Would you pay to have a knife sharpened?

I also enjoy sharpening and started my own sharpening business on the side in June of this year after reading an article on side hustle nation where they interviewed Matthew Rowell about his sharpening business. Matt also has an interview on youtube that he did with Work Sharp about his sharpening business and he has his own youtube channel with a lot of great information. I'd be happy to answer any questions about what it's been like to start and run the business.
 
I would pay a reasonable sharpening price if it could be done in person at a shop or a show. I just don't know of any such and so put my 'ghetto edge' on all my EDC knives myself LOL. She ain't perdy, but she'll cut!
 
Slice-and-dice said:
She ain't perdy, but she'll cut!
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And let's be honest, this is really the important part. It was only a couple of years ago that I finally got to the point I don't scratch the crap out of my blades when I sharpen them. Doesn't have to be pretty to cut, but once you can avoid scratches it's nice too.
 
EngrSorenson said:
The only people I’ve seen with sharpening services are siting in booths at farmers markets, usually behind menacing, ancient-looking electric grinding wheels. It’s the stuff nightmares are made of.

They charge small fees and probably ruin the knives in 60 seconds. My knives seem to work their way deeper into my pockets.
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It's fine.
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I sharpen almost every knife my extended family and friends come into contact with. If I were to charge what that service is worth, they’d all just use dull knives.

I bet 85% of the nation doesn’t appreciate sharp cutlery. I think most of the battle is convincing them it’s worth it; I feel like most semi serious knife guys will know how to do their own work.
 
kane22 said:
I know most on this sub forum wouldn't, but you'll get what I'm asking. I'm to the point I feel like I can do a pretty darn good job of getting a knife sharp. I'm a perfectionist and OCD, so it works well for this application. I seem to be one of the strange people that enjoys sharpening too. So I've been kicking around the idea of trying to do it on the side. Not sure how to go about it, or even if it's a feasible idea.
Do you think people would send their knives out for sharpening? It's not like I have a huge YouTube channel or anything. I thought maybe I could use instagram.
It would be guided system sharpening. I also have a decent belt sander. I got it for axes, but have also used it to fix some knives with big chips.
Not exactly sure what to charge either. I'm not looking to get rich, but I don't want to loose money either. Stones and good belts aren't cheap. Then you would have return shipping costs to think about also.
Thoughts, advice... Feel free to tell me it's a dumb idea. I keep thinking the shipping costs would be the deal killer.
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Would I? No.

Are there plenty of people out there who would? Yes. Absolutely. The question is whether they are the type of people that you will want to have to interact with regularly. I would guess a good portion of them will not be fun to deal with. Just something to think about.
 
I do sharpening on the side and most of my work is everything that people can't do themselves like clippers ,scissors axes, old beat up kitchen knives.
rarely do I see hunting or pocket knives. people don't seem to want a polished razer sharp blade they just want it better then it was.
 
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