Knife Shop Question of the Week: Do You Sharpen Cutco knives?

“Do you sharpen Cutco knives?” Yes! This is a question we get frequently. Cutco knives are a legendary American brand made in upstate New York. They are popular with home cooks, likely because Cutco’s commission-based sales reps target customers through referrals. Cutco knives reputation for durability is emboldened by their “Forever Guarantee,” but they last just as long as most quality knives on the market and are highly corrosion resistant.

We always get excellent results sharpening both the straight edge and serrated edge Cutco knives. Their straight edge prep/chef knives are a bit thinner than major brand German knives, so they are lighter and cut more efficiently. They have a wide hollow ground secondary edge which creates advantages for food release and sharpening at home.

Any given set of Cutco knives will contain a lot of serrated blades. The sales rep’s pitch is designed to sell the “Homemaker Set,” which runs north of $1000. 5 of the 8 knives in the block are serrated, not counting the 8 steak knives. That’s a lot of money to spend on 13 serrated knives, considering most people these days find 1 or 2 more than sufficient.

So if you are a Cutco owner, chances are you have a lot of knives. Customers in this predicament often use our service for their non-serrated knives because our edges are the finest, but send their serrated blades to Cutco to save some money because they don’t charge for sharpening, just shipping costs.

District Cutlery is a performance-tuning shop for knives located in Union Market, a busy public food hall in Washington DC. Lots of first-time market patrons are surprised to discover a knife shop while exploring the market stalls, and they throw a variety of questions our way.