About 2 months ago I decided to start a knife sharpening business down here in Bloomington as a side business. I am amazed at the responses I have heard from local restuarants here. First, I found that an awful lot of places use cheap Chinese serrated knives for everything. I have actually had several places tell me that they don't bother to sharpen any knives, when they get dull they just throw them away and buy new ones. I also get a lot of "We sharpen our own knives". And then find out that they're using one of those electric grinders you drag a knife through. I'm starting to think that the majority of these folks have never seen or used a really sharp knife. But I have found a few that appreciate a good sharp working blade. The one market I really want to tap into is all of the Asian restuarants we have here. They use very expensive single edged Japanese knives for Sushi and such. What is funny is that you go in and approach them and no one in the restuarant speaks English. After finding someone to translate so they finally understand what you're selling the response is usually "NO NO! You go away!" It's as if they're not about to let some Gaijin American touch their precious knives. Which I can actually understand. Some of those knives run 200 to 300 bucks. They probably think I'm going to take it to a grinder and ruin it. But I have managed to get some restuarants to try my service and so far they're all thrilled when I bring their knives back. Most of the time I will get 20 or so knives that have no edge left and they're all nicked and gouged. The knives are returned sharper than when they were new and then they understand what they've been missing. So I'll keep banging on kitchen doors and see what happens. This might become a short lived business.
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Be sure to read this post! Beware of scammers. https://www.indianagunowners.com/threads/classifieds-new-online-payment-guidelines-rules-paypal-venmo-zelle-etc.511734/
Knife sharpening
- Thread starter Drail
- Start date
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tradertator
Grandmaster
Should be plenty of business. The restaurant scene here is pretty extensive, considering the size of the town.
Contact Info
Where you at? I'm also in bloomingtuckistan and I have a few kitchen/chef
knives I'd like to have sharpened. I'm not a chef, just your average Joe.
I've got a Henkels and an old chicago cutlery I'd like to have sharpened,
maybe a few others. Contact me with price.
Where you at? I'm also in bloomingtuckistan and I have a few kitchen/chef
knives I'd like to have sharpened. I'm not a chef, just your average Joe.
I've got a Henkels and an old chicago cutlery I'd like to have sharpened,
maybe a few others. Contact me with price.
grunt soldier
Master
you should get with tyler34 on here. black owl customs. he is a advertiser on here and also located in bloomington. he can put a crazy edge on your knives for you.
I am sure he does. For those 2 it is one of those, hey my Friend does things, not that Tyler doesn't sharpen knives like a crazy man either...
An idea for you is beauty shops and barbers. They pay hundreds of dollars for their scissors. The girl who cuts my hair says a guy comes in 1 time a month gets all the scissors and each girl gives him 20 bucks. He returns them on monday, if you could get 10+ beauty shops that could be some decent cash.
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The scissors that beauticians use are extremely expensive and most users will actually ship them back to the manufacturer (usually in Italy or Germany) just to make sure that their shears don't get ruined. It also requires special equipt. (a diamond lapping wheel with fixtures and guides)to sharpen and another piece of equipment to "set" the curve on the blades. Most of the owners have had at least one pair ruined by some bubba and won't take a chance again. I can't blame them for feeling that way. I would like to get into that market but it will take a fairly huge investment to buy the equipment and then I will have to get them to trust me with their precious tools. I am able to sharpen standard household scissors. So far I have been concentrating on local restuarants which is how I found out that they 1) attempt to do their own knives with a grinder and 2) just buy and use cheap knives and replace them rather than pay for sharpening service. It really seems that the majority of these folks are not aware that good knives can be maintained and will last for many years and/or don't seem to understand the difference between quality knives and really cheap knives from Sri Lanka. I simply had no idea that it had gotten to this point. I thought I would have a lot of work here in Bloomington. I'm not giving up yet. Times have certainly changed from when I was a young guy. Everything seems to be considered "disposable" nowdays.
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grunt soldier
Master
I don't know honestly and Jeremy it's not really that either, though me and Tyler are friends. I pointed it out because tyler34 is a paid advertiser here and it may not Be the ORiginal posters intent he is basically advertising his business for free where others spent good money to support the site. That's what I was getting at
No disrespect to the op was intended and I wish him the best of luck with his business.
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I am not advertising my business for free. I did not ask for anyone's business. I did not even mention the name of my business, give out a phone number or address. And I don't appreciate your accusation sir. And so I am leaving this forum. Good luck to everyone here. Maku mozo.
grunt soldier
Master
lol If your willing to get all upset and leave over that little post go ahead. But like I stated you may not have been doing it on purpose but you were advertising. the people here don't have to know any information from your business to get in touch with you, all they have to do is send you a pm. 1 person on here was already asking for quotes and such.
so chill out take a step back and relax mr mozo. life is to short to fly off the handle over posts on the intrawebs (though they are serious business j/k) and again I wish you the best of luck in your business adventure sir.
so chill out take a step back and relax mr mozo. life is to short to fly off the handle over posts on the intrawebs (though they are serious business j/k) and again I wish you the best of luck in your business adventure sir.
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Ok, let me see if I understand your position here as the Indiana Gun Owners Forum Enforcement Officer. I am a bad guy because I was "advertising". Right. So if anyone posts a thread and uses names like Springfield Armory, Glock, S&W, or Colt or Bradis the they must be "advertising" for those companies? If it's your job to make sure that no one is doing what you accused me of unless they paid some "fee" then you must be a real busy guy. It would appear that this forum is more about making money than it is about free open discussion, at least from your point of view. I'm sure you get a lot of satisfaction ensuring that nobody is ripping off the forum.
POINT Taken and i understand your position and i will stand down !!
Why don't you chill out? This forum is a great, respectable place that provides an avenue for many different topics and opinions, and I think it's almost comical how easily offended you got at someone pointing out a valid fact. He even went so far to wish you well in your business endeavors. I certainly took it that you were advertising for business.
By the way, I've used Tyler, and he does rock on sharpening!
I too took it as you advertising. Just like I did a few weeks ago when you did the sane thing "without intent" on a thread STARTED BY TYLER34 Whether it was your intention or not is irrelevant. Perception is reality in this case.
grunt soldier
Master
I'm no enforcer sir but I am now annoyed with you. I tried to be very polite about what you were doing and even wished you good luck in your business adventure (still do honestly) but now your just acting ignorant. It is not my job at all to do any of that. I'm no moderator and was definitely not acting as such. I didn't report your post to the mods or anything else except point out that you are advertising your business whether it was on purpose or just accidental. You were advertising YOUR business (and honestly I don't see how you could have thought your post was anything but advertising and trying to drum up some business)
And on my final point let me post the difference between a consumer posting a review or talking about glock, springfield, colt, ect...ect.... or even saying hey this place has a great price on this product. they are a consumer they do not own said business. so they are simply reporting on products that they paid money for and are recommending them or saying stay away. that is a huge difference between posting about YOUR business that you OWN, hoping folks will see/read it and send business your way. see the difference now sir? Also just for your information Bradis can post whatever they want about their shop as they paid INGO the money to be a advertiser here. feel free check out the forum that was provided to them for becoming a advertiser. here is a link
Bradis Guns - INGunOwners
I'm no wordsmith... but I think that's the definition of advertising.
intentional or notFrom Advertising - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Definition of ADVERTISING: the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements
and also, take a chill pill dude.
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