We maintain strict quality control of our sharpening process to ensure our customers receive the best possible results and consistency.  In order to do that, we routinely inspect the knives with a high power microscope both before and after sharpening. 

The following images are magnified 100x times using a Leica high-power stereo-microscope.  Each picture shows a 1/2mm square portion of the knife edge.  All the photos position the knife edge in the lower portion of the picture running horizontally.  The pictures are purposely reddish brown to enhance contrast – it isn’t rust.  All of the knives shown here are high carbon steel.  

The purpose of magnifying the knife edge is to show that while no two knives look identical when they come in, they all leave with the same “Holley” sharp edge.  Our goal is to keep any variation in the sharpened edge to 5 microns or less which is 1/20th the width of a human hair.

Before and After Photos

Case Study 1: Before
The photo above shows a nearly edge-on view of one of our customer’s 8” Wüsthof Chef’s knife before sharpening.  We normally photograph these knives in profile, but this one was dull enough that we were able to clearly see the irregular and rounded edge. 

Case Study 1: After
The photo above shows the same knife after it has been sharpened.  The view is from the side.  You can see how straight the edge is now and the smooth vertical lines are created by our under water grinding process. The slight deviations you can see in the edge are smaller than 1/20 the width of a human hair.

 

Case Study 2: Before
Here is a customer’s Henckels 5-star 12” Chef’s knife before sharpening.  The cutting surface is ragged and parts of it are blunt. 

Case Study 2: After
We see the same knife after it’s been sharpened.  Notice how straight the edge is.  All knife edges look like this after going through our unique sharpening process.

 

Case Study 3: Completely different knife – Same Outcome
Finally, we show the sharpened edge of a Henckels™ 3” paring knife. 

The point: Our process yields the same consistently “Holley” sharp results with any kind of knife from 3” paring knives to 12” Chef’s knives.