Knives Need a Tune-Up

What could be more frustrating to chefs and home cooks than dull knives? Harper Keehn has set out to solve this issue, offering a knife-sharpening service (also scissors and small garden clippers) in Providence and at farmers markets throughout New England: Sharper Harper. She credits her farm-raised grandmother for her early interest in knives, because she gave Keehn a knife when she was just 4: “She thought kids should be able to help [in the kitchen],” Keehn says.

 

Keehn first got on-the-job training while butchering at a Colorado ranch between college stints. After graduating from Yale, she jumped into the knife-sharpening gig full-time, adding new markets and new equipment to her mobile van over the last dozen years. When she starts a job, she determines the angle of sharpening (usually 15° on each side) based on the condition of the knife, type, provenance and intended use (using special equipment for serrated edges). She recommends protecting knives with covers or a case so they don’t clatter against each other, which dulls knives more rapidly; and using soft cutting boards.

 

Keehn notes that her own attention and care may return a customer’s knife sharper than when they bought it. Stressing the importance of regular maintenance, she says, “If you’re forgetting to sharpen your knives, it’s like forgetting to change the oil in your car.” Ideally, home kitchen knives should be sharpened every six months.