Forum and Classifieds

My Ballard Forum » Open Forum

that knife shop on Market west of 24th

(36 posts)

Started 2 years ago by Ballardemician
Latest reply from Theknifeguy

Ballardemician

offline
Member

http://vulcanknifeworks.com/

I walked by the other day and on a whim stopped in and got a pocket knife sharpened. The guys in the shop were workbench types, and they did really nice job. The 3.5 inch blade was sharper than new (and it is a Benchmade knife, so that's saying something) for 3 bucks and change. IMHO they did a MUCH better job than any kitchen or hardware store I've used for sharpening.

Anyway nice, regular guys doing craftsman quality work. I'm bringing them all my kitchen knives I've ground beyond the bevel next.

Posted 2 years ago #
pennygirl

offline
Member

Good to know a place I can get my knife sharpened :-)

Posted 2 years ago #
great idea

offline
Member

agreed pennygirl!

where is this place, bm? I walk through this area frequently, yet haven't seen it.

north or south side?

do they sharpen samurai swords?

Posted 2 years ago #
Streaker Troll

offline
Member

You need a sharp samurai sword with you when you're walking in downtown Seattle after 10pm

Posted 2 years ago #
Pokerguy

offline
Member

I'll stop there right before scrabble night

Posted 2 years ago #
schaatser

offline
Member

I am another satisfied customer. They are nice guys and put amazing new edges on my kitchen knives. The prices were quite reasonable and they were all done in less than an hour.

Posted 2 years ago #
ynh98107

offline
Member

I hear they do a great job! Kudos to a Ballard business!

Posted 2 years ago #
cobaltblue

offline
Member

Another satisfied customer here. I had 4 knives sharpened for about 20 bucks. They are wicked sharp now! Including an old Chinese cleaver that was dull as silly putty.

Does he still have the samurai sword hanging on the wall? Impressive.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ballardemician

offline
Member

south side of the street Great Idea

they have a lot of quality knives in there, swords and axes too if you are into that stuff (not me but TEHO). A few months ago I was looking for a machete to clear a thicket inaccessible to a powered brush cutter. I didn't find one and had to cut the whole thing out bit by bit with pruners. It took 5 hours. Vulcan, it turns out, carries nice machetes for about 30 bucks. Wish I'd checked -- would have been fun to have a machete in the tool library but no immediate need anymore ...

Posted 2 years ago #
InterbayGirl

offline
Member

Count me as another satisfied customer. I can't believe I didn't post about them back in November, they did great work with a handful of our kitchen knives.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bitoa4us

offline
Member

I picked up my knife roll today and not only were my knives perfectly sharpened They polished them as well! But what impressed me the most was the bevel it was just spot on.

Posted 2 years ago #
Gilman Girl

offline
Member

Bitoa4us I've deciphered your name to mean:

A Bit of ass for us

Am I close?
gigi

Posted 2 years ago #
Bitoa4us

offline
Member

lol.....no. But then again I am available for dinner.

Posted 2 years ago #
boatgeek

offline
Member

South side of the street, just a couple of doors down from Market Arms. I had our kitchen knives done up there over the summer, and had the same great experience everyone else did. I might try them out on an old crosscut saw I have hanging on the wall but never use because it's too dull.

When I went in, they had just gotten a big stash of hand tools in. If you're a wooden boat guy and looking for caulking tools, they had them then. They might have a few hanging around still.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ernie

offline
Member

Do they sharpen tools, like carbide table saw blades? I didn't see any mention of that on their website.

Posted 2 years ago #
Edog

offline
Member

This store will be my first stop after the zombie infestation starts.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ernie

offline
Member

Totally Edog, dispatching a couple hundred zombies is the only way I can ever imagine dulling a broadsword enough to need sharpening.

Posted 2 years ago #
Mamasings

offline
Member

I'd suggest visiting BEFORE the zombie apocalypse starts, Edog. You know how people are....the knife stores will just be slammed with all the people who didn't prepare. Should we start calling you Michonne?

Posted 2 years ago #
pennygirl

offline
Member

Oh FFS...

LPs and a cricket bat.

Posted 2 years ago #
Streaker Troll

offline
Member

People People People... think about this carefully. WHEN the Zombie apocalypse happens, you don't just want to have a bastard sword or two in your inventory. You want to be best buds with a bladesmith who can forge more weapons. Streaker won't be caught unprepared, he already has his bladesmith. Do you?

Better start looking. You can begin here.

Posted 2 years ago #
Theknifeguy

offline
Member

Thank you all for your support and kind words! We are pleased that we landed in Ballard. Coolest part of Seattle! For the record..... when the zombies come, we will ALL feel better if our dispatch "tools" are sharp and good working order! Practice wouldn't hurt us either.

Posted 2 years ago #
Alferd Packer

offline
Member

Not sure which guy is the good guy, but swords can be useful: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/archives/237224.asp

Posted 2 years ago #
bamm314

offline
Member

This thread makes me happy to be in Ballard. Great posters with a positive experience and a biz owner that takes the time to chime in.

Im going to gather-up all the dulling kitchen cutters and head down there today or tomorrow.

Posted 2 years ago #
ballardo

offline
Member

I just took our 30 year old knife set in today, as a b-day present for my husband (he's the chef in the family.) They did an amazing job for a very reasonable price. The knives are sharper than they were brand-new. And they look cool too!

Posted 2 years ago #
ballardpilot

offline
Member

Now, all I need to do is figure out how to safely transport my clutch of (currently dull) kitchen knives over there.

Posted 2 years ago #
malia

offline
Member

Ballardpilot - wrap each one in a cylinder of newspaper, then put them all in a box. Safest way I know to do this.

Posted 2 years ago #
Theknifeguy

offline
Member

The best way to wrap your knives if you don't have 'em in a block or a knife roll is to wrap 'em in a towel. That works just fine. Ernie: We sharpen hand tools but no saw blades (yet)

Posted 2 years ago #
Cougar Bob

offline
Member

Alfie Packer you must be from Colorado. There used to be a restaurant in Vail called Alfie Packers. I ate lunch there many a time. Or maybe you are a fan of cannibals from the old west????

Posted 2 years ago #
Alferd Packer

offline
Member

Cougar Bob,

I just picked an outrageous screen name. Never set foot in Vail in my life. I've been off and on in Colorado, and eaten at the Alferd G. Packer Memorial Grill at the UofC Boulder where the slogan was "Have a friend for lunch." Haven't been there in over 15 years though.

Interestingly the historical figure's middle initial was more likely "E" than "G". But it has also been reported as "T". Alferd Packer's Wilderness Cookbook is available at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Alferd-Packers-Wilderness-Cookbook-James/dp/0865410364

I also once ate at the cafeteria in the USDA building in Washington DC which was named something like "Alferd Packer Memorial Grill"

Posted 2 years ago #
VeganBiker

offline
Member

OK so I have to ask, don't any of you know how to hone a knife with a butchers steel? I use a steel all the time with my knives and they are always sharp.

And as to zombies - knives won't do you a lot of good! A shotgun blast to the head will end them.

Posted 2 years ago #
dguy

offline
Member

My understanding is that honing hones, not sharpens. I believe honing straightens our the microscopic edge of the blade that gets bent when you use the knife. Sharpening removes metal on a dull edge to get it back to sharp. Both are important. On the other hand, there are diamond steels that do some sharpening while they hone.

Then after a while the bevel gets ground down to the extent that it does not sharpen well anymore and needs to be taken into a good knifesmith to be reground.

I took a couple knives in this week to Vulcan that had been incorrectly ground to start with and would not cut worth beans. The guys at Vulcan did an incredible job of regrinding the knives so now they are things of beauty rather than useless junk.

Posted 2 years ago #
Alferd Packer

offline
Member

VB, eventually the process of using the steel will remove enough metal from the edge that the bevel will need to be re-ground/cut. I once worked as a butcher and we used to use the steels many times in the course of a day, but every few months, one of the older Mexican guys who had a wet grinder (big slow wheel with water feed) would either grind new bevels for us or teach us how. The wet grinder kept the stone and blade very cool as the new bevel was cut to prevent overheating. Doing this on a bench grinder unless very skilled would lead to overheating, brittle blades. Of course, in the olden days we used carbon steel, not stainless, and we walked 10 miles to school every day in the snow, both ways. I still own no stainless knives.

Posted 2 years ago #
VeganBiker

offline
Member

dguy - that makes sense, however I have a number of Chicago Cutlery knives, some that I have had for 20 years or more and all I have ever had to do is swipe a few times on a steel and they are razor sharp. They are never dull, I wash them and place them in a wooden knife block EVERY time after I use them. I have even found good Chicago Cutlery knives in Goodwill that are dull and after using the steel on them I get an edge and they are now sharp enough to give away as gifts.
I swear I can make a dull blade razor sharp with a good steel.

Posted 2 years ago #
VeganBiker

offline
Member

AP - good info, I guess I don't use my knives as often as a butcher would, vegan you know. :)
And I could see how all of my knives would need grinding eventually. But my chiefs knife that I have used for over 20 years is still an even edge and sharp, I just use the steel on it every now and then.

Posted 2 years ago #
dguy

offline
Member

VB - I was curious, so I I did a very cursory search (I AM lazy) and found this on Wikipedia: "Honing steels do not sharpen blades, they hone blades: honing removes only thin, ragged fragments from the edge, and otherwise aligns the existing edge by moving the metal, not removing significant quantities of metal. Formally, honing plastically deforms and straightens the material of the blade's edge which may have been rolled over irregularly in use. By contrast, sharpening removes significant metal, creating a new edge. Honing is primarily used to straighten out an edge that is still thin, but has rolled over on itself; if the edge has become blunt, honing has little effect..."
My guess would be that if you are keeping knives that sharp with your steel, it is likely more than a simple steel, maybe diamond impregnated? (I have one of those and use it on some of my more regularly used knives).

Posted 2 years ago #
Theknifeguy

offline
Member

You guys are right. (mostly) A steel maintains a already sharp knife. The stone (or belt) reshapes the edge. Proper use of your steel will keep your edges in great shape for a suprisingly long time! However, if you really want "razor" sharp knives come see me. :) I've been using straight razors for years and you can truly shave with your kitchen knives after we get through with them! It's nice to see that some people still know how to take care of there knives though. Thanks again for your support Ballard!

Posted 2 years ago #