Sharpening Equipment
When starting a knife sharpening service, you need sharpening equipment that will get the job done professionally, reduce your sharpening time per knife, and minimalize your risk of damaging blades. You also don't want to spend years learning how to use your sharpening equipment, so you should choose a knife sharpening system that's intuitively designed. These products are my top recommendations for small, community-based knife sharpening services:
Wicked Edge GO - $250The Wicked Edge GO is Wicked Edge's most portable and most affordable option, but it's still built like a tank. If you're looking to start a knife sharpening service on a budget, this is my top recommendation. UPDATE: This product has been temporarily suspended. Wicked Edge announced in early 2021 they are making changes and adding some new amazing features to the Wicked Edge GO, and they are hoping to re-release it later this year.
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Wicked Edge Precision Sharpener - WE130 - $649This is Wicked Edge's most versatile knife sharpener, with the widest angle range and adjustability, and includes Wicked Edge's Cam-Lock Vise. If you're going to be sharpening knives for a wide variety of customers who have lots of different kinds of knives (kitchen knives, hunting knives, pocketknives, etc.) the WE130 sharpener is the sharpener to choose. This product comes with 100, 200, 400, and 600 grit diamond stones. I recommend adding the 800/1000 grit diamond stones pack. The WE130 sharpener also needs to be mounted to base for use, which is sold separately. Personally, I recommend Wicked Edge's Aluminum Base option. |
Wicked Edge Generation 3 Pro Sharpener - $1099The Wicked Edge Generation 3 Pro sharpener is Wicked Edge's fastest and easiest to use sharpener. It will reduce your sharpening time per knife and makes the whole sharpening process just a little more pleasant. This is the primary sharpener that I use for my knife sharpening service. It includes diamond stones in 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 grit, and a hard carrying case.
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Hira-To Sharpening System (for hair shears and scissors) - $2,775This is the most highly rated sharpening system for hair shears and scissors. It's expensive, but you can earn back that money fairly quickly considering hair experts are usually willing to pay $30-$40 per sharpening session, per pair of shears to have their $500+ hair shears sharpened.
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Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker (for serrated knives) - $76.50Wicked Edge sharpening systems can't sharpen serrated knives. So, if you would like to sharpen serrated knives for your customers, you will need a different piece of equipment. The Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker can be purchased with several different sharpening rods that have different shapes so you can sharpen the inside of jagged serrated patterns on knives. It's affordable, and simple to use.
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