hard on fine edges when deflection comes into play. Think cutting through a tough sweet potato then when the knife makes contact with the cutting board it angles slightly but sharply one direction or the other. This can cause chipping in some instances, but that can be mitigated to some extend with the type and style of edge we put on your knives. 

This one is fairly simple. Anything harder than the knife you are using. This includes all glass and marble "cutting boards". Often times these are simply misused serving boards that got pressed into cutting board duty. 

This comes up quite often when customers get used to using a sharp knife but the ones they have don't stay that way very long. This topic could get very in depth, and we can certainly start a conversation about it if you would like, but to get started on your search here are a few brands I highly recommend that are both an excellent value and exceptional quality

• Victorinox
• Cangshan
• Dalstrong
• Misen
• Mercer Culinary

These are what I consider the "under the radar" brands. While you can get some truly excellent cutlery from Henkles, Zwilling, Wusthof, Global and the like, most folks are aware of those brands and have seen them previously.