Once upon a time, more prototype service providers could be found in the global community.

"For example, sharpeners and Lagermans were almost everywhere in the early days," said 31-year-old Harper Keehn from Providence, Rhode Island. Every weekend, Keehn travels to many places in the northeast to sharpen his knife.

Travel service providers used to use bells or whistles to remind citizens of their arrival. Keane will visit the Greenfield Farmers Market on August 28th and September 4th to provide his knife sharpening service.

Keane said that he was initially a boy who became interested in knives.

"I grew up playing with knives, and I have a grandpa who taught me how to use and take care of them," he said. From there, Keehn worked for two years in a ranch in Colorado that slaughtered the ranch itself. "We got $50 and all the ground beef that every cow slaughtered could eat," he said. At the time, Keehn said that he was using an old version of the machine he now uses for sharpening knives, called the Tormek sharpening system, with a CBN (cubic boron nitride, which is a "super abrasive") grinding wheel.

In the end, one hundred hours of work cost them. Keehn continued to work with a friend who ran a farmer’s market in Cold Spring, New York. Now, Keehn sharpens himself on weekends and works in his art within a week.

“The demand is so great that this has become my only source of income,” Keehn said, adding, “Being able to visit with family and friends frequently is a side benefit.”

Keane described his sharpening service as "pure service. No inventory, incredibly satisfying." 

"It really depends on the type of cooking and the amount of cooking you do. For example, most professional kitchens change knives every two weeks," Keehn said.

For ordinary people in the family, he recommends that they sharpen the knife once or twice a year, which is how he makes travel plans. For ten years, Keehn has been sharpening his knife and has often worked with the same customers for many years.

"I like to use the analogy of changing the oil in a car. Every time you need to change the oil, you don't change to a new car?" Keehn said that getting a good set of tools and providing proper care can save a lot of money.

For example, when storing knives, he said, "Never let them mess up in the drawer."

He went on to say that it is best to put the knife in a sleeve, block or other type of separator to avoid damaging the bevel (edge) of the knife. This alone can extend the life of the tool.

"Having a sharp knife is like wearing glasses for the first time. You don't have to saw it, you just go straight through (what you are slicing)," he said. Keehn vividly added the analogy of the difference between using a sharp knife and a blunt knife: "It's like using snowshoes and wearing stilettos."

Walking around in snowshoes will disperse pounds per square inch, and stilettos will exert thousands of pounds per square inch when they touch the ground.

"The blade is the same. A few pounds per square inch (on a sharp blade) generates more power," Keehn said.

Keehn recommends that most chefs use three to four basic knives: chef's knife, paring knife, serrated slicer, and possibly meat cleaver or deboning knife.

He recommends "tempering" the knife before each use.

"It's just a light brush of your steel tool, which may be metal or ceramic," he said.

Tempering helps to protect the edge of the blade for a longer time, and sometimes it can also remove small burrs that may be produced on the blade.

Keehn said you need a relatively smooth steel tool without deep serrations because they may damage the blade.

"You can even use the back of another long knife to steel your blade. Steeling essentially straightens the curled edge and then straightens it." Keane said. Although the use time of steel knives is limited, Keene said this will "extend the life of the blade by two to three times."

He also advises not to put knives in the dishwasher.

"It's best to just hand wash and dry. You don't have to clean the knife like crazy. It's actually better if it stays a little greasy, especially if it's carbon steel," he said.

If you have a whetstone at home (usually a gritty rectangular grindstone), Keehn says it takes a lot of practice to learn this skill. "This is just a manual version of what I did," he said. Keehn said that there are many types of stones with price tags large and small, but the technology remains the same. You put a small amount of water (some use oil) on the stone to help lift the metal and keep the stone surface clean, and then use the same number of strokes to pass the blade through the side of the slope of the stone at a slight and consistent angle. "Some people really spend thousands of dollars on sharpening equipment. But it's fun to try to learn how to sharpen a knife," Keehn said. He added that small pull-through ceramic sharpeners are “more suitable for tempering. You never want to put too much pressure on these things.”

Keehn charges $1.25 per inch blade, so customers expect to pay approximately $6 to $8 per knife. He can also repair most broken tips and notched edges, starting at $5.

"A sharp knife is a safe knife. You can predict where it will go, and it is unlikely to slip," Keehn said. He can also use a special machine to sharpen serrated knives, because each scallop "must be pushed back like the cuticle," he said.

If you bring the knives to the farmers’ market, he recommends wrapping them with rubber bands and large rags to prevent accidents.

He can sharpen all kitchen knives, including kitchen knives and ceramic knives. He also sharpens scissors and straight-edged garden tools such as trimmers or scissors. He doesn't know how to grind "toothed" tools, such as hedge trimmers or saws.

Keehn said he was always surprised by the gratitude he received from customers: "I don't think I deserve it, but it does feel great. This is an important reason why I continue to do this."

For more information, please visit sharperharper.com

Cris Carl is an avid local gardener, practicing therapist and certified herbalist. She is an experienced reporter who has written for Greenfield Recorder for many years. You can contact her at cstormfox57@gmail.com.

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