Hand Sharpening Every Knife: The Standard No Machine Can Match Media
Published: 1 week ago
The sharpest knives don't come from machines. They come from hands.
At New West KnifeWorks, every knife is hand sharpened before it leaves our shop. Not because we're doing it the old-fashioned way for the sake of it — but because no automated system has ever been able to match what a skilled maker can do on a blade.
In this video, founder Corey Milligan and production manager Brian Hady explain why hand sharpening remains the single biggest challenge in our company's history — and the one step we will never hand off to a machine.
Corey also shares a story from Seki, Japan — the 800-year-old knife making capital of the world — where even the most specialized craftsmen, who outsourced every other part of the process, kept sharpening in-house. Because they understood something we live by every day: a knife's reputation lives and dies on its edge.
What you'll learn:
Why the geometry of a blade makes true automated sharpening nearly impossible
How New West tests sharpness at multiple points along every blade before it ships
The Seki, Japan tradition that still shapes how we work today
???? Shop New West KnifeWorks: www.newwestknifeworks.com
???? Visit us in store: Jackson Hole · Denver · Park City · Big Sky · St. Helena · Victor, ID
✉️ Questions? orders@newwestknifeworks.com
New West KnifeWorks has been making American knives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming since 1997. Every knife is hand finished, backed by a lifetime guarantee, and sharpened for free — for life.
At New West KnifeWorks, every knife is hand sharpened before it leaves our shop. Not because we're doing it the old-fashioned way for the sake of it — but because no automated system has ever been able to match what a skilled maker can do on a blade.
In this video, founder Corey Milligan and production manager Brian Hady explain why hand sharpening remains the single biggest challenge in our company's history — and the one step we will never hand off to a machine.
Corey also shares a story from Seki, Japan — the 800-year-old knife making capital of the world — where even the most specialized craftsmen, who outsourced every other part of the process, kept sharpening in-house. Because they understood something we live by every day: a knife's reputation lives and dies on its edge.
What you'll learn:
Why the geometry of a blade makes true automated sharpening nearly impossible
How New West tests sharpness at multiple points along every blade before it ships
The Seki, Japan tradition that still shapes how we work today
???? Shop New West KnifeWorks: www.newwestknifeworks.com
???? Visit us in store: Jackson Hole · Denver · Park City · Big Sky · St. Helena · Victor, ID
✉️ Questions? orders@newwestknifeworks.com
New West KnifeWorks has been making American knives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming since 1997. Every knife is hand finished, backed by a lifetime guarantee, and sharpened for free — for life.