Lessons learnt during the brief time of my new knife sharpening business... Let me share the hilarity.
If the knife shows any signs of customer sharpening, it'll 100% need to be reprofiled.
Customers buy knives based on how they feel, and decide how to use them later. (I get to see a lot of bizarre damage)
If anyone brings me multiple knives of the exact same design, from the same household, I know they'll destroy all the knives I've sharpened within a week.
Professional chefs often have no idea how to sharpen their own knives.
All my customers who spoke about high carbon steel, have no idea what it is.
There are customers who do years of damage to their knives, and want it remedied within an hour.
The most common remark about my business is "Why sharpen knives? Just buy cheap ones and throw them away"
Customers lie to me about their knife usage, like how people lie to their doctors.
Every whetstone a customer has shown me was shaped like a used bar of soap.
There are customers who bring dull knives to me (700+ BESS), I sharpen it to below 200 BESS, and they'll still sharpen it after I return it to them. (One customer actually said he did that to make it sharper. Yes, the same method that he dulled his knives with, he used to make my sharpening "sharper")
I often ponder how these things still happen in the year 2025.
If the knife shows any signs of customer sharpening, it'll 100% need to be reprofiled.
Customers buy knives based on how they feel, and decide how to use them later. (I get to see a lot of bizarre damage)
If anyone brings me multiple knives of the exact same design, from the same household, I know they'll destroy all the knives I've sharpened within a week.
Professional chefs often have no idea how to sharpen their own knives.
All my customers who spoke about high carbon steel, have no idea what it is.
There are customers who do years of damage to their knives, and want it remedied within an hour.
The most common remark about my business is "Why sharpen knives? Just buy cheap ones and throw them away"
Customers lie to me about their knife usage, like how people lie to their doctors.
Every whetstone a customer has shown me was shaped like a used bar of soap.
There are customers who bring dull knives to me (700+ BESS), I sharpen it to below 200 BESS, and they'll still sharpen it after I return it to them. (One customer actually said he did that to make it sharper. Yes, the same method that he dulled his knives with, he used to make my sharpening "sharper")
I often ponder how these things still happen in the year 2025.