Starting a Knife Sharpening Business - PART 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ค. 2024
- If you are thinking of starting a Knife Sharpening Business from STEP ONE. This is your video.
If you already have equipment and sharpening skills subscribe so you will get the next videos that will cover how to start a Sharpening business as full time work or as a Hobby Job for extra cash.
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I bought a WEN wet stone yesterday. Waiting on the attachments so I can give it a go. I am still working on funds to purchase the bench polisher/grinder. I was overly impressed at the quality of the WEN system so far. Thanks for all the advice on set ups and tools. You have given me many things to consider. Keep putting out these videos. You are a wealth of knowledge.
I just bought the equipment you described. I look forward to learning how to make blades extra sharp as I start my sharpening business.
This man is a knife sharpening american hero.
Great video Peter! I have used oil or water stones for years and get good sharp edges. Time is the problem. Last week I ordered a set of those wheels and really appreciate you showing your setup. Looking forward to the speed this offers. Thank you!
Lots of ways to get your knives sharp. This is one that is cheap to tryout. It can be used as shown or use this as a jumping off point.
Great video with great explanations about "how to". Thanks.
Great video very informative. Thank you
Really enjoyed this.
Thanks Peter.
Great video man
The slots in the paper wheel is for dont overheating while deburing
Sharpening business hack: Instead of buying magazines/catalogs, test your knives on the free Giddeon's Bibles provided by your local motels.
I use all the paper my kids bring home from elementary school
Just be careful when going to HF as the benchtop buffer is a 6 in model. The paper wheels are 8 inches. The buffer does have a 1/2in arbor and the wheels are made to fit 1/2in arbor size.
You freaked me out for a moment. I just checked and the arbor is 1/2 on buffer. Perhaps they changed it. Thx for the warning anyway.
HF has an 8" version of the buffer or did anyway. I have one.
I would be careful in getting the HF 1x30 belt sander. I bought one to finish a job after my previous one (Delta) gave up. Something...drive wheel I believe...was so out of round, the damn thing would vibrate itself right off of the bench if I didn't clamp it down. You can return it to HF though, so there is that.
I’d sure return that one.
Thank you for this great and informative video series, I’m new to sharpening and learning. What model is that belt grinder?
It was a Kalamazoo but I’ve modified it quite a bit. They now offer one that is close. Call them, very nice guy.
I invested in some actual commercial sharpening equipment. It delivers consistent results that I can look my customer in the eye and ask to be paid. But go ahead and keep telling people to use this mickey mouse stuff.....It will make me look better.
Since this video is about starting a knife sharpening business, and I’m looking for an additional side hustle, how do charge for your service and where?
My region has a really big ‘farmers market and auction’ on the weekends and I remember a knife sharpener working there years ago. I believe he charged $5 for a carry knife, like a Buck knife, and $20 for a home knife set. But that was a very long time ago. Can this be a good side hustle?
Ps, there’s also a farmers market on Tuesday and Wednesday not too far away. So this could be a few days a week or more.
More videos covering this topic on the way.
Did you weld the Rikon metal frame yourself? It looks so much better than a wooden frame that I was going to build.
I do weld. Not that hard once you learn what not to do.
Awesome video brother. My fear is that I will not be able to judge and hold the correct angle. As a senior I'm a tiny bit shaky as is. I have been looking at your system and also the Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition which has the angle guides which are also adjustable. May I please have your thoughts on which would be the best ? Thanks
I tried a Ken onion work sharp and thought it was limited. Belts very loose so you didn’t have all the controls you will wish. But some love it. Get one off Amazon. You can return it if you didn’t like. Look at wicked edge. Slow but delivers. There is an angle gauge for belt sanders. Forgot the name though ,cheap!
@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER Thanks brother.
@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER wicked edge = wicked expensive!!! But they are nice, no doubt about it.
Hi P G , when I go to Harbor freight what grit should I get for my belt sander? I have watched your videos several times now and anxious to get started. I'm getting ready to retire soon and I want a hobby job to make some extra money and to keep me out of my wife's hair! Thank you for all your help. Larry
Had has limited selection. All are coarse More accurately-“both” are coarse.
The grit depends on what you want to do and what other tools you plan to use as part of your chosen process. Presuming this sander is your only tool you should start with orange blaze ceramic 120g to remove problems, a 400 grit belt, lately I’ve been using a yellow colored one but I’d need to look up what it is. Lastly I love micro mesh mx240 & mx320 these are more money but last a real long time and produce a mirror shine/ tiny burr. Klingspor sells all these I think. Tru-grit in Ontario,ca sells all except the micro mesh belts. Lastly you can try a leather strop with compound any white compound will work. Don’t load up the leather. A little here and there will be good. All there items will almost double your investment but no cheaper way.
Thank you for responding so quickly P G.
Awesome video, and perfect timing for me personally. Is the reason to go with this setup vs. a WEN system strictly for the returnability of the harbor freight products? If say you had a $400 budget would you still use a version of this setup or would you use a WEN (or the like) with some jigs and what not? Interested to hear your thoughts.
This system has more flexibility than just one tool. All that said the weak link to this is the sander. It’s fine for sharpening but weak to thin knives. Throw $300 more and weaknesses goes away. So it’s up to you and what you want to do. Sharpen your knives or more?
@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER great video for someone just starting out.
In my experience I disagree with the lack of versatility for the belt grinder. I had used the paper wheels few years back and honestly didnt care for them. The heat generated can destroy a blade rather quickly if you arent paying attention....yes I know you can place blade in bucket of water after few passes to reduce this risk. The belt sander to me is the most versatile tool for a beginner...especially if combined with one of the after market adapters that fit over the platten..such as the one from surgi-sharp...can adjust angles from 10 degrees upward to 40 degrees..thusly eliminates the guesswork of what angle you are hitting. To your point of thinning a blade I again disagree, I use either a 50 or 80 grit belt to accomplish this without the adapter....and final polish I use various leather belts with compounds. I get a consistent edge with a mirror polish.
Free hand application can be challenging for most people...that's why I use the adapter...it takes a majority of the human factor out of the equation.
Another aspect I'm sure you will agree with is that most knife owners of high end quality knives want their blades sharpened at specific angles and by hand...this is where a good quality fixed angle system shines. Takes longer for sure but certainly has its place in any sharpening service.
Again I enjoyed your presentation, just subscribed and look forward to viewing future content.
No matter how much we think we know, we can always learn new tricks.
fldiver jc all you say is confirmation that there is no one correct way to get good results. I’ll give a look at the angle jig you mentioned. I’m always looking around for better tooling.
@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER I agree 100% that's why I have so many different systems....I view them as tools...its better to have and not need...then to need and not have.
fldiver jc just looked. I have one already. Good if you don’t know your angles yet. I found when I used it I used it as an angle confirmation. So I had it placed in a spot near where I was going to sharpen. Place the blade on it and set my grip and then moved to sharpening spot. Moving no more than 1-2” away from angle aid. But I found I was so close to correct angle when placing I stopped using it. But I’ll make a note and put it in a video as useful jigs/aids. Thx for reminding me about it.
so will this work for business? I see people on youtube doing specific exact angles and using software to determine angles and metal hardness and using equipment to determine the edge sharpness or something.
It depends on you. I’ve seen guys use jigs and keep the time to 2 minutes or less. I freehand sharpen in about 1 minute average. Keep in mind that the wheels get smaller as you use them. Some guys use the diamond wheels to avoid this. I’m using resin diamond wheels. See my last couple videos. One more to come soon
P G or anyone else, are there any good public online discussion forums for professional knife sharpening?
also your comment regarding the cut..."if you got a real problem with this, you gotta do something else" LOL, classic, but to the point.
I don’t really know of any. One subscriber of mine has a sharpeners guild he asked me to join but it cost and seems very small.
I’d buy a sharpening video by Murray Carter/carter cutlery. He has several. Figure out your process. And try a farmers market in your area. My first good spot was the dirt lot in town where pumpkins/Xmas trees get sold. But a good market is my best spot.
Here is the forum I recently found re: knife sharpening. Grepper is the guy I was chatting with. These guys use a fancy tool to measure their sharpness! It's a good read - bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=515
How do you correct the wobble in that paper grinder
Just flex it as needed. If it’s out of round use sandpaper put on the wheel. Back it with a heavy metal item to help the sandpaper true it. So the light pressure with a hammer pressing the sandpaper onto the high spots
How many days a week do you attend the market? And on average how many knives do you sharpen a per day at the market? Also how large is the population in the area that you serve?
Thanks in advance
I sharpen about 20 - 80 a day, 2days a week. large population, but other sharpeners at most farmers markets. No sharpeners have store fronts. Rents too high. Some sharpeners have route for restaurants, some also do house calls. Some go to fabric store chains. Set up in front of hardware store. Lots of ways to do it when you’re overhead is only 10% fee for a spot.
10% is average for markets/ store parking lot.
P.s. grocery stores would be great but only big chains in my area. Hard to get past corporate lawyers for approval.
Do you think this new Resharp company thats taking over all of the hardware stores will be putting a really negative dent in starting a knife sharpening business?
I’ve seen these and it’s a very limited service. It really can’t handle chips and any thinning. I really don’t ever see any knives in my ace being sharpened.
Please don't listen to this, get waterstones and diamond stones. These will ruin most knives and will kill serrations. Edit: if you're not careful these power tools will ruin the temper of you don't pay attention
I have a sharpening business. I agree that water stones are probably better its entirely unrealistic to be able to do water stones for a business. It just takes way too long. If you're very careful you can do very well on these machines. I use both
@@SameDaySharpening I do it for a side business, but I just charge a bit more than the local shop using a grinder
@@sensei1326 you do sharpening using flat water stones? Or are you talking about a Tormek? What do you use exactly?
I run a sharpening business and I only use waterstones. It only takes me 7 minutes tops to sharpen a knife to shaving sharp. I charge an average of $8 per knife. Is that not enough money for a sharpening business? I'm making more than a dollar a minute.
How much do you make monthly with your business and how long did it take for you to get to that point if you don't mind me asking.
What You can make can’t be compared to what I do. At first I didn’t make much at all. But I didn’t have a good farmers market. Now I do but I’m only working 8 hr a week as a hobby job and I’m happy with what I can make on good days. I’ve met some guys who aren’t skilled and can’t land good locations so they struggle.
Some busy guys in expensive city’s make a lot. And have a great income.
Do your research on availability of location. Busy grocery store, farmers markets, restaurant routes.
One great feature is it’s almost the cheapest profession to start, almost!
You have any experience with CBN wheels? I saw a knife maker going from rough shape to 800 CBN on a grinder, then polish on a felt wheel as his entire process... seemed to glide soundlessly through phonebook paper. The blade itself is hard, he tests it at 63 RHC using one of the full on testing machines on camera in the video. Any opinion?
I have used some cbn but ones made for serrated knives. I’m sure they work as well as wet stones. But don’t change size as you use it, which is a plus. I’ve talked to a cbn company and I’m expecting a loaner to see how they perform. I’ll have to see what they can loan me.
@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER Thanks for the reply. I ordered a couple that just showed up. I've still gotta weld a tool rest or at least put some angle iron on a 2x4 or something to get a repeatable setup, but I'll let you know what I think.
Never used cbn on my wet grinders but many have asked and it made me curious. I ordered a couple. I’ll do a few videos on my opinions on them. One note I’ll add is a 800 grit is pretty fine. If he gets handed a very dull knife it will take way too long to get a burr. I’d expect he would add a few passes on a course belt sander.
How much do you charge to sharpen them?
$1 inch/$6 minimum per knife. Serrated $1.50. That’s pretty standard across the US but it’s been the price for about 8 years. Looking at increasing soon.
Can anyone please tell me what grit the belt is on the belt sander?
I started with 120 ceramic.
Thank you very much for responding so quickly.
What do you charge per knife?
$1.25 per inch
$2. For serrated
$7. Min per knife
Prices reflect being in an expensive city.
For sharpening a fillet knife I've read that not more than 400 grit is what you want. It's not the flesh that's the hard part it's the skin. Is this true? I see a lot of fish monger videos on youtube and their knives slice thru fish skin like butter. I don't think 1000 grit or higher will work this way, true?
A toothy edge works best for many items .A smooth polished edge will slide on fish scaly skin. The trick is to not leave a burr with a 400 grit grind. Or it dulls very fast. The process needs you to make sure you removed all the burr, most likely that removes the tooth as well. I struggle over this problem. This problem has plagued sharpeners for a long time. I have tried to solve this problem by sharpening on my 250g tormek stone then only one side gets the 4000 Japanese stone. This lets the burr come off easily. But I haven't yet fully tested it for longevity. All other sharpeners I described it too say its a bad idea. That doesn't deter me but the fact no knife makers do this makes me rethink and question it. Perhaps I need to buy some rope and test it out.
@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER One guy on a forum uses 160grit initially, then uses scotch brite belt to remove the burr, then finishes with leather strop. I just got some scotch brite belts and will try it.
Tony P that’s interesting. I’ll try it as well
Tony P I tried the scotchbrite sharpening as you described. You have to adjust pressure number of passes but when I get what feels right the magnifier shows some burr left. Now take into consideration that the process I adopted was not exactly what the other guy does cuz I didn’t see him do it.
That said useing the
and my 4000g on only one side seems to be quite good. I need to cut rope to test it though.
Thanks for the info
Tony P -UPDATE - ok I had a slow morning this Sunday and I tried another combination of the concept you shared. I was very happy with the results. Here is what I did. I sharpened one edge with a 80 grit belt the other with the tormek coarse grit. Both edges get a light pass on my scotchbrite wheel. Then the side I used the tormek on I put a micro bevel with my 4000 grit SJ250. Lastly both sides get a very light polish on hard felt wheel. This whole process needs to be less complex to be faster but so far the testing I did it was only 1 minute slower (2.5 minutes per knife)
The edge results of this process was an edge that was more ferocious and very clean cutting on test paper. The key is the 4000 grit microbevel. It makes the burr so fine it easily comes off with a single light pass on the polishing wheel. But leaves the tooth of the 80 grit belt. My plan to make it more efficient is first to move my 1x30 belt sander over next to the wen wet grinder. It will have the 80 grit ceramic belt. Then after a few hundred knives I might improve the efficiency more. To many changes at once can cause quality drop and not know why.
Thanks again for your first text.
Right on. As Dan Miller said, to be successful you need the right idea, the right mindset, and the right network. If any of your audience is excited about starting a sharpening business we'd like to invite them to check out the Guild of Professional Sharpeners at guildofsharpeners.org
Looking forward to your future parts!
This would be possibly ok for non-precision work on your own tools but do not go out like this and try to sell this kind of work as a professional. This would have been ok back in the 1940s, but not with today's expensive knives and shears. I have done this professionally for over 30 years and he wouldn't last a day in the kind of shops that I do work in. Just telling you the truth.
Know your customers! I'm presuming you either have a shop or take in drop off orders at your home. You can take more time. I have no problem with expensive knives. But if shears you refer to beauty shears I decline them. I have also offered contacts for "hand sharpeners" when I'm handed a "very" nice japanese knife that deserves to be hand sharpened. They always decline. Now I work at Farmers Markets. I get a limited amout of time to finish all the orders. Customers don't want to wait even an hour. Know your customers.
P.S. I need to sharpen about 30 knives per hour. Including conversation, answering questions, calculating cost, retipping etc..., thinning, cleaning, wrapping and collecting cash.
Lastly Iv'e been told Im one of the best in my area. Lucky for me in my area there are a lot of guys who haven't checked their work in years. Customers say after having other sharpeners service their knives "My knives were duller when I got them back" This just makes my proccess look even better. Lastly My process has changed some. I now have new equipment and I'm faster leaving me a few seconds to finish on a whetstone.