Prices

[Mark Newberry]

Im sure this has been ask before…I’m new to Sharpening but I have enjoyed knives all my life. What are you charging your customers? Thanks

[Jed Bowen]

I am charging $5 per knife 6″ and under, $8-$10 over that, $8 for hatchets $10 for an axe, $8 for lawn mower blades off the mower. I do not have my price list on me but I try to keep most everything under $10. I do believe I will start charging $2 to $3 per inch on chipped and dinged blades or a blade that needs a new tip ground. These prices are just for basic sharpening that takes about 10 min each. This process is normally started with the 80 grit at 25° and I work up to 600 grit. Then hit it a few licks with the coarse ceramic stones then 10 strokes with the strops and that is it. This is sharper than any of my customers have ever seen before and I can make a profit doing it. I also give my customers a business card with the get 10 sharpened and get one sharpened free. Then if you want to go balls out and put the mirror shine to it then you can charge by the hour or whatever you feel like. With my quick sharpening method I have not had anyone unhappy. Just my 2¢ worth.

[Mark Newberry]

Thanks for the Info! That gives me something to shoot for.

[Leo Barr]

I have two groups of customers here in Mallorca . Restaurants whose money making season is relatively short plus their knives are mostly cheap-ish European knives say valued at 30€ or often less so bearing this in mind I charge 5€ per knife pretty much any condition any size so some I win on some I loose .
The other customers I have are Chefs from luxury yachts it is not unusual for them to have Globals , Kai Shuns ,Tojiro,Mac etc these I do at 8€ which is ok if I keep it simple perhaps double bevels (that is a thinning bevel behind the main cutting bevel which I often have to do on the restaurant knives as well- no point having an edge that will shave if it is too thick! Try cutting a tomato say with a razor sharp axe – it wont happen without a mess). So 8€ for boat knives is often not really enough!
The other problem with chefs is that many blatt through everything with their favourite knives causing damage. Japanese knives in general require more of a slicing action over western style which is much more chopping.
I would like to charge more for the better knives but this can only be justified if the chef knows how to use his knives .
I think with the WE I shall offer higher prices for either con-vexing the blades or for doing 3 bevels and for going all the way I shall do those on POA . I am waiting for my WE and currently use an EP which gives me very good results but it is a tool that needs possible more discipline since the knife is not clamped and since you only sharpen one side at a time working up through the stones it requires counting more or less the sweeps and time on each side so as to match it on the other . The tech is showing its age. I digress!
This will at least give you ball park figures.

[Josh]

Man I don’t know how you guys charge so little… I charge $5/blade regardless of size on the belt sander, and $10/blade regardless of size on the WEPS (and yes, I match the factory angle). If I have to reprofile the edge and lower the angle then I charge more. If there is a chipped to then I also charge more. Obviously if it’s a machete or sword then I do charge much more as well. If someone wants me to convex the edge on my WEPS with a mirror finish then it’s $20. What I would suggest is to actually track your time and see what you need to make for your time. Hope this helps!

[Leo Barr]

I agree it is not enough are you sharpening in a shop or on the road . It is quite a struggle to get knives to sharpen especially been a foreigner the natives tend to look after their own even though they wreck knives .
The yachts will spend outrageous amounts on big things but haggle about small things.
There are some discerning customers that respect their knives and will pay and are regular enough that there is not too much to put them right.
I add a photo of some Globals that some local did with a grindstone I was able to put a good edge on the knives but where the guy missed the edge it is rough enough to almost tear wet skin. I have also seen Globals – the chisel edged ones like Yanagibas sharpened on both sides and heals rounded off.
This picture deserves the wall of shame.

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[Allgonquin]

Hi Leo,

Just saw that you are in Mallorca. In 1980 I had the pleasure of being a skipper on a yacht berthed in Palma for a few months. It was only a 44 footer, however, but it was a Swan, a very nice production sail boat. I replaced the mast of my boat at “Astilleros” because it had gotten damaged. I used to hang out at a bar called the Carousel with some of my other yachty friends who were minding owners’ boats like me. I enjoyed my time there very much. And about 20 years later I actually had the chance to go to Palma on business, and I took an afternoon and found that the Carousel was still there!

I’d love to go back to Mallorca but I’m afraid it may have turned into a tourist trap.

Rgds,

[Jed Bowen]

My prices are for a quick sharpening with the most time put into it is 10 min. I live in a poor community of mostly farmers. I do this in a farmers market setting where my table fee is $2. Most of the knives I sharpen are cheap pocket knives and if I were to sharpen them 2 to 3 times it would cost more than the knives are worth. I do get the nice chef knives and pocket knives from the nice resturants and the nice gated communities. I just do this for knife and gun money. I figure I make $30 an hour at my real job and if I can turn that in the farmers market then I am not losing any money. I have a 10″ Bowie I put the mirror finish on for $35 so if they want to drop the cash on the right job then I have no problems there but it all boils down to about the same amount of time for that knife done in an hour and turning out 6 knives in an hour for $30.

[Leo Barr]

Aside from yachting the second industry is tourism.
Having a background of yachting & teaching Yachtmasters I came to the Island where I was immersed into the yachting scene my first yacht I worked on was Creole a 3 masted staysail schooner built by Camper & Nicholson’s in 1927 measuring 65 metres and owned by Mauricio Gucci who had just sold the Gucci brand , he was unfortunately shot in Milan whilst I worked on Creole. The experience taught me more about rigging and leatherwork which both require sharp knives hence the path to the WE.

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