Peter Nowlan

[Peter Nowlan]

No I don’t do too many traditional Japanese knives, I’m just fascinated by Japanese culture. Japan is the centre of gravity in terms of knife sharpening. A key moment in my sharpening journey came while I was visiting New York City and stumbled into a Japanese knife store. (not Korin). I was fortunate enough to meet an old man has been sharpening knives since he was 15 and my respect for the art of sharpening took a giant leap that day.

[Peter Nowlan]

This is my first attempt at including pictures, forgiveness please if it doesn’t work

This is how I wrap the knives, the small memo pad is what i use to write to the customers, thanking them trusting me with their knives.

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[Peter Nowlan]

I purchased a large roll of foam, it’s for flooring and it’s 19.95 for a huge roll is about 4 feet long so I cut it in 4 X 1 foot rolls.

1. I wrap each blade in paper I purchased from a Japanese ikebana store here, it’s quite beautiful paper and it was only 20 dollars for a large assortment of paper. This doesn’t really provide any measure of safety, it just looks nice.
2. I then wrap the blade in the foam which protects the blade and individual
3. I then wrap that in an 8″ x 11″ piece of paper that I’ve mass produced with my business info.
4. Finally, I wrap a little strip of that same Japanese Paper around the finished package.

So it takes me longer to prepare the knife for return to the customer then it does to sharpen it 🙂 Not really but it’s just something I got started doing. I also hand write on more Japanese memo paper how I sharpened the knife. I tried to include a photo but it likely didn’t work.

If anyone is interested I can try later on.

[Peter Nowlan]

Eamon, Yes the $10-$15 is for folders, hunting knives and also cleavers. For me personally, it takes longer to sharpen those knives than a Chefs knife for example. Now a little Swiss army knife is different, I may only charge 6 for that, or do it for free if the person is nice and doesn’t expect it to be done for free.

[Peter Nowlan]

Eamon, your flyer certainly catches all the important points.

In my experience there is a pattern and it is applicable to just about everyone, a series of questions that I am sure everyone has heard. The response is not always black and white, there is no perfect answer so your ability to clarify the common issues will set you apart perhaps and leave people walking away wishing they found you years ago.

When I was sharpening at the Market, I found it a little stressful because I was out of my comfort zone, making the knives sharp was not the problem, doing it with people watching, questioning, correcting and telling me about the old oil stone they have in their garage that does the same thing I’m doing. Meanwhile, I’m focusing on raising a burr, removing the burr, all that cool stuff we do.

Back to the pattern, over the years the questions remain the same.
1. What is the best knife?;
2. How long will the knife stay sharp?;
3. How much does it cost to sharpen it?;
4. My husband says he can just sharpen it at home just as good as you, can you do any better?

(It seems to me that mostly women bring me their knives, they have given up on the husband who is reluctant to let someone else touch the their knife and do no better than he can do and charge for it. I saw this repeated countless times and I’m often presented with knives that look as if they were dragged behind the car for a few miles)

Your ability to answer the questions that cannot all be answered may be an important step for you.
My answers to the questions that still come daily are:
1. A sharp knife. ( I talk them out of knife blocks and tell them to purchase one good knife and a good Steel)
2. This is THE question and all they need to know is that it won’t be dull tomorrow. Many will interpret your explanation of Steel, angle, what is being cut, how it is being stored and if it is being maintained as avoiding the question. Even though in all cases they have used a dull knife for months/years they want assurance that the knife will stay sharp for a while. I usually tell them 2-3 months with normal use and no maintenance. (This is stretching it but I keep in mind they have used the dull knife for 20 years in many cases). I never tell them what they want to hear, “an eternity”
3. $1.25 an inch for kitchen knives – 10-15 for others.
4. “Please tell your husband that I admire anyone who has an interest in sharpening knives. Does your husband have any other interests besides knife sharpening, cars, golf, TV, fishing ? I DON’T. If your husband doesn’t think this is the sharpest knife he has ever seen, I will refund the money. I appreciate you bringing it to me, I know it likely wasn’t easy and I don’t take it for granted”

When the opportunity presents itself, I will always talk about a sharp knife making the person a better cook for the reasons Leo mentions. “A dull knife is a continuous source of frustration, it’s a barrier between yourself and the joy you could get from cooking. It’s holding you back because you hate that knife. Experience what a truly sharp knife feels like and unleash the skilled chef inside of you that is waiting, all it takes is the sensation you will experience from slicing food with a sharp knife”

Every now and then the right person will take that to heart.

Bottom Line – Your passion for knife sharpening will be the key element that leads people to trust you with their beloved knives. Comfort them by telling them their knives are important to you, you love their knives.:)

[Peter Nowlan]

Hello, this is first post, I have yet to introduce myself but I wanted to take a few moments of your time to respond here.
A couple of years ago I decided to take my sharpening to a different level by opening up a business, I was excited, scared, nervous but I was confident. This is what I did: ( I know I will likely state the obvious in many cases and for that I apologize in advance)

I created a business card and presented myself to the manager of a high end kitchen store. The first thing I asked him was ” who do you recommend when people ask where to get their knives sharpened?” His response was “nobody, there is one place in town but we steer people away” so I knew there was a window of opportunity for me. The next step was the important one, I had to prove that I was capable of sharpening kitchen knives, to establish a level of confidence in him, enough for him to recommend me to his customers. Customers that have been going to his store for years.
He asked me to come in the next day and show me some knives, to run the gauntlet so to speak and I did this. That was two years ago and I have sharpened for him ever since, I am in the store 4 days a week.

It became a drop off/pick up location for customers. In order to make this work however I needed to sort out what the store gets out of this. The Manager just happens to be extremely knowledgeable about knives and is also very cooperative. We worked a 70/30% deal so I get 70 percent. Customers pay the store and they just pay me at the end of the month. I have 4 drop off locations like that now in various parts of the city.

The key, from my perspective is to establish a level of trust with the store and ensure that they get something from it as well. What has happened over time in my experience is that the fact that the stores now have a dedicated knife sharpener, this actually draws in more customers and potential purchases from them. While dropping off a knife for example they may pick up a toaster….you get the idea and this is something you can present to the Manager. (not a toaster but the idea that advertising sharpening could pull in people to your store)

You need to run the gauntlet though and to do this, I offered to sharpen one of their own knives. “Give me the dullest knife you have” and go from there. There are different ways to do this of course. Just your ability to discuss knives, bevels, micro bevels, burrs, angles etc. will often be enough to demonstrate a level of knowledge that is usually far beyond most of the people working in the stores selling the knives. Your passion for knife sharpening will become evident as you excitedly discuss scratch patterns and HHT with bewildered but impressed staff. Dazzle them with knowledge and you will survive the first test.

Bottom Line for me was that getting the knives sharp was the easy part, selling myself and getting other people to trust me with their knives was the challenge. Word of mouth really is the key though, and customer service of course.

I am sorry to ramble on, I just went through this a little over two years ago and it has been a very positive experience for me.

Respectfully
Peter

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