All Things Sharp

My husband dropped off two straight razors with Eric and the first one came back blunter than before and he was so disappointed. Eric still has the other one and we are really hoping we get a better result. We talked to him extensively and it seemed like he knew what he was doing but the results were sub par. Very substandard. And the cost for straight razors is high, 25 for one and 35 for the other and the one is in worst shape than before. I will update after we get the second one back.

Great Job. Turned my collection of 10 year old Wuhstof’s from butter knife edges to super sharp.

My wife and I had Eric sharpen 3 of our Henckels Professional S knives that we have had for over a decade. They had been well cared for and sharpened about 4 times since we got them. Unfortunately a lot of material was removed when sharpening, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but more material was removed towards the handle of the knives without reducing the length of the handle guard. This created a dip in the blade edge towards the base of the blade where the blade was well off the cutting board. A chef’s knife is useless unless it has a sharp flat edge at the base of the blade.
We told Eric about the problem, and he was polite and agreed to fix the knives, but we decided not to take them back to him since this wasn’t just a mistake on one knife but showed a lack of attention to detail. Took the knives to Hida tool and after a long wait they came back as good as new.
For non-​kitchen knives and garden tool sharpening Eric might be a good value, but if you are serious about cooking and care about your knives, I strongly recommend Hida tool.

A while back I brought my dull garden loppers to Eric. Not only did he get the blades sharper than ever, but he also repaired a missing part that I just got by without.
Pruning has never been easier. Thanks Mr. Weiss!

Eric really turned my boyfriend’s knives around! My boyfriend was given a buck knife with a bent tip, and Eric was able to re-​work the blade so that it was sharp and stable. We would definitely bring our knives to Eric again.
On another note, Eric gave us a business card with his phone number that we misplaced; is anyone able to share his phone number with me?

Eric did a decent job recreating the edge of my knife (Global G4 Oriental chef knife). I’d never gotten it professionally sharpened after 7 yrs of moderate use, so it wasn’t in the best condition. I’d tried sharpening it a few times myself but I never produced an even edge (and scratched up the blade while I was at it).
I was initially disappointed when I tried out the knife. The edge wasn’t close to factory sharp. It couldn’t cut paper at all. In fact the edge still had a fairly large burr on it. I used my diamond sharpening steel to remove the burr (my regular sharpening steel wasn’t sufficient). It’s still not factory sharp and the edge still feels a little rough. For my sharpness test, it cuts paper ok, but sometimes tears it rather than cutting it.
The cost was $ 13. I wish I had asked if, at some extra cost, he could spend a little more time on the blade and use some finer grit stones to fully restore the edge. Upon further inspection, it looks like one side of the knife was worked on substantially more than the other. I’m also not sure if the angle of the edge is right for a Global knife as it looks more like a standard 15 – 20 deg angle for non Japanese knives rather than the 10 – 15 deg angle for Globals (though it’s partially my fault for having ground away the edge in the past).
All in all, it’s definitely sharper than from what I could do, worse than what I know can be done, and it required a little additional work (and equipment) on my end.

If you have good knives and you like to keep ‘em sharp, go to the farmers’ market and see Eric. He is a knife expert who is very good at what he does.
I’ve taken my chef’s knives to him twice; first for a sharpening, then a second time after they were misused, chipped, and corroded. Each time he gave an honest assessment of what they needed and how much time before I could have them back.
He charged me $ 10 to sharpen each knife. He doesn’t post prices, so the price he charges you will be an indication of just how bad your poor blade is. Bring cash! He’s figured out that if you pay him first, you’re more likely to eventually come pick up your knives.
Look for him at the downtown Berkeley market (Center & MLK) on Saturdays, and at the north Shattuck market (@ Rose) on Thursdays.

Eric knows knives, and he’s affordable. I dropped off an antique carbon steel knife that had some serious rust and a dull edge. He got it back to me after doing some major cleaning and precision work on the blade. Catch him at the Berkeley Farmer’s markets on Saturday and Thursday.