To sharpen or not to sharpen?

[Rusty Blades]

There is nobody in this area that does a consistently good job sharpening figure skates AND takes good care of the blades so I built myself a sharpening machine last spring and have been doing my own. Then my coach asked me to do hers, then the head coach asked, now ALL the coaches know!

I didn't intend to go into the sharpening business! I am fanatical about my blades, about how they are treated, and about getting a precision sharpening. I keep a tracing of the blade (so the profile doesn't get changed over time) and I spend a LOT of time to get everything set up just right before the grinding wheel touches the blade. And then I take VERY light cuts and check the blade after every pass - only enough material is removed to restore the edge - not one iota more! I also check for edge evenness to make sure everything is perfect. So I probably take 30 to 45 minutes to sharpen a pair of skates.

The going rate for a sharpening is $8 - I charge $15 - and still the expression of interest is scary! As one coach said yesterday "If you do a good job, you are going to be swamped!"

My homemade machine was intended to do MY skates and wont hold up to doing a large number so I am faced with the decision of spending nearly $4,000 for a commercial machine (the only one I have seen that is properly designed to do a good job on figure skates) or to turn people away. At $15 a pair, I would have to sharpen 275 pair to pay for the machine.

It would be SO EASY to say "No." but everybody else who cares about their edges and their blades is then stuck without a good skate sharpener.

Do I spend my hard-earned money on a machine and hope to make it back by being fastidious about sharpening or do I stay "private" and just do skates for my close friends?

[Skittl1321]

If it's a service you want to offer:

Can your machine hold up to doing more than just your own sharpenings for awhile? Say 140 of them? I'd say if you can earn HALF the money for the pro- machine with your home made one, then it would be worth investing the other half to get it, and then earn it back. But remember- while working to earn the money for the machine, you aren't being compensated at all for your time. How long will it take to do the 275 sharpenings, that will essentially be "free" ?

I personally would say no- be selective of who you do it for- and still charge. I don't like the things I do as a hobby to become a chore. I wouldn't want to begrudge going to the rink because I was worried someone would want something from me. (I doing rubber stamping. I've been asked many times to sell my cards. I won't because it's a hobby and I don't want it to be a job- because jobs become tedious and can sometimes be unenjoyable)

[Rob Dean]

Do I spend my hard-earned money on a machine and hope to make it back by being fastidious about sharpening or do I stay "private" and just do skates for my close friends?

Let's see. First, forget the 'going rate'. You're offering a premium service, presumably, so setting a premium price shouldn't be an issue. (I'm paying $20 US to get mine sharpened at the moment...) 4000 at 25/per pair is 160 sharpenings, at 45 minutes each to pay off the machine. How many can you do at a time before you lose your edge, so to speak? 2 or 3 a night? If you could, that'd only be a couple of months to pay off the machine, and it would be a source of income for buying more coaching/ice time, as long as there was any time left after doing the sharpenings...How many skaters are there in your rinks?

Doing a few to gauge interest/build a clientele before investing in the machine looks like the way to go, but if you actually *need* an income stream, it looks plausible on the surface. Any other numbers handy to flesh out this analysis?

Rob

[liz_on_ice]

I'm in favor of keeping hobbies for fun, but if you do go commercial keep in mind that you should get faster with practice. That 45 minutes could get down to 30 or less when you get a groove on.

[Sessy]

I'm definately going with Rob Dean here. See how far you can pump your price without the amount of people wanting to get theirs sharpened dropping. If the amount drops a little, you'll be loosing less time on it, but might be making a lot more money than you are now actually.

As for friends, I'd charge even friends for this kind of stuff... Myself I've done some wall painting at home. You give me a photo, I'll copy it - and animals and people turn out looking pretty realistic. Anyway so whenever somebody wanders in, friends of the family or stuff, their first question is like... Can you do this for me. I'm like yeah, but it costs a day. Will you pay me for a day's work?
Answer has so far always been no. Which is fine by me, but thing is, if I were charging "friends" prices, I'd get a lot of people looking for their children's rooms to be decorated. And I'd be loosing a lot of time doing, what? Pleasing people? They're supposed to be my friends, not my leeches. So I don't. I'll occasionally fix a tear in people's clothing, cuz that takes like 5 minutes and is no trouble at all. But stuff that is trouble I expect to be paid for. Even if they're friends.
It's like, the fastest way to loose friends is to loan them large sums of money. Same with free or cheap services. People turn to leeches very fast.

[Award]

If the hobby turns into a unlikable chore, then probably best to not take it up, otherwise can get stuck in the hole.

[CaraSkates]

If there are enough skaters in your area I would do it.

We currently drive my skates 45+ minutes to get them sharpened every 1.5 months. Thankfully I have a skate carpool with some friends, it's only my turn about every 4.5 months... All the skaters in our region go to him, people drive over an hour to get their skates done by him. He is an entire skate shop/fitter so you can get that extra pair of tights, soakers or fitted for new boots but a lot of people come 90% of the time just for the skates. He charges $9.54, we pay each other $10 to avoid change issues. Sadly he is up there in age and all the rinks/clubs/skaters are wondering what we're going to do when he is gone...

Where do you live???

[SkatingOnClouds]

... I'd say if you can earn HALF the money for the pro- machine with your home made one, then it would be worth investing the other half to get it, and then earn it back....

I think that is a really good way of looking at it. This way you find out if you really enjoy doing it, and if you are really good at it, you will have built up a good client base.

I know that I sometimes get right into doing something, and am fascinated for a while, but once I master it I am ready to move onto something new. (Perhaps that's why I love skating, never going to actually master it:roll: Of course sometimes I get sick of banging my head against a brick wall and quit anyway.:frus: )

Sigh, wish some talented amateur would take up skate sharpening here so I didn't have to send mine away and pay megabucks for it.

[Rusty Blades]

Charge more money? Hum, I LIKE that idea! 8O 8-)

Good suggestion - stay with my homemade machine until I build a client base.

As far as it becoming a "chore", that shouldn't be a problem - I am so finicky about my work I get totally absorbed in it. I get a lot of satisfaction about doing a good job and simply CAN'T do a crappy one - it isn't in my nature. Hopefully, within 1.5 years I will be retired as well so I will have more "free time".

[Thin-Ice]

Charge more money? Hum, I LIKE that idea! 8O 8-)

Good suggestion - stay with my homemade machine until I build a client base.

Hopefully, within 1.5 years I will be retired as well so I will have more "free time".


No, no, no, no,no, NO! NOT "free time" -- it's "available time" to sharpen skates which you can charge your upscale fee for BECAUSE YOU ARE WORTH IT!:D

[Sessy]

No, no, no, no,no, NO! NOT "free time" -- it's "available time" to sharpen skates which you can charge your upscale fee for BECAUSE YOU ARE WORTH IT!:D

Exactly! :bow:

[jskater49]

Our local sharpener bought his own machine by offering a limited amount of people (I think he only needed $2000 not $4000) a punch card - ten sharpenings for $100 (normally $15) upfront. He had to turn people away wanting to buy the card (I got mine) and was able to buy his machine right away.

j