Everyone uses knives. Knives exist in our kitchens at home, in restaurant kitchens, in butcher shops and in medical and veterinary clinics. And every one of these knives gets dull with use. Most people do not know how to effectively sharpen their own knives, and even professional chefs need to get their knives professionally sharpened on a regular basis. Knife sharpening can become a very profitable business for someone who learns the proper techniques for sharpening and honing an edge.
At home you can learn to use a whetstone. This is a good place to start when you are first learning how to hone an edge. Whetstones come in several varieties: Arkansas stone, Washita stone and Japanese and Greek waterstones. Originally quarried from natural stone, today's stones are usually manufactured from natural substances and they are very effective at sharpening a slightly dull knife. Some people prefer to use guides while using a whetstone to help them keep the knife at the proper angle.
The next level of sharpening uses a rod guided stone system. This system mounts the knife on a stationary base, and then the whetstone is attached to a rod that is guided through one of several holes located above the knife. This puts the whetstone at the proper angle to the knife blade to achieve a good edge.
You've probably seen slot gadgets and electrical sharpeners at your local store that carries kitchen equipment. The knife is run between wheels made of ceramic or other material, with the theory that this will sharpen the knife. The quality of these sharpeners runs from really bad to good enough to keep a home kitchen equipped with decently sharp knives. If you are only interested in sharpening your own knives, one of the higher quality slot gadget or electrical sharpeners will probably do fine for you.
Once you've mastered the techniques of sharpening though, you can open up a whole new world of opportunity. By learning the proper techniques, you can not only sharpen your own knives, you can start your own small business within your community. It is easily possible to make over 0,000 a year sharpening knives. Even if your community is small, everyone needs sharp knives.
The professional sharpener has specialized equipment for sharpening. Belt sharpeners can hone a blade in less than fifteen minutes, and if you are equipped with all the major sharpening tools, you can not only sharpen knives, but scissors and manicure tools as well. Other tools that need sharpening include chisels and planes used by woodworkers, clipper blades used by pet groomers and shearers, hoof knives and snips used by farriers... the list is endless.
It is true that you can learn the techniques to keep your own knives sharp easily. But with a little more time invested, you could also learn a trade that will help you raise your standard of living. Even if you only did sharpening on the weekends, you could easily make good money by making the rounds of the local restaurants or medical facilities. Most places need to ship out equipment for sharpening, since sharpeners are getting fewer all the time. It's worth thinking about. Knife sharpening is a skill that everyone needs to have handy at some point or other. And many are willing to pay someone to professionally sharpen their knives rather than try it themselves.
