Sharpening Services In Southern California?

[SleeplessInSoCal]

I’m a new Benchmade to Spyderco convert since October, gifting a friend a Manix 2 S110V for his birthday, buying myself a blue M390 PM2 a couple of weeks ago when my dad passed away, and then receiving a PM2 in Rex 45 from my wife for Christmas.

I love handling them, looking at them, keeping them in the center console of the truck on freeway drives, and sleeping with them.

But I don’t trust myself to sharpen them. Not yet anyway. It’d break my heart to mar either knife in any way, or to mess up an edge. I had a go at my last Benchmade, an M390 581 Barrage, and naturally I managed to slightly round the tip, which really disappointed me. I registered for this site hoping to see a Marketplace or Vendor link, so that I’d find an expert level sharpening service near me (there has to be one) with reviews and recommendations.

Is there any place to find such info? Looking for a real pro, from whom I could request particular angles and finishes and such.

Thanks in advance,

John

[sal]

Hi John,

Welcome to our forum.

My guess is that most of the passionate edge junky's on this forum would encourage you to learn to sharpen yourself. That would be my recommendation. Get the Sharpmaker video, watch it a couple of times. Get an inexpensive small knife and learn to make it sharp enough to shave. On the Sharpmaker, it will take a couple of hours or less. Then we'll encourage you to get loupe, maybe 10X - 12X snf look closely at the edge. Then go from there.

sal

[SleeplessInSoCal]

Wow, thanks so much for the response Sal! I would love to be trained to sharpen these gorgeous pieces. I’ve read that after a couple of sharpenings, the steel just behind the factory edge is where the magic starts to happen.

I just happen to be one of those people who learns by being guided through a process in person, with tips and criticism, rather than reading or watching videos and trying it myself. That’s how I ended up rounding off the tip of the last knife that I practiced on.

I’m certain that with the Sharpmaker, as easy as it is to use, I’d end up rounding off a tip again, or adding another bevel or something. Maybe I’ll look for a really inexpensive base model PM2 and practice on that.

In the meantime though, I’ll probably still be hunting for a sharpening service/professional.

Thanks again for the response!

[Calicoast]

Hi John,

I would second what Sal has said. Definitely get yourself a sharp maker, and watch the videos. Practice on some inexpensive knives first. And remember light strokes, not a lot of pressure on the stones. I was right where you are at one point. Now I can sharpen M390, M4, Cruwear, K390, H1, etc. The medium and fine stones should keep you sharp, diamonds if you want to reprofile. You can do it, and once you get there - a sense of accomplishment.
C

[Joey]

There are a number of sharpening services you can mail your knives to, none of which I know anything about. That’s one option if you don’t find anything local.

I once had your same mentality, and I’ve definitely done a bit of unintentional cosmetic damage to an expensive knife or two, but I’m going to be bothersome and also suggest that everyone who loves knives (you’re even sleeping with yours haha!) should learn to sharpen them. The sense of accomplishment from creating a razor edge on your own (freehand or guided) is immense, and I find myself ruining edges just so I can do it all over again. It’s so fulfilling to finally create a good looking (more importantly good slicing/cutting) edge after you’ve spent a couple of hours learning how it’s done.
Either way, good luck with your edges!

[Wartstein]

Hi John, very recently there was (and still IS of course) the thread "sharpmaker and new knifes". I'd encourage you to have a look at it should you choose to get a sharpmaker, some valuable info there.

I'd second the suggestion to do the sharpening yourself by using a sharpmaker. I myself am really no sharpening expert by any means, but have no problems keeping my knifes sharp with the sharpmaker:

As you're worried about rounding the tips: Really no problem on the sharpmaker,just finish the pass on the rod right before you get to the very tip..

But as you are interested in "particular angles... and such": I have to admit: While it is absolutely possible to maintain angles other than 15 or 20 (these two the sharpmaker is set up for) on the sharpmaker, it takes more skills and experience to do so.

Hope you get some answers to your actual question concerning sharpening services also, but I don't know any

[dj moonbat]

I'm not a sharpening service, but feel free to drop me a PM to see if we can meet up and do some sharpening.

[Extra330SC]

I’m a new Benchmade to Spyderco convert since October, gifting a friend a Manix 2 S110V for his birthday, buying myself a blue M390 PM2 a couple of weeks ago when my dad passed away, and then receiving a PM2 in Rex 45 from my wife for Christmas.

I love handling them, looking at them, keeping them in the center console of the truck on freeway drives, and sleeping with them.

But I don’t trust myself to sharpen them. Not yet anyway. It’d break my heart to mar either knife in any way, or to mess up an edge. I had a go at my last Benchmade, an M390 581 Barrage, and naturally I managed to slightly round the tip, which really disappointed me. I registered for this site hoping to see a Marketplace or Vendor link, so that I’d find an expert level sharpening service near me (there has to be one) with reviews and recommendations.

Is there any place to find such info? Looking for a real pro, from whom I could request particular angles and finishes and such.

Thanks in advance,

John

I live in the North County San Diego area and don't know of anybody personally that's any better then the generic sharpening "tent" at the local street fair. I think Mike Elmer is in San Diego somewhere. ..search Mike Elmer crazy sharp on YouTube for contact info. Supposedly Ferrum forge uses him on the custom blades they sell! Just a FYI

Good luck!

James

[SleeplessInSoCal]

Calicoast, Joey, Wartstein, thanks for the responses! I think that I was definitely using a lot of pressure on the M390 steel before. Otherwise, it just felt like glass on glass, sliding across the blade. Felt like it wasn’t doing anything until I really leaned on it.

Wartstein, I read through that thread. Thank you, it was very informative. By particular angles, I just meant that whatever angles I learned from the experts on this forum are the best for a particular model knife with a particular blade steel. Once I glean those nuggets of data from here, I’d like a pro to set those up for me. Until I’m proficient enough on my own.

I'm not a sharpening service, but feel free to drop me a PM to see if we can meet up and do some sharpening.

I’d love to meet up and watch you get busy on some steel! I’m in Corona.

James, searching Mike Emler atm. Looks like some pretty cool videos!

[Mike51772]

I occasionally send my knives to Rob Bixby(ApostleP channel on YouTube) to do sharpening on knives I really want to come out perfect from sharpening. Rob’s work is absolutely fantastic!! He also takes folders apart after sharpening and cleans them, does any maintenance needed, then reassembles. The knives come back looking and performing perfect! Highly recommended! His fee is very reasonable. Drop me a private message if you’d like his contact info.

[Wartstein]

Calicoast, Joey, Wartstein, thanks for the responses!

You're very welcome, glad if I could help