I try to keep my knives sharp. I even have an electric sharpener. But unless you really know what you're doing every so often you need a professional to to put a good edge on so you have a place to start. If I had tried to do this with the course stone on my machine I would have damaged my knives beyond repair. I found Jay's to be quick and reasonable. They really helped me out by giving me a box to carry them home. The shopping bag I took them in kind of got shredded. To be honest I don't usually carry around a ton of loose kitchen knives. When I do it again I'm going to wrap them up in an old towel and put that in a bag.