Mobile sharpening service update

B

Bazzle

Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Messages
150
About a year ago I posted a thread asking opinions which route to take to improve a mobile sharpening service. Most of the replies questioned my ability, experience, and overall doubt.
I started out carrying a belt grinder, paper wheels, and a small vacuum in the back of my car to local restaurants. I have since fit a van with everything I need to sharpen on site, including a work bench, lockable storage area, chest tool box, & dust collection.
My point in sharing this story is to share that despite a lot of criticism and doubt, it happened. If your in a good area, there are tons of places that use edged tools. Hospitals, Retirement communities, Universities, etc.. The business I have is still very young, (less than 2 yrs.) but half way into my second year, my income was up 600% from its first full year! I now have 100+ business that I sharpen regularly while adding at least 1 or 2 each week that have anywhere between 10-600 knives, plus plenty of other kitchen tools. My busiest days I am able to sharpen 130-140 knives.
It's true, not many people trust someone with knives they spent a lot of money on, or other services have ruined their blades.
When I visit a business for the first time I still hear the same thing, "no thanks,were good", "we sharpen all of our own stuff", but now it's followed by "wait, are you that guy...?".
I found the best way to prove your skill is to offer a freebie. If someone doubts your ability or the use of a machine, offer to do a free house knife. If they are concerned that you will take off too much metal, mark the blade with a sharpie for measurement. Invite them to come watch. It has worked for me every time.
To make sure this thread is in its proper forum, I would be happy to share or listen to any technical bits about abrasives, equipment, angles, stones, van setup, etc.. I would be great to hear stories of other sharpening services.
 
Sounds good! You must be establishing a good reputation.

I have experimenting with using a belt grinder (HF 1x30) and the slotted paper wheel to deburr and finish. Can you offer advice (grits, types of belts, etc.)?

Thanks,
Dave
 
Hi Dave,

I rarely use my paper wheels anymore. If you spend the time searching in the paper wheel forum you can find more info than I can give. As far as belts, I start with 120 zirc+, 320 aluminum oxide compact grain, and finish with a micron belt. There are plenty of places to get your belts. I order mine in bulk (50@ a time) from preferredabrasives.com. They have a good description of abrasive and belt material available. Pops is a great place to support and get your belts. I know that HF sells 1"x30" belts but they are probably aluminum oxide and wear fast.
There is a guy that has been using a HF machine for probably 15 years sharpening for restaurants across the country, similar to the way I did my first year, out of the back of a Subaru. He just carries his machine and a vacuum into the restaurant and goes to town. He finishes with a worn 320 AO belt. He also doesn't have any business in my area anymore.
I use a 1"x42" machine and run the belt into the blade using a guide. If your machine doesn't have this as an option maybe you could fab one yourself or do it freehand with the belt grinding away from the edge.
You may also like a leather strop belt!
I would like to hear what others have to say about paper wheels, but I really like using belts for most of my sharpening. QUOTE=wvdavidr;14246336]Sounds good! You must be establishing a good reputation.

I have experimenting with using a belt grinder (HF 1x30) and the slotted paper wheel to deburr and finish. Can you offer advice (grits, types of belts, etc.)?

Thanks,
Dave[/QUOTE]
 
I like a Surgi Sharp Wheel with Koyo Sha polishing compound from japan wood worker. The paper polishing wheel works but I find it easier to find the bevel on the leather wheel. Some Norton Blaze belts would be a good addition too, they last much longer.

Between the belt and the leather wheel a fine felt wheel really helps to knock down the burr and takes a lot of time off using the polishing wheel. A 120 belt followed by these two wheels will give you very sharp edges in seconds, more importantly you will gain consistency.
 
If you give me your email address, I will send a picture of my power sharpener based on a 1X42 belt.
 
I was looking into doing what you are doing a couple of years ago Bazzle, but I found that I just couldn't compete with the other major sharpening company here. To be clear, there aren't any other sharpening companies locally that sharpen individually for people, but there is one major company (Carolina Cutlery) that sharpens for restaurants.

what they do is have about 10 economy cars and they offer a knife leasing program. I am not sure exactly how it works because they didn't have the prices on their website, but a local restaurant I spoke with who used them stated that they exchange the dull knives w/ freshly sharpened ones every week (if I remember correctly) and only charges around $2/blade to sharpen. I frequently time myself and it takes me a decent amount more than 2 minutes to machine sharpen a knife.

Jason has good advise as well! I refer most online customers who want a convex edge to him ;) Jason, have you tried the Cubitron II belts yet? I am curious as to your thoughts on those vs. the blaze. I think the Cubitrons wear better but they don't fracture as easily (takes more pressure) so they may not cut as fast... I need to look at getting some again to play around with.

I am really glad it's working for you!
 
Would the Surgi-Sharp guide on their site work on the Harbor Freight 1x30 belt grinder?
Thanks,
Dave
 
wvdavidr said:
Would the Surgi-Sharp guide on their site work on the Harbor Freight 1x30 belt grinder?
Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

Never knew they offered more than just a couple of belts. Their site doesn't mention prices. I intend to order the guide tomorrow. I hope to build my own 1"x42" someday and this may be some good homework.
I use two guides set to the common angles of most kitchen. I swap them out when need be, or adjust one. They are tightened down and adjustable using a butterfly screw.
Some of the stiffer belts may wear into the Surgi guide. The thicker belt material will expand as it rotates around the machine, leaving a small gap between the belt and platen. So when you attempt to sharpen you will get a convex edge, then if you move to a lighter belt that follows the platen tight you realize what has happened and you move your guide in closer to hold the belt against the platen.
D the belt against the platen.
 
wvdavidr said:
Would the Surgi-Sharp guide on their site work on the Harbor Freight 1x30 belt grinder?
Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

It fits fine but I didn't care for the guide at all. I wasn't crazy about sharpening against the rotation of the belt. The other thing was I had a hard time keeping the blade level while passing it along the guide. The edge wanted to drift up and down off the guide and onto the belt resulting in a wavy grind. I much prefer free hand where I can feel how much pressure I am applying and can feather the tip.

To help with my angles when I first started, I cut a few 2" wedges at 18, 20 and 25 degrees out of a cereal box. With the machine off, I would hold a wedge against the belt and place the blade against the wedge. Then I would make a mental note of how far to hold the spine from the belt. It doesn't matter if it is a saber or hollow grind because I'm holding the wedge to the blade not the bevel. If you set that guide up for 20 degrees and run a knife with a steep hollow grind, who knows what angle you are really getting.
 
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Thanks Josh,

It's good to see other sharpening services like Jason's getting support as well.

I haven't tried the cubitron belts. I asked my supplier about something similar, ceramic belt of some sort, and he recommended I stick with the zirc belts. What ever he said made sense at the time and they were twice the price. Its cheap to buy one or two and I expect I will soon. I didn't care for the blaze belts. At all!

As far as expanding your service, work around the company in your town. I'm sure there are plenty of places that insist on having their own knives. Look for high end restaurants. There are two exchange services in my area, One focuses on chain restaurants and the other uses what looks like a modified baseball pitching machine with angry uneven coarse stones that don't even reach the bolster. It is more rewarding to sharpen someones knife roll that they are proud vs dropping off some cheap cutlery that has to be sharpened in a weeks time. The price to buy the inventory for an exchange service is incredible. Then you work for for 5+ years before you see very little return. Also, offer to sharpen other things, deli slicers, mandolins, poultry shears, food processor blades, pizza cutters, & serrated knives are an absolute!

And yes, it is tricky learning the proper pressure for particular belts. Wish I could have the time wasted before I payed attention to that.
 
Good idea with the home made jig. I use all of my stones freehand, but when I use the belt with a guide I balance the blade and handle as comfortable as I can in one hand and use the thumb of my other to guide the blade and slide it up to the belt. The thumb stays on the guide holding the spine while I pull the blade with the other. The thumb controls pressure while the other hand maintains speed and angle.
FTR-14c said:
It fits fine but I didn't care for the guide at all. I wasn't crazy about sharpening against the rotation of the belt. The other thing was I had a hard time keeping the blade level while passing it along the guide. The edge wanted to drift up and down off the guide and onto the belt resulting in a wavy grind. I much prefer free hand where I can feel how much pressure I am applying and can feather the tip.

To help with my angles when I first started, I cut a few 2" wedges at 18, 20 and 25 degrees out of a cereal box. With the machine off, I would hold a wedge against the belt and place the blade against the wedge. Then I would make a mental note of how far to hold the spine from the belt. It doesn't matter if it is a saber or hollow grind because I'm holding the wedge to the blade not the bevel. If you set that guide up for 20 degrees and run a knife with a steep hollow grind, who knows what angle you are really getting.
Click to expand...
 
It's fantastic to hear of your success. I've toyed with the idea of doing sharpening full time, but the economics don't make sense to me. Plus I don't think I'd enjoy sharpening so many blades every day. Too much of a good thing you know?

But again, it's really cool to hear you're doing well. I sometimes feel like this interest of mine (sharpening) isn't appreciated at all by people outside of this community. You obviously have customers that appreciate what you do and pay you to do it. Awesome!

Brian.
 
Thanks for the encouragement. If anyone is interested in creating a sharpening business of some sort, I would be happy to share what I've learned so far. It took me a year and a half before I was able to do it full time and I wish I would have done it sooner because that is what it takes. Spend time "networking", the worst part, door to door, being political and patient. I feel the same way as the late Bill Hicks did with marketing and sales! Now I call going to the bar "networking"!
 
Bazzle said:
Thanks for the encouragement. If anyone is interested in creating a sharpening business of some sort, I would be happy to share what I've learned so far. It took me a year and a half before I was able to do it full time and I wish I would have done it sooner because that is what it takes. Spend time "networking", the worst part, door to door, being political and patient. I feel the same way as the late Bill Hicks did with marketing and sales! Now I call going to the bar "networking"!
Click to expand...

How important do you feel it is to your customers that you can sharpen on-site instead of making a circuit and picking them up to be returned later, or is it more important in saving you the travel time.

Do you wear a mask in addition to the dust collection?

Thanks
Martin
 
Good to see your endeavor is progressing well. Sharpening is a tough sell as most think they know more about it than the sharpener. Which is of course a delusion on their part.
 
HeavyHanded said:
How important do you feel it is to your customers that you can sharpen on-site instead of making a circuit and picking them up to be returned later, or is it more important in saving you the travel time.

Do you wear a mask in addition to the dust collection?

Thanks

Martin
Click to expand...

I feel it is very important sharpening on site. Pick up/drop off would work if you were exchanging inexpensive "house" knives. With that comes huge inventory cost and very little income. I prefer business that have their own knives. It's a bit more rewarding returning someone's Shuns or Globals, etc..

I don't typically where a mask while sharpening in the van. I do while running the KMG though. The dust collection for that isn't quite as efficient as what is used for sharpenining.
 
Bazzle said:
Thanks for the encouragement. If anyone is interested in creating a sharpening business of some sort, I would be happy to share what I've learned so far. It took me a year and a half before I was able to do it full time and I wish I would have done it sooner because that is what it takes. Spend time "networking", the worst part, door to door, being political and patient. I feel the same way as the late Bill Hicks did with marketing and sales! Now I call going to the bar "networking"!
Click to expand...
I'm in the process of starting a sharpening business and would like to pick your brain if you don't mind.I've purchased a van and am in the process of setting it up,any tips would be much appreciated.
 
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