Knife Sharpening as a Business?

Might also suggest that just cause some guy has an expensive patented machine and a sign blowing in the wind stating that he sharpens things, doesnt mean he knows diddly what he is doing.

Might want to take some inexpensive knives to him and see the results. I will tell you right up front, ANY knife, even cheapest dollar store knife can have very sharp edge put on it (it probably wont hold that edge for nearly as long as better quality knife). If he cant then he doesnt know what he is doing. Simple as that.

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

If you are near a farmers market this spring, you might want to try that, also. We have a wonderful gentleman and his wife come to our market most Saturdays, and he stays busy.

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The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson

Every restaurant I have ever worked at employed a knife sharpening service. Most places kept two full sets of kitchen knives in a two week rotation. The sharpener would drop off a set and pick up the other to sharpen. In between visits we would use steels for touch ups and of course everyone took care of their own personal knives. They also sold replacement knives. I'd guess a few commercial accounts like that would provide some steady income.

Years back I had a gift shop in WV, and we did so much work with leather and stones I purchased the tools to sharpen our shop tools. Some people found out that we sharpened stuff, and before long I did our bread and butter in sharpening, paid the rent it did.

Just recently (2014 deer season) a neighbor asked if I could help him skin out a deer he recently acquired, for some back strap and the hide, so I said sure. Took my skinner up there and we went to work on it, his knife was really bad, just tearing at the hide. I let him use my knife, and he had me sharpen all his knives there after. I do not have a lot of tools, just a couple of stones now, and some honing steels, but by the end of the season I had sharpened knives for all the locals, including a butcher shop, who has a service, they just prefered my work over the service. I am not out any money, and I do not make time promises, so I do not have to charge much, some bacon, or a few pounds of burger that sort of thing, but I can tell you you can do well, if you are good at it, and you just start doing it for friends and neighbors. The more you advertise the more work you will get, but you also have to work for them, and I work for myself, see the difference.

If you invest a whole bunch of cash into "systems" and still do not know what you are doing, at some point some one like me will happen along, and you will lose customers, and you won't know why.

Just some stuff to think about. I mean it is fine to try to make a little side business out of it, but if you are investing a lot, and placing ads and such, you are probably spending more than its worth. If you can really sharpen, you don't need systems, you only need to know what you are doing, and take your time.

I own a sharpening shop. I sharpen almost everything including knives, but my bread and butter is carbide saw blades and other woodowkring tools. Ive seen knives that customers have tried to sharpen on $150 knife sharpeners that they have bought, and the knives are pretty screwed up. Most store bought sharpeners are junk. Your best bet is to learn to sharpen by traditional means. I charge $3.50 each, and the cost is almost nothing. I can make $60/hour. I use a belt sander to rough them in, then a couple polish wheels to finish them. I shave my arm to test the knives before I give them back to the customer.

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Professional Tool. 1220 Woodmere Ave,Traverse City, MI. 49686. 231-941-8003. http://professionaltool.com/

For a while, there were several traveling sharpener guys in our area.

I have to admit that I was surprised when the mobile units started up in our area, but only because of the high overhead and costs of the Sprint Freightliner style trucks.

One very successful businessman (who owned a restaurant before) bought a truck and went into business. I have no idea how he did business wise, but he appeared BUSY.

He would pull into town, park downtown, and went to every barber and salon in the area. He then would go to all the restaurants and bars. He finished up at the hardware store.

I often wondered how he would have done stopping in at the farmer's market each week, and sharpening on demand. Seems like it could be a natural fit, with all of the home cooks, sewing enthusiasts and gardeners gathering in one spot each week.

Knowing what I know, a person who wanted to be portable could do an aweful lot with a pick up truck wiht a topper, or a van, a small generator, and a few peices of sharpening equipment. There is no need to buy an expensive vehicle.

__________________
http://lownfamilymaplesyrup.com/ max@lownfamilymaplesyrup.com
Professional Tool. 1220 Woodmere Ave,Traverse City, MI. 49686. 231-941-8003. http://professionaltool.com/

Yea, it is a skill, either you can do it, or you can not, and if you are good, you do not need to worry about the business, it will find you. It is not my B&B either, just something I do when I get around to it, but I have a few always awaiting.

Saw blades, especially if you are in an area where there is a lot of construction, could be really lucrative, cause carbide is hard to sharpen. I have a diamond file, for my own use, but that would be the only thing I would have that would touch that.

If you can sharpen tooling too, that could be a good bet, although now most shops just junk the tooling from their cnc machines, so you would have to look for shops that still used the old Bridgeports and such.

There is business, but if you have to spend too much to get it, and you are relying on new machines to do it, well you are just a matter of time before the machine breaks and someone like me that just does it, will happen along, and because I can use my simple tools and skill, and I don't charge for all the cost that a truck or otherwise would cost (they either drop them at the farm, or call me when I am in town) so I can sharpen a few sickle blades, a flail mower blade, and your jack knife for a some bacon or a couple nice steaks.

How can a saw blade be sharpened?

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

There is a man who does sharpening at the Joann Fabric stores around the Phoenix area, on Saturdays. They keep flyers at the front counters with the dates he will be there.

I have also seen someone at one of the needlework shops with his sharpening equipment.

If you can do clipper blades, tack and feed stores would probably have customers they could refer to you.

There is a traveling sharpener that wanders around Kansas. He lives in a box truck/camper and tows a caboose. You know when he is in town because you can't miss that bright red caboose. It is marketing at its simplest. He spends about 2 days in a town and moves on to his next stop. He's built a circuit that takes several months to complete.

I took an old knife and hand saw in to him one time to see how good of a job he did. I have a couple of planes I'd like to get some work done on, but don't want the irons burned. He laughed at the saw and said he quit sharpening them in the 1980s, that I was better off going and buying a new saw. I wasn't impressed with his work on the knife blade. And I've heard of several seamstresses that took scissors, but were very disappointed.

If the quality of workmanship was there, it could be an interesting way to make a living.

If it is steel, it can be filed. If it is carbide tipped, it requires diamond of some kind. Ive seen diamond files, but that would take hours to do anything. I have grinders with diamond wheels, and flood coolant.

__________________
http://lownfamilymaplesyrup.com/ max@lownfamilymaplesyrup.com
Professional Tool. 1220 Woodmere Ave,Traverse City, MI. 49686. 231-941-8003. http://professionaltool.com/