Westside Mobile Knife Sharpening

Update: Laurence is now mobile!
Ready for my annual sharpening of my kitchen knives and a couple of pocket knives, I contacted Laurence and found that he is now mobile. Instead of dropping them off at his shop, this time he came to me. His sharpening service is now fully self-​contained — perfect for restaurants, etc. Same great service, attention to detail, and fair prices.
Laurence is the best! Your high quality kitchen knives are an investment, and you treat them with care and respect each time you use them — protect your investment, and don’t take your treasured knives to anyone else.
Why does it matter who sharpens your knives? If you compare a knife sharpened at a local culinary store or other cutler against one sharpened by Laurence, the difference is visually apparent. Laurence is a craftsman, which is decidedly different than the retail store employee operating a sharpening wheel. He treats your items with care, including extremely careful handling of anything with a delicate finish, like decorative handles. Example: When my knives were finished, I noticed that the knives with any kind of softer material (a bone handle, and a handle with a mother-​of-​pearl insert), received extra wrapping — a level of care that I noticed and definitely appreciated.
He can sharpen anything — any type of blade (even serrated blades), scissors/​shears, hand tools, garden tools, or anything else that could possibly be sharpened.
Your knives have NEVER been this sharp before.

Laurence is the Knife Whisperer!
I have been trusting him for all my knife sharpening needs for years as he really knows his sh*t! He is great at sharpening knives to get the most out of them and giving tips on how to get more life out of knives and when to think about getting a new one. He also makes and sells knives if you’re in the market for any.
And he’s super reasonably priced and will even come to you!
What more can I say other than if it has been more than a year since you’ve had your knives sharpened, you better stop reading this review and call him now!
…Why are you still reading this? GO CALL HIM ALREADY!
Needless to say: HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

This is the business to sharpen your knives at. I had an old completely dull and rusted «with patina» straight edge blade that came off a vintage paper cutter. I tried two other places to get it sharpened. Tried my usual surfas spot where I have had my kitchen knives sharpened in the past. Nope. Tried OSH where they’ll supposedly do lawn mower blades but for some reason they wouldn’t do a paper cutter.
Well I ran into Laurence this business’ owner at the Sunday Brentwood Farmer’s market and he was eager to sharpen it. He explained a lot to me and also I got to see his own custom blades. Let me just say me want.
Great service, great attitude, reasonable price. This is where I am getting all my blades sharpened when I don’t’ do it myself! He said he might get the saw equipment soon which i for one hope he does!!!

Laurence is amazing! I took a Cold Steel barong to him. It did not feel right. I asked him to take some material off the blade. Just by watching the way I handled the barong and how my eyes were sighting down the blade, Laurence suggested dropping the point and rounding the spine.
His quoted price was VERY reasonable. I left it with him for 2 days. The barong only cost about $ 25 and I was going to use it to practice cutting — so I was not really expecting a huge difference. When I picked it up, I was amazed. By dropping the point, I was able to place the point of the knife much better. It felt like a completely different knife. The blade was much more live and responsive.
Laurence is a true craftsman. He is a person that understands blades and how they move. He was able to discern what I needed simply from the way I held the knife. Very impressive.

This shop is right across from my office so I finally got around to brining in my hodge-​podge of German, American and Japanese knives. It was 2 years since I last go thtem sharpened and he did a great job. This is a man that is knowledgeable and passionate about his work and it shows. Excellent customer service and some recommendations I’m considering when it comes time to purchase my next knife.

This place opened up in the neighborhood a few years ago. I now get my chef’s knife and paring knife sharpened at least once a year. If you have bought an expensive set of knives over the years like I have, a place to go to and have your set properly taken care of is huge. The owner does sharpen knives for a ton of local chefs. Solid.

I thought my Wusthof and Global knives were shot after so many years. Maybe if I got them recut. First, I took them to Bristol Farms, where the butcher offers free sharpening. You get what you pay for. I pretty much accused them (silently) of just telling me they sharpened them then not bothering. At one point I bought a fancy sharpening stone and a knife book and dvd and found limited success. Then I took them to the awful Farmer’s Market guy. You know who I mean. Some of my knives came out of ok, none were great, my chefs’ knives, especially my Santoku, were dull as doornails. I was ready to get new knives. And then, after much research, I found Laurence. He explained to me what went wrong at the Farmer’s Market. THat guy literally did a hack job on my beautiful cutlery. He used a one tool fits all approach. Laurence, on the other hand, has a huge workshop with a large number of different sharpening devices. He went into great detail on technique, but in the end all I cared about was my knives are now good as new. He even sharpened my serrated bread knife, I did not even think that was possible. Before my knives were sharp, he had me ogling some custom knives he makes that I thought I might consider as replacements. But now that he fixed up my knives so well I don’t quite need them just yet. While not as convenient as the farmers market, his pricing is just slightly higher. Totally worth it — I will never go anywhere else.

After my visit to Westside Sharpening & Cutlery Center, I am going to stay a loyal customer forever! Laurence’s expertise in sharpening is outstanding. He is very professional and honest. He cleaned and sharpened several of my knives and made them look just like band new and sharper then ever. In addition, I brought in my manicure tools and scissors; I was thrilled with the results as well. Laurence also provided me with some helpful tips on how to maintain and care for different sharp items. The prices are very reasonable and the quality of the service is well worth it. Highly recommend!!!

We love this place! Laurence has become our regular knife sharpener for the past couple of years. He is a true artisan of knives, in skill and knowledge. Very professional, honest, and prompt! We couldn’t be more pleased!
I’m a personal assistant and also bring my boss’s knives here for sharpening. They also speak very highly of the quality of service we get from Westside Sharpening & Cutlery… not to mention the razor sharp knives!
Thanks so much Laurence!!! :)

Just got my knives sharpened after waaay too much neglect. Laurence not only sharpened the knives to terrifying precision, he cleaned all the gunk off them and made them look knife-​block worthy again. At $ 8 — $ 9 a pop, I will be coming back.
Laurence also makes custom knives. I have a terrible feeling that next time I go in I may be swayed. Trying to hold off for now.

I have been meaning to post a review of this place for some time. Laurence is a consummate professional and really knows his stuff. If you’re looking for an expert knife sharpener on the West side, this is the place.
I brought two items to be sharpened. One was simple and fairly straightforward, a small pocket knife, which Laurence got razor sharp in a few minutes while I waited. It has held its edge, but I’ll definitely take it back to him when I need to.
The second job was more complicated: on a whim I purchased a clunky replica Civil War cavalry saber online for around $ 40, and basically got what I paid for – which is to say an impressively-​heavy, but generally poorly made and completely unsharpened saber-​shaped piece of steel. With the money spent, I figured I would take it into a sharpener. Laurence was very good-​natured and polite, but told me that a full-​on first rate sharpening job would be a big endeavor. We bargained, and agreed that for a cut-​rate price he would do a quicker job and just put an edge on the sword.
I called back during the week, and Laurence, once again with unfailing good humor, told me that the sword was even worse quality than we had thought, and he was basically having to regrind the blade. This goes far beyond sharpening the saber – he was essentially finishing the production process and turning it from a saber-​shaped piece of steel into an actual weapon. He had already put way more hours into it than he had anticipated, but he promised he’d finish up the sword for the original low price.
He called me a few days later inviting me to come in and see the finished product. I could hear the pride in his voice, and when I saw the saber, I understood why – it now had a keen cutting edge and was completely unrecognizable. I insisted on tacking on an extra $ 10 to the original price over his objections, but it was basically a token gesture on my part, he could easily have charged me $ 100.
Laurence was friendly, positive, and uncomplaining throughout. He is clearly one of those people that does the work for the pleasure of the craft. He makes his own high-​quality knives and has a fantastic collection of modern and historical knives and weapons for display and sale. For a knife enthusiast, just visiting the shop will be a treat. Having found out I was Russian, he dug around in the bag to show me some remarkable Soviet-​era memorabilia.
Bottom line: I recommend Laurence’s knife-​sharpening service and store without qualification, based on price, professionalism and customer service, and I wouldn’t take my knives anywhere else.

I came here twice and both times Laurence and his wife were very pleasant, professional and honest. We brought in a lot of our knives and he explained to us what each knife was for and how to take care of them. He gave us tips and we ended up buying 2 other knives from him at very reasonable price.
Our old knives were sharpened to perfection — I’ve sharpened knifes myself at home and no way could I have duplicated his result — and he does it at very reasonable prices. Would definitely return, and recommend this place to others.

Great service. The owner was insisting on giving me great tips on how to handle the knives and maintain them. He seems like a true expert and his passion shows. It was just a pleasure.
He also got them ready for me the same day so my GF could cook us dinner :)
I would highly recommend.

My kitchen knives were super dull and I didn’t have the proper tools to sharpen them myself. I called Lawrence and he was very courteous and answered all my questions about pricing and turnaround time. I brought my knives to him straight away and was able to just wait there and leave with them within 20 minutes. He was quick and very professional. I used them again last night to make dinner and they are the sharper than when I purchased them brand new!

I am so pleased with the sharpening service that I feel compelled to write my first review! I thought I knew how to sharpen knives, as I’m a woodworker and always sharpen my wife’s kitchen knives. However, I didn’t really know what sharp was until I found Laurence at Westside Sharpening and had him sharpen our knives! The knives he sharpened were much, much better than anything I had ever done! The knives he sharpened are the sharpest knives I’ve ever used, and they seem to hold their edge much longer.
I have been so pleased with Westside Sharpening that I have purchased several of Laurence’s Rhino Custom Knives! And, they are not only beautiful, but very functional!

A no-​nonsense, honest expert, supplying quick, high quality service at a reasonable price, and supplying interesting, valuable advice for free,
I didn’t just leave with sharper blades, I left with better knowledge of how knives are best used, best cared for, and how to best match a particular knife to a particular job.

Good work, reasonable pricing, and honest. When asked him to sharpen some old scissors he pointed out some quality new ones that would cost the same as sharpening the old ones.

Needed to get my fancy Shun knives sharpened and came across this shop by chance. What a great find. This is about as good as it’s ever going to get when it comes to getting knives sharpened. Also has a good selection of reasonably priced kitchen, pocket and custom made knives. I ended up buying a nice Kershaw pocket knife I didn’t need just because this is the kind of neighborhood business I want to support.

Great, personal and fast service.
Not only was I charmed by this little hole-​in-​the-​wall for it’s family feel and tucked away location (just off the main street but set back abit) but when we told Laurence we were in a big hurry (as in just a few hours) he told us he’d sharpen our knives right then and there for us.
He did a swift, efficient job and the cost was right, too. Thank you!!!

My fiancée took my Swiss Army Knife that I’ve had for 25 years and never had cleaned or sharpened. It came back as good as new. He even fixed all the busted parts that a quarter century’s worth of use can inflict. All that, for a very affordable price. So she got me a great carrying case and a sharpener to boot.
Someday when I get good kitchen knives, I’m taking them here. And if I ever get a sword or like, a battle ax… I’ll take them here too.