I'm trying to get my chipper blades sharpened. It seems like almost no one does that.
They are just a straight blade. I already have the blades off.
Are sharpening shops a relic of the past? Is there a business opportunity?
#grownostr
Discussion
It is probably an almost lost art form like electronics repair shops. There used to be a guy at the local farmers market here that sharpened blades.
It seems like it's still a needed service, but yeah cutting tools are much more complex today and are mostly designed to last longer and be more disposable than they were in the '80s, manufacturing is mostly cheaper, and at the same time people have poorer manual skills.
But we also have the internet to figure out things we don't know.
I live near a metro area with roughly a quarter million people and everyone is pointing me back to exactly one shop, and apparently they are actually sending their work out to get done.
There is a small lawn mower repair shop close to me that volunteered to take a look. If they are handy they should be able to do it.
And also why does literally no one talk about opening up a side hustle sharpening business?
Ballew Tool in Springfield is one of the few left.
I haven't been there yet but that's the one everyone is pointing me to.
Seems like an obvious business opportunity for someone
I've been sharpening my own knives since the early 80's. I was probably under 10 at the time. I remember a mobile sharpening service that came by once a week while I cooked in restaurants in the early 2000s. It was a series of belts driven by an electric motor in the back of a cargo van. Really cool setup! If I wasn't so busy with a kitchen and bath diy remodel, the day job, and shuttling the boys to school, sports practice and games, and parent-teaching driver's Ed, I'd consider it as a side hustle. I've got a work-sharp, a cheapo 30"x1" belt sander, and cheapo diamond "stones". My first stone was a combined Arkansas soft/hard.
I could turn it on at will.
As the wife just showed me some of the kitchen estimate, I'll probably have to start sooner than I'm ready, like as soon as the older son gets his license this summer!
I was at Grizzly today in Springfield Missouri checking out a 2-in belt sander that's on sale. It didn't have great workholding capabilities, but it looked like it could take off a wicked amount of material. The guy said some people use it for making knives. It also had a mandrel on it he said was typically used for a buffing wheel.
I'm not sure it's something I want to get into, but it's got me thinking.