Seattle Knife Sharpening

Sent my global knives here from California. Bob is an artist. Very impressed with the final result! I going to send them my knives from now on to get sharpened.

Bob did a fantastic job on my knives. There was a small mix up on my order and he fixed it with absolutely no apologies. His prices are fantastic, well worth a drive into the city for me.

After a year of my wife telling me she needed her knives sharpened, and me trying to do it myself, thinking I was doing a good job, I finally took 11 of our knives to SKS. They came back perfectly wrapped, and when I opened them, I could not believe how different a truly sharp knife is. I mean, these are WAY better than they were when they were new. It is so great that true craftsmen still exist. I can’t recommend SKS enough — absolutely amazing.

After putting a nasty chip in a beloved knife (in my defense, I was coming down with pneumonia :-) I brought it to Seattle Knife Sharpening. What I thought was a gigantic crater didn’t even phase them.
I got it back a day early, looking perfect, and with as beautiful an edge on it as I’ve ever seen. And cheap enough ($ 16.44, including the $ 6 chip repair surcharge) that I am seriously reconsidering doing my own sharpening at home.

The real deal, they did a great job with a Japanese chef knife, a machete and a small axe. All completely different blades and quality of steel, as impressed as one can get with blade sharpening. Seems they are the only shop of their kind in Puget Sound, so thankfully they are friendly too.

Totally resurrected my long-​neglected knife. And they’re friendly and very generous with their time. I had so many questions.

I trust this company with my Shun knives as well as other fine knives I own, look like all the good chef or serious cook go here to get their knives sharpen. I give a perfect 10

So sharp they come packed with a band aid!

I’m pretty good at keeping my knives sharp, but after 10 years of use, my 5 Global knives had quite a few small nicks and chips that I’m not able to fix. I dropped them off, and three days later Bob gave them all a flawless shaving-​sharp edge with the same convex bevel that comes from the factory but better.
Excellent results for a good price. I’ll be coming back!

These guys are great! Friendly, fast, and highly skilled. The small retail space also stocks a wonderful selection of knives for sale.

Got my knives back last week after sending them off here via mail — they returned in perfect shape, and ridiculously, amazingly sharp.
Total time for 2 chef’s knives and a paring knife from door to door (and coast to coast) was about a week, and cost about $ 56, which I feel was well worth the time and money given the results.
Definitely will be using Bob for our sharpening needs in the future.

Near 3yrs later, and my knives which I use almost daily are still going strong!
Of course I maintain them with a ceramic steel before using them, and have been pretty religious about this since getting them sharpened. Remember, a CERAMIC steel, and not a normal steel that often comes with a knife set.
The edge that SKS puts on the knife is delicate and only needs to be maintained. A very fine ceramic steel will do that.

Excellent service — affordable rates — quality work. I highly recommend this service.

Another 5 star review for Bob! His work is top notch and he is a really nice person. I dropped my knives off on a Tuesday and they were ready the next day (i.e., one day early)! Also, his pricing is better than some of the other places in the area ($ 1.50/inch). I don’t know what else I can add except that all the positive reviews are spot on!

Dropped off 4 knives, some hedge clippers and hand clippers on a Thursday and got them back late on a Saturday. (Knives are charged by the inch and the garden items are per item.)
Cost: about 45 dollars
These folks are artists and craftspeople… a little old fashioned awesomeness.
The store front is quite fun to browse in, with a chalkboard containing witty testimonials on the wall.
This would make an excellent gift for a wedding or anniversary present… perfect for the person that has everything.

Great, friendly, quality service from here! Very prompt and offers excellent advice and suggestions to products. I did a search around Seattle and found a great deal for service here. I normally go to Epicurean Edge in Kirkland. But it’s a drive out there.
Glad to find a place closer to home!
Thank you!

(this review is for the mail-​order service)
We just received our knives back in the mail, and they’re surgically sharp. Far, far sharper than they’ve ever been, and they’ve been «professionally sharpened» many times over their lifespan. Bob’s work is to other knife sharpeners what Michelangelo’s work is to a mural at your local high school.
Turnaround was exactly 7 days, door-​to-​door using USPS, and I paid about $ 150 to sharpen 13 knives ranging in size from a cleaver to paring knives, four of them serrated, along with a straight razor.
In addition, they came back looking beautiful: not just sharpened, but polished. The Seattle Knife Sharpening-​branded bandaid was a nice touch, as well.
Absolutely impeccable work and service. Even better than advertised, and worth every penny.

Woah! Not since living with my boyfriend did I ever pay much attention to the quality of knives in my home. In fact, I won’t even divulge the brand but I was still using some cheap knife set I got way back in college up until about 2 years ago.
And now, for the last two years I’ve had the pleasure of co-​owning, sharing, and using knives that my boyfriend brought to into the relationship. They’re like his little babies. And what a huge difference they make! So much so that they need regular maintenance and sharpening. That’s where Seattle Knife Sharpening comes into play…
We researched this spot, found them on Unilocal,read awesome reviews, and then drove to Phinney to drop them off. Just a couple days later we got a call to pick them up and it was like bringing home brand new knives. They’re incredibly sharp, they look and work better than ever, the price was cheap, the woman at the register was super helpful and friendly, and I don’t think we ever have a reason to go anywhere else. When you pick them up they’re placed carefully in little boxes and all wrapped up in paper. It’s like opening a gift and you can tell they’ve taken great care of your knives while you’ve been at home waiting to use them again. We had soup for a few days as we eagerly waited the return of our knife set.
If you want advice on more knives, knife care, sharpening tools, or just have general questions, they’re there to answer them all. There’s also a really neat display case of antique knives that are for sale. Who knew knives could be so cool?!

Our knifes were done a day early and came back super sharp!
Included in the package was a bandage lol.
I dropped them off at their storefront location where parking was a bit of a pain to find, but not too bad.
The price is reasonable and I think I would be more satisfied with this company compared with a chain store like Sur La Table sharpening my knifes.

I should have trusted my instincts but desperate time calls for desperate measures.
His name is Dan Lambert. He operates a knife sharpening business in Vancouver. There were signs this guy cannot be trusted, but I chose to ignore them (not a smart move).
1) Dan operates his knife sharpening services from a van.
2) Dan sharpens knives at night, with limited lighting and visibility in his van.
3) Dan delivers «immediate» service. He’ll sharpen your knives while you wait in your vehicle.
I was using my diamond steel like a honing steel on my work knives. That’s how dull my knives were. I needed a proper fix — anything to restore these sharp edges. I was introduced to Dan because I bought a Shun at a tradeshow. The Shun distributor, located in Victoria BC, said Dan is the «go to» guy.
I nearly cried after seeing Dan’s craftsmanship, of a lack of. Yes, he may have temporarily restored the edges but they were works of an amateur. The edges were rough and far from razor sharp. $ 6.00 a pop and you didn’t get the sharp edges you expected, is a total waste of time and money. Dexter would have been very disappointed too.
I was fortunate, thanks to my partner, who found out about Bob Tate’s knife sharpening business in Seattle through Unilocal.15 reviews and solid 5 stars plus he trained with Bob Kramer, ok, Bob could be legit.
Prior to heading down to Seattle on a Sunday, I contacted Bob, explaining the situation. I will be dropping off 9 knives and need them on Monday afternoon. His respond was almost immediate. My partner and I met up with him at a UPS location. He took a look at what Dan did and was surprisingly shocked to see how poorly sharpened my knives were. Bob assured me he’ll «take care of business» and will return my knives the next day.
When I met up with Bob the next day, he took me through what he did with my knives and taught me how to maintain them. He even recommended knife sharpening videos/​tutorials that I should try viewing. What he taught me are valuable lessons I wish I’d known earlier. His knowledge, skill, and expertise made my knives look and feel brand spanking new. The edges were sharp and sides of blades were polished. I feel like I just met the godfather of knife sharpening and this is no exaggeration. Now I understand why people from as far as California would ship knives to Bob.
Aside from having an in depth understanding of knives, Bob is also a food enthusiast. This doesn’t come as a surprise as he did work in professional kitchens for over 20 years. He recommended Mike’s Noodle House and that was excellent (you’ll have to see a separate review for this).
Bottom line is, Bob provides exceptional knife sharpening service and his generous personality to share his knowledge on knives and food make him a hero in my dictionary.