Living on the edge

By Naperville Magazine
Appears in the November 2022 issue.

Do you fumble every Thanksgiving when you try to carve your bird into something worthy of a Rockwell print? Go see John Wills, a former Coast Guard cook turned master knife sharpener. For less than 10 bucks, he’ll angle your dull cutlery against his trusty belt sander and hone it with a wheel that spins at 3,400 rpm, producing a blade that cuts as clean as a katana. He tests every knife to ensure it can smoothly slice, Ginsu style, through sheets of clean white paper. “Good knives glide through vegetables and meat,” Wills explains. “Dull knives smash them, draining them of their juices.” His shop—John’s Sharpening Service and Cutlery Store—is in Westmont (217 E. Ogden Ave.), with a drop-off (Sundays) and pickup (Wednesdays) location at Naperville’s Great Harvest Bread Co. (192 W. Gartner Rd.), a convenience guaranteed to save you grief this holiday season. —P.G.

Photo courtesy of John Wills