Would you pay to have your knives sharpened??

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

Joined
Dec 25, 2001
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Here's the thing: I've been looking for a little side gig at home. One reason is to keep my older sons busy, another is to raise some extra gas money.

I've been doing some knife and axe sharpening over the years for friends and family. My boys would like to learn the trade, too. It was recently suggested that I would expand a little. I've been doing everything by hand with a stone and I am looking at more automated equipment.

My question to the forum here is, would you pay someone to do a quality job on a knife? Or wouldn't you trust your blades with anyone else but yourself??
 
No, I enjoy it too much :D

There are knife and tool sharpening places around here, though, so I'm sure there's work out there.
 
steve-in-kville said:
Here's the thing: I've been looking for a little side gig at home. One reason is to keep my older sons busy, another is to raise some extra gas money.

I've been doing some knife and axe sharpening over the years for friends and family. My boys would like to learn the trade, too. It was recently suggested that I would expand a little. I've been doing everything by hand with a stone and I am looking at more automated equipment.

My question to the forum here is, would you pay someone to do a quality job on a knife? Or wouldn't you trust your blades with anyone else but yourself??
Click to expand...
I question the gains of such an endeavor. Nobody would want to pay a lot for the service, even if we're talking about $200 knives. Add return shipping fees, and most knife nuts would want to do it themselves. You could try the meat department of a grocery store, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that note.

I personally think you might have a little more luck if you got a belt sander, a bench grinder, and a set of buffing wheels and offered to put a mirror finish on people's knives(not the edge, but the entire blade).
 
Thanks for the quick replies. I work a full-time job in a warehouse. Ironically I work with an older man who has been sharpening for years, but he does everything with a machine. He's doing chainsaws, saw blades, etc. He does very few knives, because he doesn't want to. He would rather clamp something in a machine and let her rip.

He was encouraging me to offer sharpening services for knives as he really doesn't know of anyone in our area who will hand-sharpen a blade. I am not looking to go beyond local work. And yes, he already told me I'm not gonna pay the farm off doing this. And I am not looking to get rich. Just something my and my boys can do togther for some fun money.

Hopefully that explains my intentions.
 
I've made a few bucks here and there sharpening the neighbor's and family friend's kitchen knives.

It's do-able.
 
As a side business, it can be fun and put a little extra $ in your pocket. Many kninfe nuts will not pay someone else to sharpen their knives, but many people do use knives and do not know how to sharpen them. I have had me wife come home with a JA Henckle knife block set that her co-worker wanted me to sharpen. My wife has also brought home every knife from her work for me to sharpen, and yes some people do end up with slices in their hand or fingers. I never charged anyone one, but they offered money. SO there is some money in it.

I would guess arouns $2-5 a knife would be fair depending on the size of the knife and the condition the blade is in when they bring it to you.
 
I wouldn't pay someone because I like doing it myself. A lot of people here would say the same, however, most regular people (non knife nuts) do not know how to sharpen a knife. I saw a line of people getting their knives sharpened by a guy with a grinder at the last gunshow I attended. If you can reach these people, I don't think you would have trouble bringing in some extra cash at all.
 
I paid once when it was a recurve blade with a thick edge angle. Then it cost a dollar per inch on a paper wheel. 3-3/4" blade= $3.75, knife came back perfect and sharp. I think it would be hard to compete with that price and level of service.
 
I used to pay a lot. Wet/Dry sandpaper was eating me out of house and home. Then I paid even more and got diamonds. Now, I don't even need to pay attention...too much.
 
I'd pay to have something re-profiled, but I might expect a lot. I think of Ban and Tom Krein...

I was getting my hair cut, and started talking to the stylist about her scissors. She told me that she paid $20 to get them sharpened, but it was worth it because they were really expensive and really sharp. I believe her scissors were something along the lines of $200. I can't imagine that they would need much more than a few minutes on a Sharpmaker before they were shaving sharp again. So, I think there might be another niche that might need to be filled.

TC
 
I find that when I do it myself I usually get better results, but it has taken years of practice to get good at sharpening. Knife sharpening seems to go hand and hand with both knife collecting and usage.

Upon saying that, I used to occasionally get a local knife sharpener to sharpen knives for me for a small fee. I think the biggest setback in a knife sharpening business is that high mail rates would limit your client base to your community.
 
I sharpen my knives myself, but I drop them off at a local knife store for a re-profiling when they get tough to sharpen. The guy charges $3-4 for next day service. Not bad.
 
No. My volume is small, only 2-3 using knives, plus the kitchen stuff. I would pay if I found a person that did a good job on hawkbills, kukries, re-curves and was close by.

Now if I had a substanial re-occuring volume of things that needed to get sharpened(industrial knives, barbers tools, etc...), I'd farm the work out. If I were you, I'd call around to restaurants, hairstylists, etc.... and see if they'd be interested. Also as mentioned, have your wife ask other wives, that could get lucrative.
 
I would pay for someone to take a blade that is completely shot (needs reprofiling, chips, rolls, nicks, extreme dullness) and make it as new again. The only thing is that I wouldn't pay an arm and a leg. I'm thinking no more than $10 per knife that needs a complete overhaul to the edge and $5 for a simple resharpening. I would expect zero issues with the edge and a polished edge upon return.
 
I've paid to have my knives sharpened many of times. I'd rather let a pro do it for now till I can learn myself. I'll send them away to Strider/Benchmade or have Richard J from the forums sharpen my knives, he uses paper wheels and lets just say I'm missing QUITE a bit of hair on my left arm. Well worth the money, I'll pay it every time.
 
A small sharpening service for kitchen knives might work. People spend a lot of money on cooking books, kitchen utensils etc.

So basically I think women (or men who enjoy to cook) will make better customers than knife collectors. Maybe the local butcher will help you recruit customers (joint promotion). Restaurants could be interesting customers also.

To answer your question: I have paid other people for sharpening a few kitchen knives for my girlfriend.
 
i have paid to have my knife sharpened [richardj] did a great job, and would do it again.

there are other people who sharpen knives too. just keep your prices reasonable and customer service high and you'll do fine. local stuff will probably be better for ya too
 
I would pay but you would have to do a great job I would gladly pay to get my knife sharpened razor sharp but even I can get my knives sharp enough to cut the occasional hair so if I were to pay the edge would have to be flawless.
 
Nah, I'd be sending in my EDC every three days if I had someone else sharpen it. That and I like developing my skills.
 
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