Mike & Son Sharpening Service

What a gem of a man! Great service and exquisite skill. Mike drove his truck to our apartment, picked up my knives (16 of them), and texted me an hour later that they were done. He was waiting outside again with knives perfectly and beautifully sharpened, all wrapped in paper and ready to go. Prices are incredibly reasonable, and I can tell they will hold their edge for a long time. I see no reason to ever take my knives anywhere else again.

Known mike and his dad since the early ’60’s (he looks just like him, the older he gets).
Soda truck, coal deliveries, ice guy & Mr. Mike are some of my earliest Bedstuy Brooklyn memories.
That bell would «ding» and ALL the mommies would come outside (in their house dresses. They ALL wore pastel colored & and flowered house dresses! Except Mrs. Alexander… Hers was always some bold bright red or orange or deep blue. I once saw her in a black and red one! Most of the other mommies looked like they had swallowed a gerbil when she came out in THAT one!) with knives and sewing scissors (some of the dads too with cutting blades from who knew what kinda machine and/​or tool).
I clearly remember my mom and dad marveling over and discussing the fine work for more than a few minutes afterward.
Mister Mike was a constant. You could always count on him to come around in the Spring. It was like a sign that summer was coming!
Mike has kept the tradition alive. A few years after my dad passed, I decided to include his tailors shears with my knives, clippers and cutters. He marveled over them and remembered my dad. He spent extra time on those scissors, repeating all the care instructions my dad had drilled into my head as a little girl.
After Sandy, I flagged Mike down and he was in the newer truck. I inquired about the old one and was so sad to hear it was lost in the storm,
I’m rambling.
Mike is everything folks here have said… and so much more!
I’m a second generation loyal customer and some of my sons are 3^rd generation!
Whenever you hear that «DING DING DING»?
RUN!!!
Once you stop him, he’ll wait for you to gather your sharp objects so you won’t have to «run with scissors «!
You will never be disappointed!
A little secret?
I always drop a few extra crumpled bucks somewhere in the truck when he ain’t looking.
Don’t ever tell!

Not sure about this service. Grant it, it’s family owned. And they are probably doing you a favor by coming out to you. Sort of like your friendly neighborhood plumber, if you are not getting attitude, it won’t be worth it. However, when they ruin your nice Henckle’s because the operator is too heavy handed, putting a bow on your blade with the sharpening stone, that’s a problem. This happened to my knives a while ago, and since then, no thank you. Good knives cost too much to have them ruined this quickly. Maybe the management has changed. Or they repainted the truck. Don’t know. However, buyer beware.

What a treat to find a knife sharpener at the end of the block! Very nice, good service, and two sweet dogs. Thank you Mike & Son.

This is the best knife sharpening experience I have ever had! Outstanding, a real NY experience. Great experience, 5 stars/​A+++. My knives are so sharp and amazing plus the truck is the sweetest thing ever. The dogs, the Brooklyn accent, all it is top notch!

Disgusting attitudes
We currently live in stuytown/​Peter Cooper village and I’ve seen this truck drive through the neighborhood a couple of times and thought it was pretty cool that they’re a mobile blade sharpener. It makes life easier because we currently go elsewhere which is a bit of a travel and I have a Shun 21 piece classic set and my wife is a dog groomer and has several scissors and blades that she has sharpened often. Also cool because I always see big dogs just hanging out in the front while they were working.
Today as we were walking, we happened to see the truck parked on 20^th street and they were sharpening a couple of blades so we went Upto the truck.
My wife asked them — would you sharpen dog grooming scissors?
The guy responds — yes but it’s not enough for me to come out to you
My wife — that’s fine, do you have a business card and I’ll just catch you when you’re in the neighborhood?
The guy — no, I don’t have any business cards but again I’m not going to drive here just for that
My wife — that’s completely fine, I’ll just take a picture of your info and see when you’re around
The guy — ok but I’m not driving here just to do that, it’s not enough
With such a bad attitude, I wouldn’t have them sharpen our blades even if the truck broke down in front of my building and were doing free sharpenings.

I’ve had the same set of knives for about 30 years and never had them sharpened because I could never figure out how to be in the same place as the truck at the same time with my knives. Turns out, Mike makes house calls. $ 20 bucks later, I had a set of sharper-​than-​new knives. Great service. Highly recommended.

I’m not sure if I need a permit to carry these knives now, but they are definitely lethal weapons. My knives have never been so sharp! The whole thing took 15 – 20 minutes and he charged me $ 25 for 2 chef’s knives, 3 pairing knives, and a pair of scissors. Oh, and he showed up 10 minutes after I called him. Great guy with a great service.

They sharpened 3 of our kitchen knives, three pairs of sewing scissors, and my pinking shears this morning on the Upper West Side, right outside our building. Such a nice family, amazingly skilled, and a sweet pup in the front seat to boot! I won’t let anyone else touch my scissors from now on!

Finally some nice men and puppy’s to grace Manhattan to sharpen my knives! So happy!

Mike provides STELLAR service. He sharpened four knives for me — one of them a slicing knife with a 10 inch long blade — in under 10 minutes, and now these knives are as sharp as when they came from the manufacturer. He even took an extra minute to show me the right way to hone them on the steel between sharpenings. His prices were extremely reasonable. Sur La Table would have charged four times what Mike charged me, and for an inferior job.
Plus — Mike is polite, pleasant and professional. I would much rather support a nice, independent business person like Mike than some corporation.
Your cooking will improve, your knives will thank you, and you will have the rare opportunity to see a real craftsman in action. Go see Mike!!!

Excellent service and great experience all around! Our knives have never been sharper! Also a very good value! Thanks!

Bottom line, Mike is a great guy who saved my knives from the trash.
I was unfamiliar with Mike’s service but so happy his truck crossed paths with mine today.
Just when I start to fall out of love with New York I run into bizarre and wonderful institutes like Mike’s Sharpening Truck that pull me back in! I strongly suggest anyone who runs by Mike’s truck to join in and support this NY institution.

Sweetest guy and dogs! He came by our place and sharpened three of our knives. Took about 15min. Very reasonably priced. Thank you Mike!

Finally had the pleasure of getting my knives sharpened by Mike. I have seen his truck around Brooklyn, but it was parked outside my house this morning with the neighbors lined up. So awesome.

I’m a bklyn native, my family has been getting knives sharpened by this family since the early 80’s when I was a kid. I even brought my knives outside to his truck when he would ring the bell on my block in bklyn as a kid, clear memory just like getting seltzer delivered from Ronny! Brooklyn traditions from the 70’s and 80’s when I was coming up.
Today saw the truck and went over to watch a knife getting sharpened, ask price, say hello, etc. Walked up to the truck, we both nodded hello, and I waited and watched. I was going to ask if he had the time to do two kitchen knives, price, how long the wait, etc. when he was done, but didn’t even get that far because as I’m taking a pic of the grindstone while sparks are flying to send to my father who would have gotten a kick out of it, he turns and flips out?! I understand he probably thought I was some hipster yuppy taking HIS photo without asking, and I understand the idea of not taking pictures of craftsmen/​artists work… opposite was the case. He turns to me with a butcher knife in hand, comes to the back window and just starts repeatedly yelling «get outta here», I just stood there confused haha. I was not even that close to his truck or anything, maybe I caught him on a bad day but if tradition, craftsmanship, old school NY, salt of the earth, etc is your deal well humility, respect and being a straight shooter are part of that as well. Really disappointed and actually felt threatened with him coming towards me with that big ass knife and a crazy look in the eyes… plus dude is big. I played it cool and just walked away because I know he was just having a day or whatever and probably saw I meant no harm, but yeah I won’t be keeping up that family tradition anymore. Ronny’s seltzer however when I ran into them last summer was super nice, remembered my family by the address, and gave me his contact etc let me take a pic of the truck to send to family and now I keep up that old school nyc tradition. What a friggin’ shame.

Everything you have read in the prior reviews is 100% true.
I live in Soho — called Mike on Saturday night (he usually comes to Manhattan on Sundays) — he was outside my apartment Sunday morning ready to get to work. 20 mins, two cups of coffee and some good conversation later, all of my knives were sharper than the day I bought them.
Prices are crazy reasonable — I tried to give him 2x his ask, and he wouldn’t take it. Salt of the Earth. Figure the least I can do to repay his hard work and kindness was to spread the good word.
You need knives sharpened? Call Mike — you will be VERY happy that you did.

I heard his bell ring as he cruised down our street and thought to support local business and give him a try. He did not disappoint. Lovely man, great conversation and vibe. Most importantly he did a great sharpening job on the four high-​end knives I handed him. $ 4.00 per knife and they have never been sharper! How refreshing to see good honest craftsmen out plying their trade in our community and providing a great service.

A valuable Brooklyn institution. It seems like whenever he came by my Windsor Terrace block, I was on my way to work or unable to extricate myself to catch him. This time, I heard his bell and I trotted out as safely as I could with three old, yet high quality knives that needed some desperate attention. He knew exactly what kind of knife each one was, what kind of steel it was made of and how to take care of it. One of them is a beautiful Japanese knife, about 45 years old, that was chipped and worn; he sharpened a new point on the end and made it look and cut like it was brand new. And his prices were so reasonable!
When I caught up to him, he asked where my building was, and doubled around the block to do the job – you don’t have to run with knives in hand when you hear the bell, flag him down and he’ll wait for you or meet you where you live. His only drawback is that he doesn’t have a planned route or schedule (so old school Brooklyn), so when you hear his bell clang (it’s an old fire bell rung by hand, I think) catch him – you never know when he’s coming back.

I’d never really thought about knife sharpening, but this was an I SO love Brooklyn moment! This gentleman drives around offering his knife sharpening services out of the bag of his van (think food truck meets hardware services), and with him are the 3 sweetest pit bulls I spent the whole time petting and hugging (and getting hand shakes and kisses — one a former rescued fighter and now super sweet and a regular visitor to the pediatric hospitals). Mike is 60-​something, has a big heart, is so nice, is back in his (new or renovated) home in Coney Island as of 2 month ago, shared all kinds of Brooklyn history, and (this review shoulda been posted Nov 28) will have a huge, celebratory family gathering Thanksgiving. And I now have 8 very sharp knives for only $ 35!
Great service, great price and great experience! My neighbors came out and enjoyed it/​him too.