I want to start a sharpening business... Help!

I used to wander the Linda Vista hills with a 17-inch P14 Enfield bayonet strapped to my waist. My friend Rick Batchelor lived in the neighborhood and he would be the one with the Sheffield machete.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
While the Edgepro may be a useful tool in a sharpening business, I think the results will be too slow to make money. I can sharpen freehand about as well as anyone, but doubt I could produce enough work to survive without some power assisted sharpening devices. In business time= money.
There are the old hand-cranked sharpening devices. If you could find one, perhaps it could be modified with mor modern abrasives.
Bill
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It depends on what you're business model is. For example most sharpeners simply put a new edge on a blade. They may sharpen out a small chip, and repair a rounded tip, rebevel an edge a degreee or two, but that's about it. Most are quite successful that way, and have satisfied customers.

If your model includes rebeveling edges (sometimes considerably), reprofiling a blade that's had a large section of tip removed, reducing bolsters, etc. then I would include a belt sander, or some other device. Some of that I wouldn't do on an Edge Pro, regardless of time or money.

But I know that a successful business model can be developed based on the Edge Pro, simply because I and others do it.

Also you can't equate how the Edge Pro performs with free hand sharpening. There is a difference. Primarily the Edge Pro, or any guided system for that matter, allows you to more accurately control the knife and how it removes metal, which considerably speeds up the process.

cbw
 
How about looking for a service in your area and asking if you can apprentis to pick up some experience on how a business is operated. Anything you learn in a professional shop will stay with you when you leave.

Otherwise, start off with your own knives. Then your friends' knives to gain more confidence. Then move on to your real customers after your skills are top notch. You'll need word-of-mouth to get started and you won't get that if you can't impress with good, friendly service.
 
Jeff Clark said:
I had a certain level of notoriety in the Linda Vista to La Canada area as a teen. In the link below the first incident mentioned was in La Canada, the other incident was in the parking lot of Jurgensen's on Linda Vista:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2902160&postcount=7
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Wow, great story and cool memories! Clark and Batchelor. I don't recognize the name. Could it be you are a bit older then me.

Yes, I remember the times. I was known as Jiggers back then. 61-66 I lived on Ontario Street, next door to Jeff and Ray Spencer and across the street from the Stevens (Hippie-bikers). The Bells, Tom and his brothers lived around the corner on Lida.

66-68 I lived at the base of Devon Road where it converges with Inverness. In that big tutor style house with the sloping front lawn, steep roof and tower facade with the three big pines in front. It had a large back yard that backed up to the street Chris Capune lived on.

If you were hanging out at Jurgensens you probably remember Rose who worked the pastry counter. If you asked she would always give you a broken sugar cookie, even if she had to break one :-)

I remember happy hours spent riding "flexies" down the storm drains that exited the Linda Vista Elementary creek and headed down past Jurgensens into the Rose Bowl canyon.

The only comparable knife story I have took place at Mckinley JHs. During 2nd period I had walked quietly out of the back of class and uptown to Colorado Blvd to a knife shop that was located in a little walk-in mall just off the street. I told the man I wanted to buy a knife. He asked me why and I told him lots of my friends were being beat up and I needed it for protection. He looked at me an nodded knowingly. Then he said, "I know just what you need. You need a knife with a soft blade."

I knew there were differing hardness' for steal so I thought OK. Then I asked why is that? He said, "because when you pull it out in a fight and your opponent takes it away from you and shoves it up your ass, you are going to appreciate a soft blade." He then proceeded to tell me a half a dozen ways to protect myself and leave no evidence. I did however buy a knife. A beautiful butterfly knife.

I took my new knife back to school and walked quietly back into the class and sat down just in time for the bell ring. The teacher looked rather surprised when she turned around from the board and saw my sitting there. After all I was in a front seat. But she didn't say anything :-)

Any way next period was gym and I was out on the tennis courts milling about, showing my knife to my friends, when the gym teacher came out and saw me put it in my pocket. He came over and asked me if I had a lighter in my pocket and I said quite honestly, no. Meanwhile a pretty big crowd of kids started gathering to see what trouble was brewing for Jiggers

So he says show me whats in your pocket. And I pulled the knife out. He looked a bit surprised but not really, if you know what I mean. Then he takes the knife, holds it in the air where everyone can see and in a loud voice says, "oh I see you have a knife here" Then he flips the butterfly knife open with a snap and man was it impressive. I was promptly marched off to the principal Dick Fletcher's office. They never did give me my knife back. Later when I got to Muir, guess who my VP was. Yes it was tricky Dick himself :-) And by the way, no body ever messed with me again after that little display. Which I don't doubt was the purpose of the gym teachers little show.

The next time a knife (bayonet really) would play a part in my life was when I created a small riot at the YMCA summer camp I was attending in Big Bear. It was the only thing between me and 15-20 pissed off guys who were intent on kicking my ass. Ah, the early teen years :-) Boy am I glad they're over.

Jared
 
matt321 said:
How about looking for a service in your area and asking if you can apprentis to pick up some experience on how a business is operated. Anything you learn in a professional shop will stay with you when you leave.

Otherwise, start off with your own knives. Then your friends' knives to gain more confidence. Then move on to your real customers after your skills are top notch. You'll need word-of-mouth to get started and you won't get that if you can't impress with good, friendly service.
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Matt,
Thanks for the suggestion. You know its funny because just last night I had thought maybe there is someone local who I could trade some work for learning to sharpen professionally. I think I will look into the possibility very seriously.
Thanks
Jared
 
Rick and I were about 5 years older than you. We met at McKinley which was somewhat close to where I lived. I know Rick lived on Ontario Avenue almost across the street from the library. His yard backed-onto that alley between Lida and the school. He was something like 3 or 4 doors away from Bryant on the west side of Ontario. He moved up to LaCanada around 64. You might have been classmates with Rick's younger sister Janine.

That knife shop you went to was Kingston House Cutlery. I used to hang out there so much that I was friends with the women who primarily ran the place. Alda and her husband owned the shop. She used to sell me knives at cost or sometimes give them to me for free to "test". She considered me a rather knowledgeable user, particularly on throwing knives. Unfortunately she died of a heart attack somewhere in the late 60's. Her husband ran the sharpening service out of the shop. He primarily used a belt sander to do the job. The shop was around the corner from the Pasadena Playhouse where many actors got their starts. Alda lent them some knives as props. One knife she gave me was used by Robert Vaughn (The Man from Uncle) when he played Hamlet at the playhouse.

I remember hanging out by the far side of the McKinley track comparing zip gun designs with friends. One friend had a toy deringer that could shoot a BB through a 2x4. He demonstrated by shooting through a fence out by the track. We were fans of the Man from Uncle and James Bond so I would go to McKinley with disguised weapons. I had ice pick pens, ice pick pencils, and even a bicycle pump with a 12 inch blade hidden inside. I had a wallet with a full escape kit inside. I had a friend who tipped his ice pick pen with cyanide and had a wrist watch with a garotte wire in it (like the villain in From Russia with Love). He was notorious in his neighborhood for the silenced Uncle rifle/pistol that he made. He has worked at JPL for the last 35 years or so.

Most of the teachers that I remember from McKinley moved on to help start Blair HS where I was in the first class. By the way I met a woman last Sunday who went to McKinley in the 1940's. That's odd since I met her in Colorado Springs.
 
Jeff Clark said:
Rick and I were about 5 years older than you. We met at McKinley which was somewhat close to where I lived. I know Rick lived on Ontario Avenue almost across the street from the library. His yard backed-onto that alley between Lida and the school. He was something like 3 or 4 doors away from Bryant on the west side of Ontario. He moved up to LaCanada around 64. You might have been classmates with Rick's younger sister Janine.

That knife shop you went to was Kingston House Cutlery. I used to hang out there so much that I was friends with the women who primarily ran the place. Alda and her husband owned the shop. She used to sell me knives at cost or sometimes give them to me for free to "test". She considered me a rather knowledgeable user, particularly on throwing knives. Unfortunately she died of a heart attack somewhere in the late 60's. Her husband ran the sharpening service out of the shop. He primarily used a belt sander to do the job. The shop was around the corner from the Pasadena Playhouse where many actors got their starts. Alda lent them some knives as props. One knife she gave me was used by Robert Vaughn (The Man from Uncle) when he played Hamlet at the playhouse.

I remember hanging out by the far side of the McKinley track comparing zip gun designs with friends. One friend had a toy deringer that could shoot a BB through a 2x4. He demonstrated by shooting through a fence out by the track. We were fans of the Man from Uncle and James Bond so I would go to McKinley with disguised weapons. I had ice pick pens, ice pick pencils, and even a bicycle pump with a 12 inch blade hidden inside. I had a wallet with a full escape kit inside. I had a friend who tipped his ice pick pen with cyanide and had a wrist watch with a garotte wire in it (like the villain in From Russia with Love). He was notorious in his neighborhood for the silenced Uncle rifle/pistol that he made. He has worked at JPL for the last 35 years or so.

Most of the teachers that I remember from McKinley moved on to help start Blair HS where I was in the first class. By the way I met a woman last Sunday who went to McKinley in the 1940's. That's odd since I met her in Colorado Springs.
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Wow, what a blast from the past. The memories are flooding back :-)

In 64 I would have been in 5th grade.

"The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Yes my favorite show. Along with "Get Smart." Illya Kuryakin was my fav. However at the time my father was in the chemical business so I favored those type weapons. I remember my dad bringing me home a small vial of dilute formaldehyde. I carried it around until I got into a sufficiently serious tussle (any excuse really) to use it. While the other kid was sitting on my chest demanding I say uncle (pun intended) I calmly unscrewed the cap of the vial and poured its contents onto the front of his shirt. Whew... That did the trick; his eyes started watering and the smell was gagging. I thought it was a cool tactic. I don't think his parents did though. Although I never heard anything more about it. I never played with that kid again either.

Yes the knife shop! Very cool place.
I remember the guy who gave me the advice and sold me the knife was younger. A martial arts expert. Taught me the circle 8 concept and to this very day I still carry a pen with me at all times. I would also go on to study martial arts fairly seriously. Although since I have grown out of it and into yoga.

I also remember the Pasadena Playhouse as well as the "Ice House". My brother once played guitar there on an open mike night. Me I hung out in the basement of a church at the (literally underground) rock radio station KPPC. When the station went on strike, this would take me eventually to the Green Hotel to the "strike" headquarters, where I watched the support flow in from all the great bands of the time. I remember reading a telegram from the Rolling Stones asking station management not to play their songs. I also remember having backstage access during the Doors benefit concert at the Hullabaloo, which would become the Aquarius Theater. Out of that strike KMET was born.

JPL heh? So that's who was shooting our guys into space, huh... Who says little "hellions" can never grow up to be positive and productive members of society? Devils Gate Park. Oh a couple of things went on around there. That and Arroyo Seco "slide" at the end of Brookside park under that huge bridge.

At McKinkey I used to hang out and smoke by the fence near the exit next to the girls gym. We would cross the street and walk a ways into the entrance to that cool winding little San Francisco style street that intersected the two parallel ones.

Thanks for the reminders!

Jared
 
Jared01, I do not know much about commercial sharpening myself but when I lived in Sydney, Australia I used to see a guy doing what you are considering.
Sydney is a bit bigger than your town (about 4.5 million) but the principle is the same on a smaller scale.
He rode a motorbike and went to all the restaurants and kitchens in the city, especially chinatown.
He had motorbike setup with a pully system that when he pulled up the stand went down and the backwheel was off the ground, he had sometinhg like a belt sander running off his rear drive.
He did a roaring trade, he was either very good at his craft or was cheap, the Chinese chefs were not the type to pay much for poor quality.
Hope this helps.
 
So you liked chemical armament. Rick and I would sometimes carry .22 tear gas pens. These used a .22 blank to launch CN teargas powder. Later I moved up to Colt .410 caliber pens that could also launch flares. Those were seriously dangerous.

Rick also came to a bad end and ended up into yoga. He claims it's a great way to meet limber ladies. His record was pretty good at that.

My favorite low life joint was The High Life over by PCC. One night a group of us got kicked out of the joint. That was extremely difficult to do considering the low standards of the staff and dancers.

I remember damaging my hearing at the Hullabaloo when Rick and the band he was in were playing at the Battle of the Bands. One member of that band, Greg Munford, ended up singing the lead vocal on the song "Incense and Peppermints". He was a 16 year old at LaCanada HS at the time.
 
Jeff Clark said:
I used to wander the Linda Vista hills with a 17-inch P14 Enfield bayonet strapped to my waist. My friend Rick Batchelor lived in the neighborhood and he would be the one with the Sheffield machete.
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So Jeff,
Did you ever go see the devil?
(The devil's head formation at devil's gate dam)

There was a trail that lead under the fwy to the old dam. Then you could hike up into the reservoir. I used catch polywogs there. I grew up hearing the rocket tests at JPL.
 
Danno4017 said:
Jared01, I do not know much about commercial sharpening myself but when I lived in Sydney, Australia I used to see a guy doing what you are considering.
Sydney is a bit bigger than your town (about 4.5 million) but the principle is the same on a smaller scale.
He rode a motorbike and went to all the restaurants and kitchens in the city, especially chinatown.
He had motorbike setup with a pully system that when he pulled up the stand went down and the backwheel was off the ground, he had sometinhg like a belt sander running off his rear drive.
He did a roaring trade, he was either very good at his craft or was cheap, the Chinese chefs were not the type to pay much for poor quality.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Danno,

Thanks for the observations. I hope to see this in person someday :-) I have been watching short vids on Youtube. I think its doable. But perhaps not here where being on a bike is a serious stigma.

Jared
 
I used to hike around the horse trails by the devil hunting rabbits with a throwing knife. They were used to people and easy to get close to. I really liked the canyon up north of JPL. It used to have cabins and even a hunt club up there until the flood of 1938. Alda at Kingston House cutlery used to have a cabin up there.
 
Jeff Clark said:
I used to hike around the horse trails by the devil hunting rabbits with a throwing knife. They were used to people and easy to get close to. I really liked the canyon up north of JPL. It used to have cabins and even a hunt club up there until the flood of 1938. Alda at Kingston House cutlery used to have a cabin up there.
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I hiked that canyon. I used to enter from off of the top of Lincoln Ave. Think that was where the Mt. Lowe trail started at. (Not sure, been a long time.) I still have some blades from Kingston House. I would earn money and my parents would buy them for me. Have a Buck Special and a Buck Pathfinder that I bought in the '60's there. 440C blades.

Best regards,
 
Another type of place you shouldn't overlook, is Florist shops. My aunt is a florist, and spends 95% of her day with a knife in her hand. Especially around Christmas time, tougher plants like Holly or evergreens used in arrangements can really ruin an edge. And they appreciate an edge fine enough to slice the stems of succulent flowers like Orchids. (the stems must be cut cleanly so the plants can take up water, or the arrangement will wilt prematurely.) I've done a lot of sharpening for her over the years, but I can never keep up with her! I'd need to sharpen her knives at least weekly, probably more often, to keep 'em in top shape.
 
The florist shop suggestion really sounds good. You might want to find a source for specialty knives for a trade like that and sell them. I think that VG-10 is used in Japan for horticultural knives (grafting etc). I suspect that some people use disposable utility knives for the function, but you might find a slick alternative.
 
the possum said:
Another type of place you shouldn't overlook, is Florist shops. My aunt is a florist, and spends 95% of her day with a knife in her hand. Especially around Christmas time, tougher plants like Holly or evergreens used in arrangements can really ruin an edge. And they appreciate an edge fine enough to slice the stems of succulent flowers like Orchids. (the stems must be cut cleanly so the plants can take up water, or the arrangement will wilt prematurely.) I've done a lot of sharpening for her over the years, but I can never keep up with her! I'd need to sharpen her knives at least weekly, probably more often, to keep 'em in top shape.
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Excellent suggestion. Who'd have thought... Thanks

Jared
 
Another trade that needs constant sharpening is barber shops. Barbers pay a lot of bucks for their scissors so they are willing to pay well for a good sharpening job. Another prospect is animal groomers, dog and cat clubs, also vets and farriers. I'm a gunsmith with my own shop and do some knives as a side line primarily using an Edge Pro which, BTW, I consider to be one of the best tools I've ever bought. Ben Dale, the Edge Pro inventor and manufacturer, is a great guy. Have emailed back and forth with him and also talked on the phone. He knows his stuff.
 
Old CW4 said:
Another trade that needs constant sharpening is barber shops. Barbers pay a lot of bucks for their scissors so they are willing to pay well for a good sharpening job. Another prospect is animal groomers, dog and cat clubs, also vets and farriers. I'm a gunsmith with my own shop and do some knives as a side line primarily using an Edge Pro which, BTW, I consider to be one of the best tools I've ever bought. Ben Dale, the Edge Pro inventor and manufacturer, is a great guy. Have emailed back and forth with him and also talked on the phone. He knows his stuff.
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A quick search on google shows you're right about sissors. Seems there are number of people out there who will put you in the business for a mere $5000. Wow!

It's good to hear about your positive dealings with Ben at EdgePro. Another good reason to deal with them.

Thanks

Jared
 
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