Knife Master - Good Sharpening Needed

I recently bought a Suisin chef's knife for a friend from Korin and would like to get it sharpened really well before I give it to her as a gift. Unfortunately, their knife master is out until mid-June so I need to get it sharpened locally.

Can anyone recommend a really good knife master in Chicago? I have heard good things about Northwestern Cutlery, but have never tried them out.

Also, has anyone else heard that it is supposedly bad luck to give someone a knife as a gift? I think that is BS.

Korin Japanese Trading
http://www.korin.com/

Northwestern Cutlery
810 W Lake St
Chicago
312-421-3666

This may be a silly question but don't most knives come pretty sharp?

FWIW, Northwestern Cutlery does a great job on my everyday knives

Nothwestern just did 6 of my knives including one in terrible shape and they did an amazing job. I'd feel comfortable with these in any professional kitchen.

joebuddy wrote:Can anyone recommend a really good knife master in Chicago? I have heard good things about Northwestern Cutlery, but have never tried them out.

NW Cutlery does an excellent job.

joebuddy wrote:Also, has anyone else heard that it is supposedly bad luck to give someone a knife as a gift? I think that is BS.

There is a superstition that giving a knife as a gift is bad luck for the relationship in question--that you are "cutting" the relationship. I do not know the cultural origin.

From this superstition, the custom now exists of the gift receiver giving a penny to the giver as "payment", making this a financial transaction. The custom developed into knife givers including the penny with the knife. When I moved into my first apartment after college, my aunt bought me a set of knives and taped a penny to the box (this is when I first learned of the custom).

Best,
Michael

mhill95149 wrote:This may be a silly question but don't most knives come pretty sharp?

Yeah, they come pretty sharp, but I would like to get it professionally sharpened before I give it to my friend. It would probably be okay out of the box, but not great. I think the extra effort is worth it.

eatchicago wrote:There is a superstition that giving a knife as a gift is bad luck for the relationship in question--that you are "cutting" the relationship. I do not know the cultural origin.

From this superstition, the custom now exists of the gift receiver giving a penny to the giver as "payment", making this a financial transaction. The custom developed into knife givers including the penny with the knife. When I moved into my first apartment after college, my aunt bought me a set of knives and taped a penny to the box (this is when I first learned of the custom).

Thanks for debunking the myth! I will definitely tape a penny to the box.

Also, thanks for all of the comments on NW Cutlery. I will give them a shot.

- Joe

eatchicago wrote:There is a superstition that giving a knife as a gift is bad luck for the relationship in question--that you are "cutting" the relationship. I do not know the cultural origin.

From this superstition, the custom now exists of the gift receiver giving a penny to the giver as "payment", making this a financial transaction. The custom developed into knife givers including the penny with the knife. When I moved into my first apartment after college, my aunt bought me a set of knives and taped a penny to the box (this is when I first learned of the custom).

Best,
Michael

I encountered this belief in Moscow. If I gave someone a knife or a scissor, then I always got a kopek in return immediately.

Regards,

joebuddy wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:This may be a silly question but don't most knives come pretty sharp?

Yeah, they come pretty sharp, but I would like to get it professionally sharpened before I give it to my friend. It would probably be okay out of the box, but not great. I think the extra effort is worth it.

Or as the knifemaster at Korin says, the knives come about 70% as sharp as they could be. They take a professional to sharpen them fully. Then again, he might be full of it because he devoted his whole life to becoming a knife master and wants to justify it...

But having watched him work, I think he knows his stuff.

FWIW, NW Cutlery didn't seem to recognize the single bevel that my Korin-bought knives were supposed to have and sharpened them symmetrically.