Sharper Edge – Professional Knife Sharpening

John was professional, quick, very accommodating with my schedule and fairly priced. You an tell he really enjoys his work and takes pride in his business.

Today I had the privilege of meeting John from Sharper Edge, knife sharpening. John started the business to help his son learn about business and stuck with it after retirement out of passion!
This guy is fair priced, fast and ridiculously knowledgable. To say I was impressed is a HUGE understatement! Not only did he do an amazing job on my entire set of cooking knives, he sharpened kitchen scissors, a pocket knife, and he put a ridiculous edge on a 60+ year old butcher knife belonging to my grandfather!
If you need ANYTHING sharpened, call John at 818−606−7459 and tell him Scott sent you !

Good service. Amazing quality. Recently went to John to have him sharpen a couple sets for the first time as I was a Capeheart Cutlery client. I think I have found my new sharpening service. Prices a bit on the high end but services are good enough.
Be prepared, cash and checks only.

John is amazing. He knows what he’s doing and he was able to sharpen my knives while I waited. I’ll definitely be getting my knives professionally sharpened by him regularly.

John is awesome!!! I’m a professional chef and take pride in keeping my knives sharp. Recently my wife gave me a beautiful Japanese knife for my birthday. This knife was the envy of my kitchen until I, foolishly, broke it’s tip. I was crushed, but determined to fix it.
I worked on it for a couple of days and got a tip back on, but i just wasn’t completely satisfied with it. I knew it could be better, (I’m a professional chef, not a pro knife sharpener) but i knew I needed a professional to help me out.
After going online and researching some pro knife sharpeners, I came across John from Sharper Edge. I contacted him and he told me to stop by his work shop. As soon as I walked up I knew i called the right person for the job. Just talking to him I could feel his passion for his craft. He took a look at my knife and commended me on the work that I had done on it, then game planned as to what he was going to do to get it to where I wanted to be.
John cleaned the tip and then went ahead and put a ridiculously sharp edge on my knife. I was giddy and can’t wait to start using it again, but I could’ve stayed there and chatted with John for hours, he truly knows what he’s doing and is willing to share his knowledge. I wish I could give more than just 5 stars thank you John.

John is really great. As a professional cook I am expected to have very sharp knives and after having John work on my knives they are razor sharp! Definitely recommend him!!!

Excellent and very fast service! John not only sharpened my knives but took the time to show me how to do it myself. You just don’t find good guys like him around anymore.

John is not only that rare breed of craftsman but a gentleman as well. He only has a few years on me so I mean that from a generational perspective that seems to be a lost art nowadays. He knows his craft and willingly shares it and appreciates it when you have a genuine interest in it.
His tool shop is first rate which is a nod, again, to the past. I wish I had one as nice as his.
I brought in two, 45 year old folding knifes and he truly appreciated the condition they were in. He must have called one of them ‘amazing’ about half a dozen times as he ran it on the belt sander, stopping to admire it in between runs (it’s an old Schrade Uncle Henry with Stagg handles). The other one is a Cutco Copperhead (made by Case) with jigged bone handles and he appreciated the condition of it as well.
He was just finishing up a couple of chefs knives for another customer and the edge he put on them cut through newspaper with the lightest sound and effort, not the typical tearing sound one normally hears (newspaper is a lot harder to cut than printer paper as it’s so flimsy and bends away so easily)
All of this led to some nice talk about knives and he ended up showing me how to take care of them before my next visit by showing me just what I needed to use to maintain my knives since they were in really good condition to begin with. He can charge a lot more than what he does so you know it is a labor of love, which is a sign of a true hobbyist. I wouldn’t look anywhere else.
All the best,
Tim P

Now I know why ALL the reviews are 5 star. I just had a single edge axe and a hatchet sharpened & polished by John. He’s very busy, so it took a couple of days to set up an appointment. John said that because I was coming from Reseda, he’d do it while I wait.
I brought a magazine to read, but was so fascinated by his craftsmanship that I watched for the entire 40 minutes. He first explained some of the different types of edges there are for different tools (axe, knife, etc.) & that my axe had been sharpened incorrectly before & that why I had nicks in it. My axe was a professional woodsman axe that I bought in the late 60s/​early 70s.
He used 2 different belts to hone my axe with a convex edge & then 2 different belts to polish it. Then he used steel wool to remove slight burs & finished it with a light coat of oil (which he said I probably didn’t need with this high grade steel, but he’s a perfectionist). He did the same with my hatchet.
Oh yeah, I’m embarrassed to tell you the price because he should be charging more for his time!

John is what I call my knife guy. Every other week for the last few months since I’ve been cooking professionally, I’ve taken my knives to him. He’s so nice and polite and the job he does on my knife is amazing. Cash only, call to confirm that he’s there. Always a pleasure.

I will never go to another knife sharpening company again! John is knowledgeable and passionate about his profession. He took the time to explain the process and show me the different stones and wheels in his shop. Very personal service and I will recommend him to anyone needing this service. I brought a chef friend with me who was equally impressed with his technique.

I had several knives that needed to be sharpened. Supermarket butchers used to do it, but not anymore. I found the reviews of Sharper Edge on Unilocal — & it turns out John’s at various farmers markets — the one close to me is Studio City. He restored my old Mac knife, in fact, he redesigned it from a paring knife into a santoku — he even showed me a sample santoku before starting the repair. He talked to me about the history of Japanese knives and Chicago Cutlery, the manufacturer of the steak knives I brought to have sharpened, as well as how to care for their handles. He worked rapidly and carefully; I could tell he was a master of his craft. People at the farmers market were bringing him all kinds of blades: garden tools, scissors, kitchen knives, everything. It was fun to watch him — please look at the before-​and-​after pictures I’ve posted.

I brought my kitchen knives, an old beat up folder, and a giant bowie to John. He did an amazing job on all of them. He was even able to restore the broken tip of the bowie. A really nice guy, and a true professional at his craft. Really reasonable prices on top of all that. Highly, highly recommend this service.

John is amazing and a true craftsman!
I visited John at his workshop and he was so knowledgable and took extra time to show me how I can hone my knives at home in-​between professional sharpening. My knives were long overdue for sharpening and John did an amazing job.
I’ll definitely be a regular client!

Although John works out of his garage, it may be the cleanest and most orderly workshop I have ever seen. Everything is organized and the knives were sharpened perfectly. The whole process for 3 knives was about 15 minutes.

One can’t help but admire and appreciate a person who is passionate and loves what they do. That is how I would describe John. The man is a cutlery artisan. I recently bought an out-​of-​circulation Buck Knife Rush 290 assisted folding knife. When it arrived, the blade was unbelievably dull, very uneven, and looked like it was unskillfully sharpened with a Dremel.
John was kind enough to see me at his workshop after work hours to sharpen my blade. It was such a pleasure to chat with him and share in the common interest of knives. He took such careful attention to my blade: fixing the curve, removing blemishes, polishing/​deburring the edge, all the while explaining each step so I knew what stage of the process he was in. In the end, my knife was Xacto sharp and looking mighty pretty. I will most definitely be bringing my damaged temper forged carbon steel Katana to him for restoration. His specialty with knives (especially Japanese made blades) and his unbelievable pricing makes John second to none from personal experience.

My new go-​to person for sharpening!
As a personal assistant, I’m often taking care of small tasks for my client. Recently, one of these was finding a sharpener for knives and an axe, and a search on Unilocal led me to John Powers and Sharper Edge.
I was able to meet with Mr. Powers at his workshop over the holidays, and not only was he able to sharpen and recondition the axe and kitchen knives for my client, he also gave me some excellent advice on my own aging cutlery! I was able to get all of the ailing blades in my own kitchen sharpened, which I’d been wanting to do properly for years.
His prices are extremely reasonable, and my knives are now crazy-​sharp! I highly recommend him if you need anything– knives, scissors, garden implements– sharpened.

John sharpened my knife at his Studio City location while I waited. 5 stars for doing such a great job with my ‘dull as a butter knife’ kitchen knife and an additional star for walking me through his process and educating me about the improvement my knife experienced through several stages. Very friendly and I appreciated the attention both to detail and including me in the process.

For his birthday, my husband asked to get his kitchen knives sharpened (strange, I know), I brought them all to John and he was very nice, offered me a seat in his beautiful garden and even a spoiled me with a cold soda and was done within 15 minutes (I brought 7 knives).
Such a gentleman, I will highly recommend him to anyone!!!

Being in charge of all things maintenance related, it was my job to find a local knife sharpening service to come by on a monthly basis and keep our (20 to 30) knives in top shape. I found several rave reviews about John Powers at Sharper Edge in Studio City. My primary concern was good quality work (I didn’t want to hand over my boss’ knives to just anybody).
At the first visit I could immediately tell that John knows his stuff (he’s a virtual walking encyclopedia of knives; their anatomy, manufacturing techniques, steel composition etc etc). Every task is performed with such care and finesse. Watching him work it is quite apparent that he knows his tools very well and he is extremely gentle on the knives he works on; he can put a new edge on a blade with such minimal steel loss that it’s practically undetectable to the naked eye (except maybe John’s eye).
On top of all this. his prices are low. I think the secret to all this is that he just really loves his work.