Sharpening as a paid service

D

Denix

Joined
Mar 24, 2001
Messages
326
Hi gang!

I'd like to relate something cool that's happened to me over the last few months:

I "found" BF while searching for a way to sharpen serrations. Like many others, I stumbled on Joe's outstanding FAQ, and never left :D In any event, that was a few years back. Since then, I've bought way too many knives, learned how to sharpen and acquired a Sharpmaker along with a DMT diamond bench stone.

For a while, I've been sharpening friends and families knives, generally getting better at it.

One day at work, I was in a particularily "professorish" mood and got caught in the typical "dull knife vs. sharp knife, which is more dangerous" debate, and spread 3 years of BF knowledge in a short time. One of the ladies then asked if I would sharpen her knives. Since I'd just convinced everyone that dull knives were just as dangerous as driving in a Canadian winter without snow tires, I couldn't really refuse ;)

So, I suitably impress her with my sharpening skills, and she says that I should charge people for sharpening. My first reaction is "nah, who'd pay to get a knife sharpened?". Then I start thinking... and thinking... and doing a bit of research.

Now, I should add that I work in a government campus environment, with about 6000 people. I then drafted a nice looking add, and posted it in the "want ads" section of our Intranet. I basically advertised that I'd hand sharpen knives or scissors for $3, flat rate, with a next day return service.

Well, I've been pretty impressed with the response :eek: I can't say that I could retire sharpening knives, but let's just say that my knife buying power is increasing :D People seem to think that it's great to be able to bring their knives at work (think about it ;) ), and have them ready the next day.

So, I just wanted to say thank you to Joe especially, for getting me started on this, and writing in such a style that it was easy to learn, and all the rest of you for great entertainement, tips and tricks over the years.

Guy
 
When I give my lecture about the safety of sharp knives I like to say that "sharp knives aren't dangerous, apples are dangerous". I show that whether you have a sharp knife or a dull knife it takes more force to start a cut through the skin of an apple than the meat. On top of that apples are round and like to roll. Hard skinned round things are the problem. So always cut a flat on the bottom of apples and use light slicing strokes as you work the apple on the cutting board. The key advantages of a sharp knife are that you don't have to use as much force and the edge is more uniform. This allows you to use a lighter touch and gives you more consistant cutting, both which give you more control for greater safety. This safety is dependant on using that lighter force and not cutting towards yourself.

PS, If you start to do a whole lot of sharpening get yourself a belt sander to do the rough work. If you are careful it will not impact the heat treatment and will let you do the job at least 4x as fast.
 
You're providing a service at a reasonable price. You're sharpening skills will no doubt continue to improve, and you've found a way to have your hobby help pay for itself. My compliments to you. It's what I've been doing for years, take a look at my signature, "Will Work 4 Knives". ;)
 
There are quite a few sharpening services out there, but there is no way, no how that it can be profitable if you do it by hand. Most of them have thousand dollar machines to do the sharpening. A few of them have machines that cost a few thousand dollars. quite a few restaurants and delis have their own tru-hones which run about 700 bucks. On top of that, you have to be close to lots of businesses that require quite a few sharp knives. Most chefs prefer to steel and sharpen their own knives so you need to be near food processing industries. Most sharpening businesses are coupled with restaurant supply businesses or other cultery businesses.
 
I think you could easily charge $10-15 to sharpen.

EDIT: apparently the going rate in my area is $5-10 per knife, scissors being toward the higher end. They generally charge more for longer knives, serrated knives etc.
 
going rate in NYC is about $2 per knife.
Invest in a tru-hone... then touch up by hand... total work time, three to 5 minutes per knife
 
No, continue doing what you are doing. Congratulations! This is the right way to start a business...get a market, do some work, get paid, positive cash flow. Wonderful stuff.

Do you enjoy sharpening knives?

You may have a great second income. Keep marketing. Test prices...see if you can get $4, $5, or $8, what the market will bear. Put up more posters, and they can have different prices on them to test. You could put "special offer for new customers...mention GREEN" or something so you know what price to charge what customer.

Work on getting repeat business, perhaps have your customers fill out a postcard so you mail it to them when it's time to sharpen again...people forget.

Also, you could consider reselling some good steels and showing your customers how to steel their knives. Many people won't do it anyway, but it is extra margin for you, sell a steel and you could make $30 profit, and people will know that you care about them and their knives and are out to save them money.

You could even sell a line of knives and scissors to customers.

You are off to a great start!
 
MelancholyMutt said:
There are quite a few sharpening services out there, but there is no way, no how that it can be profitable if you do it by hand. Most of them have thousand dollar machines to do the sharpening. A few of them have machines that cost a few thousand dollars. quite a few restaurants and delis have their own tru-hones which run about 700 bucks. On top of that, you have to be close to lots of businesses that require quite a few sharp knives. Most chefs prefer to steel and sharpen their own knives so you need to be near food processing industries. Most sharpening businesses are coupled with restaurant supply businesses or other cultery businesses.
Click to expand...


No need to spend thousands of dollars, There is a sharpener made by a company called Tormek. It's a 10 inch dia. whetstone and includes a 5 inch leather strop wheel also. It will cost you about $450. Delta makes a similar machine for under $300. And Harbor freight sells a chinese made tool for under $100.

Resaruants are a waste of time. Your average diner or chain type restaruant leases their kitchen cutlery. Every week or two a guy comes out and replaces all the kitchen knives. Takes the others back to his shop and sharpens them to bring back next time. The service kills two birds with one stone. The owner doesn't have to buy knives or deal with dull ones plus there is no waiting. Wait that's 3 birds.

Sharpening scissors for taylors, alteration shops, hair dressers, Barbers seems like good business. Advertise at fabric stores also. If you have a gormet groccer or shop in your area that would be a good place to put up a flyer.
 
Denix already has a captive market of 6000 people, students and faculty, so why should he have to consider restaurants, tailors, etc.? Work the existing market and it could be a good business, it seems to me. The pick-up and deliver aspect is very appealing to these college campus folks and nobody else is offering that, right?
 
I have had two really bad experiences having my knives "professionally" sharpened. I was hesitant to try again after the first experience but figured maybe I just picked the wrong guy. Second time (different guy) was just as bad (uneven, wrong angle, rough).

However, the idea of a knife knut with a Sharpmaker and a DMT bench stone is a different story. I think you are charging too little for a labor-intensive custom edge. I imagine you can get a decent sharpening job in NY for $2, but most places do not have that kind of skill base to draw on. I live in a city with a population around 60,000 and doubt I could even find someone I would trust my knives to (that is offerning sharpening as a service).

-- Dizos
 
Wow! Good comments all over!

I've been thinking about a belt sander for a while... It might just be one of my first purchases.

Also, I have to admit I do this mostly for fun. My day job pays nicely, so I don't really "need" the extra income, although a few of you there have got me thinking again ;)

I forgot to mention that I always show customers how to maintain their knives with a steel. Most of them admit to having a steel at home, but not knowing how to use it!

Thanks guys!

Guy
 
Sounds like you're a better man than me....


I'm the designated "knife knut" among all my friends and family, which is fine and dandy except that they always want me to sharpen thier knives for them, once again fine, EXCEPT....


for them digging out these things that couldn't penetrate a stick of half melted butter and asking me to put an edge on them. I just don't have the time, patience, or experience to sharpen some of the Chinese crap clones that come my way or axes that have been used for digging utility trenches.

My buddy grant does it right though. he comes by once or twice a month average for beers and BS, waits until I've had a couple, and then hands me his CRKT M-16 (the tales of what he's done with this knife deserve a thread of there own) anyways, he brings me beer, and lets me sharpen his knife before it's too badly dulled, and actually gets upset if I make it too sharp, cause he knows the downfalls of that. Works out well...

Not sure what my point was when I started this post....oh yeah...now I remember....maybe you should sharpen knives for beer instead of money? :D

In all seriousness, best of luck to ya' and have fun, eh?
 
You really have location going for you to keep your prices up in the profitable range. When I did this by going door-to-door I based my prices by the length of the blade. The work tends to scale with length. For example 50 cents per inch would let you charge $5.00 for a 10 inch carving knife, $4.00 for an 8 inch chefs knife, $3.00 for a 6 inch santoku, $2.00 for a 4 inch utility knife and $1.50 for a 3 inch paring knife.
 
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