Tips for gun show sharpening?

M

Makeitsharp

Joined
Feb 26, 2014
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Hello all, I've been reading these forums for a while before I finally decided to join a few days ago. From what I understand there are alot of guys on here who know their stuff, so I really look forward to sharing and gaining some knowledge.

Anyways, I have recently reserved a table at a knife show here in Puyallup, WA and I will be doing knife sharpening there. And because this is the first time I have done anything like this, I would like to ask those who have dealt with this kind of thing for general advice on: What to expect, what not to expect, things to take with me, tips on treating customers, pricing, how early to get there, having a sign, etc. (anything really)

The set up I plan on using is a 1X42 belt sander with a progression of grits and a final honing with an MDF wheel loaded with honing compound. Also, do you guys think that having a small vacuum for dust collection (for the finer grits, the fine metal dust is almost like having flour blown into the air) would be too loud?

And whatever else you guys could recommend for a first time gun and knife show sharpener, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Hello all, I've been reading these forums for a while before I finally decided to join a few days ago. From what I understand there are alot of guys on here who know their stuff, so I really look forward to sharing and gaining some knowledge.

Anyways, I have recently reserved a table at a knife show here in Puyallup, WA and I will be doing knife sharpening there. And because this is the first time I have done anything like this, I would like to ask those who have dealt with this kind of thing for general advice on: What to expect, what not to expect, things to take with me, tips on treating customers, pricing, how early to get there, having a sign, etc. (anything really)

The set up I plan on using is a 1X42 belt sander with a progression of grits and a final honing with an MDF wheel loaded with honing compound. Also, do you guys think that having a small vacuum for dust collection (for the finer grits, the fine metal dust is almost like having flour blown into the air) would be too loud for the show?

And whatever else you guys could recommend for a first time gun and knife show sharpener, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance.
 
take someone else with you so nothing gets stolen from your table while you are distracted.
 
Unless that's a modified 1x42 belt sander, I'd be really careful about what kind of knives you're sharpening. Your usual 1x42 runs way to fast to be easily used as a sharpener, IMHO. I have one and I do sharpen on it occasionally, but not on anything I really care about.
 
Best of luck doing Gun Shows. I plan to do the same. I will be doing free knife sharpening, to attract warm bodies to my Concealed Carry classes, and other NRA classes.

As for using a belt sander to sharpen knives. How many people here, sharpen their good blades on high speed belt sanders? I think lots of folks will pass on that offering.

I am not letting a high speed belt sander near my good knives. I especially am not letting a stranger do that to my knives.

WorkSharp sells slow speed belt sanders, that in theory, does not heat up the steel. You might also look at wet wheel sharpeners. I will be using these methods.


The only thing I am comfortable doing on a high speed belt sander is leather stropping. Brings out a brilliant shine.
 
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One thing I have heard mentioned from someone who did a gun show before was to use a hip pack to put the money in so it doesn't sprout legs and walk away while your sharpening. Which would explain why I saw a lot of the people at the last gun show (first one I've been to since I was a kid) wearing hip packs who were running a booth.

Might be smart to bring a phone book so you can demonstrate how sharp your able to get the knives so people walking by can see a quick demonstration of you cutting cleanly through phone book paper so they know your not just some guy grinding away steel and taking their money but your actually sharpening their knife. I know I had to watch the guy who was using a spring adjusted pull through sharpener for a few minutes after he demonstrated that he could slice through phone book paper easily, I was expecting it to rip the paper at best so I watched him to see how the device worked. Wouldn't let him touch my knife but he caught my curiosity from that demonstration.

Beyond that good luck and have fun.
 
As a frequent gun show attendee, I would have to concede that a lot of my fellow gun guys are a-holes and will bust your balls over anything and everything in an effort to spend the minimum amount of dollars. Be very careful about what knives you agree to sharpen, because you don't want someone going ballistic because you "wrecked" the overpriced vintage knife he just picked up earlier that day, or the kid who freaks out when your sharpening process takes off just a little bit of the black coating on his neat new tactical stabber.
 
I had a knife sharpened at a gun show. The guy used a hand operated system (Lansky or Spyderco maybe?), not a power unit. He charged by the inch of blade length. It took a lot longer than he told me it would because he was interrupted by others asking questions or dickering over the price.

Have you discussed your plans with the show operators? Are you sure there is a power source at your table? Sufficient light for your work? Do they know about noise and dust issues?

I agree with Inazone that you should make sure the customer understands what you are going to do to his/her knife.

Good luck with this. You may be in for more grief than it's worth.
 
Will this be the first time you sharpen for others?

What's your past experience?

Do you have any customer service skills?

Do you plan on any hand sharpening?

Does your sharpening set-up allow consistent results no matter the blade?

And lastly, are you completely confident in your ability to make repairs (remove chips, fix tips, etc.)?

If no to any one of these I would give the show second thoughts.
 
It might not be prudent using a 1x42 sander in an enclosed room with dozens of people. The risk of contaminating the air with "shop gunk" poses a health risk (just a thought). I sure wouldn't want to be in there breathing while that sander is going.
As far as the customer service angle goes, it's a skill that is learned over time for many. Some people seems to be born with the innate ability to strike up conversations and turn that conversation into memorable positive interaction.
I would recommend you do some research on these things, and the others you listed in your first post. It isn't a good idea to jump into something like this without having some kind of plan (even a disorganized plan is better than none).
You you want a sign of course, how else are people supposed to know what you are there for?
One final thing, as mentioned what would you do if someone gave you a $1K custom to touch up and you accidentally "took a lil too much off the side there"? Yikes,
 
Just do it. There was a guy at a local gun show. You could hear the machine running across the room. He had 4 1x30's all lined up with different grits. I talked with him for a while and watched.
He had quite a few people in line. Seemed like everyone was satisfied. Best part was it is quick and people were happy with their new edges.
Good luck. :-)
§ David §
 
Yeah noise might be good.
Will get you noticed by everybody.
Whoever wants their knife sharpened wouldn't say no because its too loud.
So there is only positive things about the noise, unless they ask you to leave and never come back :D
 
Sharpnessis,

That is precisely why I am doing it with a belt sander, speed. I can sit there for 15-20 min sharpening someones knife with Japanese wet stones but the price would have to be too high for the average joe who just wants his knife to cut cardboard boxes and the occasional zip tie.

Thank you for the info.
 
Inazone said:
As a frequent gun show attendee, I would have to concede that a lot of my fellow gun guys are a-holes and will bust your balls over anything and everything in an effort to spend the minimum amount of dollars. Be very careful about what knives you agree to sharpen, because you don't want someone going ballistic because you "wrecked" the overpriced vintage knife he just picked up earlier that day, or the kid who freaks out when your sharpening process takes off just a little bit of the black coating on his neat new tactical stabber.
Click to expand...

Good point Inazone,

I will do my best to avoid those kind of customers.

Thanks
 
Bob6794 said:
One thing I have heard mentioned from someone who did a gun show before was to use a hip pack to put the money in so it doesn't sprout legs and walk away while your sharpening. Which would explain why I saw a lot of the people at the last gun show (first one I've been to since I was a kid) wearing hip packs who were running a booth.

Might be smart to bring a phone book so you can demonstrate how sharp your able to get the knives so people walking by can see a quick demonstration of you cutting cleanly through phone book paper so they know your not just some guy grinding away steel and taking their money but your actually sharpening their knife. I know I had to watch the guy who was using a spring adjusted pull through sharpener for a few minutes after he demonstrated that he could slice through phone book paper easily, I was expecting it to rip the paper at best so I watched him to see how the device worked. Wouldn't let him touch my knife but he caught my curiosity from that demonstration.

Beyond that good luck and have fun.
Click to expand...

Both points are very helpful, I wasn't planning on doing either but now I will for sure.

Thanks for the advice
 
Jens Schuetz said:
Yeah noise might be good.
Will get you noticed by everybody.
Whoever wants their knife sharpened wouldn't say no because its too loud.
So there is only positive things about the noise, unless they ask you to leave and never come back :D
Click to expand...

Haha, I never thought of noise as good before. I was even considering making a styrofoam box to quiet the mini shop vac down, but now I'll make sure it's heard loud and clear.

Thank you so much.
 
Also, I was wondering about serrated edges. Is it worth buying additional power equipment for serrated edges? Or are they fairly uncommon?
 
Every guy with five bucks in his pocket, and a belt sander at home will be thinking one of three things.

1: Good idea, I'll try that when I get home. :cool:

2: Only a rube would pit a good blade on a belt sander. :dejection:

3: I am going to let this guy sharpen my knife. :applouse:

If you want to offer something extraordinary, don't try to do it in plain sight, with something ordinary.
 
I'm going to go ahead and let you know you are setting yourself up for a lawsuit. Any power tool in a public place is a hazard. Unless you have multiple tables where you can box yourself in so no one can get close there is a high risk. You will definitely need a vacuum or something as well. People these days will sue for anything and everything they can. Noise isn't always a good thing, if it gets too loud people will avoid you even though the gun shows I've been to are always really noise anyways. Just remember to take extra belts and stuff because more than likely one will go missing.
 
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