Is it possible to sharpen knives professionally only using bench stones?

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Wislenwiiley

Joined
Dec 3, 2020
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Let’s say sharpening 20 kitchen knives a day was what you needed to make enough to pay the bills. And you went around to restaurants sharpening their beaters(not the expensive Japanese knives). Considering the amount of damage done to these knives (chips and broken tips) is it possible to reset the edge on these things in let’s say max 20 minutes per knife with just a coarse stone 60-120grit? I have no experience as to what condition cooks bring their knives to pros to get redone. Just looking for some insight into whether a no power equipment approach is even possible for these conditions.
 
When I practice with an 8inch chef knife I saw into the concrete with medium/hard pressure for 30 passes and then flatten the tip a bit to simulate a really dull knife. I can go from this to finished and push cutting in~45 minutes. I feel like I can’t get it faster than that and I’m questioning if crazy dull/chip to finished in under 30minutes is doable with stones
 
So with setup you can sharpen roughly one knife per hour this way. What does your income need to be to pay the bills and what do the other local knife grinders charge? If you need more money than the established folks charge you're going have problems.
 
5$ a knife to charge. Maybe need $1100a month to break even. I don’t think 1 knife an hour would cut it.
 
When I was a kid, in the German village I grew up in this was a profession ... guys on modified bicycles, going kitchen to kitchen for knives, but also door to door to sharpen scissors.

I understand they still exist in Mexico, Italy, etc.

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Besides showing cute pictures, I suggest you think about a portable motor grinder.
 
You are not going to make it without power equipment and lots more knives to sharpen. Like Danke posted, check out what the competition is charging and how many knives they turn over for their customers.
 
The amount of time and what you need to charge, doing a good job w/bench stones, is not what people want to pay to have their kitchen knives sharpened. I have just finished a set of 7 knives in poor condition for someone and most of the work was done on a Kallamazoo belt grinder. They were very pleased with the results. Each knife was over 7" and they paid only $7. per knife. Their knives were not a very good quality like a Hankel etc., but they wanted them sharpened. What they paid me was most likely what they purchased the knives for years ago. You need to be fast and give them a good result to make any money. I just enjoy sharpening knives. It's not about the money. The money I make goes back into belts etc. Two of the 3 scissors they gave me were just plain junk (made in China years ago). Would not hold adjustment and had 1/2" of the tip on one edge broken off of each pair. This is what folks give you to sharpen plus you usually need to remove the rust to clean them up before returning the scissors.
 
You can do it but need to make a conscious effort to increase speed and economy of your process. I can't hit 5 minutes/knife freehand but for sure 10 minutes from a coarse stone to shaving armhair/just treetopping a few. With QC and handling at 15 minutes a knife average, charging $7 per its not too shabby $28 an hour minimum.
 
HeavyHanded said:
You can do it but need to make a conscious effort to increase speed and economy of your process. I can't hit 5 minutes/knife freehand but for sure 10 minutes from a coarse stone to shaving armhair/just treetopping a few. With QC and handling at 15 minutes a knife average, charging $7 per its not too shabby $28 an hour minimum.
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Thanks for the info and motivation! Are those times achievable with a Norton crystolon coarse?
 
rpttrsn said:
The amount of time and what you need to charge, doing a good job w/bench stones, is not what people want to pay to have their kitchen knives sharpened. I have just finished a set of 7 knives in poor condition for someone and most of the work was done on a Kallamazoo belt grinder. They were very pleased with the results. Each knife was over 7" and they paid only $7. per knife. Their knives were not a very good quality like a Hankel etc., but they wanted them sharpened. What they paid me was most likely what they purchased the knives for years ago. You need to be fast and give them a good result to make any money. I just enjoy sharpening knives. It's not about the money. The money I make goes back into belts etc. Two of the 3 scissors they gave me were just plain junk (made in China years ago). Would not hold adjustment and had 1/2" of the tip on one edge broken off of each pair. This is what folks give you to sharpen plus you usually need to remove the rust to clean them up before returning the scissors.
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For sure, thanks for the info. I love sharpening as well and would rather scrape the bottom of the barrel chasing after something I love.
 
Wislenwiiley said:
Thanks for the info and motivation! Are those times achievable with a Norton crystolon coarse?
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Probably not. Maybe.

Waterstones are a lot faster and less messy, esp when crunching larger volumes. Which is still not very many.
You can also use an XC dmt, 140 Atoma. Coarse stones are the backbone, a good finishing stone is a huge help, and some form of middle stone. Depending on customer you might get away
with a hard strop in lieu of finishing stone.

Picture 7 or 8 hammered 8-10" knives in front of you. How long do you want to work for 5-7 bucks per.

Some people will pay a little more for hand sharpening because they see how much steel comes off when they have it sharpened by a power tool, but those are in the minority and a different kind of market/customer. Plus they still want a first rate edge.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Probably not. Maybe.

Waterstones are a lot faster and less messy, esp when crunching larger volumes. Which is still not very many.
You can also use an XC dmt, 140 Atoma. Coarse stones are the backbone, a good finishing stone is a huge help, and some form of middle stone. Depending on customer you might get away
with a hard strop in lieu of finishing stone.

Picture 7 or 8 hammered 8-10" knives in front of you. How long do you want to work for 5-7 bucks per.

Some people will pay a little more for hand sharpening because they see how much steel comes off when they have it sharpened by a power tool, but those are in the minority and a different kind of market/customer. Plus they still want a first rate edge.
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Since the virus lockdowns started in April I spend5-6 hours a day practicing because because it’s like a little oasis. So I think if I did it longer in the 8-10 hour range that Id still enjoy it. I’ve been hanging around SiC stones just for the price, life, and lack of dish compared to a shapton 220 I had. I was wondering if SiC stones would even be an option because of the occasional scratches I see along the shoulder of the bevel. I’d imagine that would not be acceptable. An atoma 140 would seem really convenient but I heard something about it not lasting that long. Do you have an idea as to how many knives one of those can reprofile before it’s shot?
 
Do you have a business license with insurance? Are you planning on getting them? A restaurant owner isn't going to hand their knives over to a total stranger in off the street for sharpening without assurance that the person knows what they are doing, and won't ruin or steal their knives.

Especially if there are established and licensed knife sharpeners already in business in the area.
 
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Wislenwiiley said:
Since the virus lockdowns started in April I spend5-6 hours a day practicing because because it’s like a little oasis. So I think if I did it longer in the 8-10 hour range that Id still enjoy it. I’ve been hanging around SiC stones just for the price, life, and lack of dish compared to a shapton 220 I had. I was wondering if SiC stones would even be an option because of the occasional scratches I see along the shoulder of the bevel. I’d imagine that would not be acceptable. An atoma 140 would seem really convenient but I heard something about it not lasting that long. Do you have an idea as to how many knives one of those can reprofile before it’s shot?
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Atoma 140, many knives as long as you don't use it to flatten stones as well.

Some haze along the shoulder won't be a problem as long as edge quality is good.

Many pro and part time cash sharpeners use SiC stones, but it makes a huge difference if you're using them on a bench or with something like a tri-hone setup. Pretty sure @David Martin uses a combination of Crystalon, DMT and India stones, primary customers are professional meat cutters I believe, but am not comfortable speaking for him, nor do I know exactly what his cash-work setup consists of.

As with any business, getting customers and minimizing travel and handling time is huge.
 
killgar said:
Do you have a business license with insurance? Are you planning on getting them? A restaurant owner isn't going to hand their knives over to a total stranger in off the street for sharpening without assurance that the person knows what they are doing, and won't ruin or steal their knives.

Especially if there are established and licensed knife sharpeners already in business in the area.
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I don’t have those and I wouldn’t consider getting them until I’m capable of sharpening 20 knives a day with good results. As for providing assurance to a potential customer I would think dulling my knife in front of them and re sharpening to prove I’m not full of shit and going from there might work. I have no idea what pro sharpening is like and want as much info to get those realistic expectations.
 
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