These are our Indian knife sharpeners, men who cycle around residential/ commercial areas offering knife sharpening services. The whole mechanism is very simple consisting of a regular bicycle with an additional attachment of a grinding wheel placed on the bicycle's frame.
To sharpen the knife, the blade would be placed on the grinding wheel and the man would do stationary peddling to get the wheel spinning. As the wheel spins, the friction caused would sharpen the knife's blade.
I've been asking the security guards to ping me when these men come around as I have a couple of blunt knives but so far no luck. Not sure what the rates are but am sure it's really cheap. Was lucky enough to catch a knife sharpener at work when we were out for lunch. He agreed for me to video him working so here you go!
To sharpen the knife, the blade would be placed on the grinding wheel and the man would do stationary peddling to get the wheel spinning. As the wheel spins, the friction caused would sharpen the knife's blade.
I've been asking the security guards to ping me when these men come around as I have a couple of blunt knives but so far no luck. Not sure what the rates are but am sure it's really cheap. Was lucky enough to catch a knife sharpener at work when we were out for lunch. He agreed for me to video him working so here you go!
So that's a leg-powered knife sharpener? That is so awesome. I travel a lot with my folding bike and I'm always on the look out for cool things local people are doing with bikes when I visit places, but I have yet to see anything like that. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Chris.
ReplyDeleteYup, it's hello manual sharpener goodbye electric sharpeners. Like you too, I was intrigued when I heard about these men and finally got a chance to see them at work.
Do come back for more stories, I'll definitely be sharing more stuff like this.