Me and my big mouth

I posted this on another forum and just copied and pasted it here.
I showed a friend my opinel pocket knife (I sharpen it like a kitchen knife, I don't mind resharpening it frequently, the carbon steel doesn't take long.) and he asked me to sharpen some of his knives. Two Gerber's, one sog and a beautiful little 70s era 3" case fixed blade later he asks me to sharpen his kitchen shears. I've never done that before. A little YouTube and I discovered there's no voodoo involved, it looks easier than sharpening a knife.
The shears are a touch loose so I tried to tighten them but the nut backs off a tic when you open and close them. Rather than scratch them, I ordered a spanner type screwdriver to fit it from good old Jeff Bezos mercantile. I'm thinking a drop of loctite is in order. Nice shears by the way, very old wustoffs.
He has a landscaping business and tells me I should start a sharpening business since he spends a lot on sharpening and there's always a waiting list here. He showed me a few of his mower blades and wants them sharpened. Dang, there's nothing quicker than sharpening and balancing those.
Honestly, I don't think I'm that good, but I suppose I'd improve with practice.

Sounds like a side gig in the making!

Terry

I know a dude in my a/o who makes a good cash living doing that. Has it set up in a van. Does it all like you mentioned. His bread and butter are hair salons.

In a rare moment of "look before you leap", I asked my friend what his mower blades typically cost to sharpen. His answer, $5 to $10, depending on how soon he needed them. Amazon has a lot of blades between $11 and $20, so there's not much room there.

I sent my duck duck to look for sharpening services in Spokane, there's 10 in the city, probably more in the surrounding area. It looks like the local market is well served.

I'm glad I thought it through before buying the belt sander I really want. If I move quickly and lightly I can sharpen mower blades on my way too fast bench grinder as needed and continue sharpening knives for myself/friends by hand.